The following prospective, randomized, controlled crossover study was conducted to investigate the effects of small to moderate consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) for three weeks on glucose and lipid metabolism, and inflammatory markers in 29 healthy young men. Six 3-week interventions were assigned in random order as 1) dietary advice to consume low amounts of fructose or 600 mL SSBs containing 2) medium fructose (MF): 40 g fructose/day); 3) high fructose (HF): 80 g fructose/day; 4) medium glucose (MG): 40 g glucose/day; 5) high glucose (HG): 80 g glucose/day; and 6) high sucrose (HS): 80 g sucrose/day. Results revealed that LDL particle size was reduced after HF and HS (P < 0.05 for both) and a more atherogenic LDL subclass distribution was seen with fructose-containing SSBs (P < 0.05). Fasting glucose and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein increased significantly after all interventions (by 4–9% and 60–109%, respectively; P < 0.05) and leptin increased during interventions with glucose-containing SSBs (MG and HG: P < 0.05). This study shows potentially harmful effects of low to moderate consumption of SSBs on markers of cardiovascular risk within just three weeks in healthy young men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Aug;94(2):479-85. PMID: 21677052.
