[Fructose Consumption and the Metabolic Syndrome: Association or Causality?]

Fructose consumption has increased significantly during the past decades – in particular by using added sugar in food and beverages, either sugars containing free fructose, but also sugars containing fructose in bound form (e. g. sucrose). The metabolism of fructose exhibits distinct differences compared to the metabolism of glucose. Association studies performed in the past years suggest an association of fructose consumption and adverse effects on metabolism. Intervention studies, conducted in part with healthy individuals, could prove such effects and deliver explanations of the mechanisms leading to these adverse effects. A reduction of consumption of added fructose should be recommended, but there is no evidence to support a restriction of fruit consumption (as a natural source of fructose).