A review and meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that extra calories, not fructose itself, are most likely responsible for weight gain. It s a noteworthy analysis, given fructose s current, notorious association with obesity.
In order to examine the effects of fructose on body weight, researchers from the University of Toronto looked at 31 trials totaling over 600 patients divided into two groups: One group ate pure fructose while the other ate non-fructose carbohydrates, but both consumed a similar number of calories. The result? Compared to diets using non-fructose carbohydrates, calories consumed from pure fructose had no additional effect on weight, not even in subgroups of normal-weight or diabetic patients.
Researchers then examined 10 additional trials (119 subjects) in which one group of participants ate their usual diet while an experimental group consumed excess calories in the form of pure fructose. They found that eating additional calories in the form of fructose, as compared to the control diet, resulted in weight gain. This suggests that the excess calories not the actual fructose may be responsible for increasing body weight.
Duh! exclaims ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava. The results of this review should reassure consumers that fructose consumption is not inherently evil (or fattening).
ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan has long maintained that there is no such thing as good or bad calories. Calories are calories, she says, and it just comes down to basic common sense: The more you consume without exercising, the more weight you ll gain. And it ll make no difference whether the excess calories come from sucrose, fructose, or fat you ll still see the numbers on the scale go up.