The Study
High-fructose corn syrup-55 consumption alters hepatic lipid metabolism and promotes triglyceride accumulation.
This study gave rats different sugary drinks and saw how their livers changed. It shows that one kind of sugar made rat livers get fatter and work differently—but it didn't test this on people. So we can't say it does the same thing in humans.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Rats that drank a drink with more fructose (HFCS-55) got more fat in their livers than rats drinking regular sugar or plain fructose—even when they ate the same amount of calories.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 516 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes—this suggests that even small differences in sugar type (like 55% vs 50% fructose) can make a big difference in how the liver stores fat.
- 2Rats drinking HFCS-55 had 3% higher liver fat (P=.03) and 3x more oleic acid (P<.001) than those drinking sucrose.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The Journal of nutritional biochemistry
Year
2017
Authors
Kaitlin Mock, Sundus S. Lateef, V. Benedito, J. Tou
Related Content
Claims (7)
High intake of fructose leads to fat buildup in the liver and is associated with impaired metabolic function.
Consuming large amounts of fructose leads to more fat building up in the liver.
Female rats fed a diet with 13% HFCS-55 for 8 weeks showed no increase in the liver's export of triglycerides, while rats fed sucrose showed increased activity of a protein involved in fat transport, indicating HFCS-55 reduces the liver's capacity to remove excess fat.
Female rats fed a diet containing 13% HFCS-55 for 8 weeks showed higher liver production of monounsaturated fatty acids than rats fed sucrose or fructose, due to increased activity of the enzyme stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 and higher levels of oleic acid.
Female Sprague-Dawley rats fed a 13% high-fructose corn syrup-55 solution for 8 weeks developed higher levels of fat in the liver than rats fed equal calories of sucrose or fructose, due to the higher fructose content in the corn syrup.
When female rats consume equal calories from different sugars—HFCS-55, sucrose, or fructose—each sugar leads to different levels of fat accumulation in the liver.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.