Macro partitioning

Consuming fructose-sweetened beverages (providing 25% of energy requirements) for 10 weeks increases visceral adiposity, hepatic de novo lipogenesis, and dyslipidemia, and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese adults, whereas glucose-sweetened beverages do not produce these specific adverse metabolic effects despite similar total weight gain.

If you are overweight or obese, replacing glucose or sucrose with high-fructose beverages (like those sweetened with HFCS or pure fructose) at levels providing 25% of your daily energy can significantly increase belly fat and liver fat, even if your total weight stays the same. This happens because fructose is metabolized differently, driving fat production in the liver. To protect your metabolic health, limit fructose-sweetened beverages, as they pose a specific risk for visceral fat and insulin resistance that glucose does not.