Hormonal
Consumption of excess fructose-containing sugars (sucrose or HFCS) promotes cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk through direct metabolic pathways, specifically by causing hepatic lipid accumulation, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance independent of body weight gain.
If you consume high amounts of added sugars (especially those containing fructose like HFCS or sucrose), you may be increasing your risk for heart disease and diabetes through direct metabolic stress on your liver, even if your weight stays the same. Reducing added sugars can lower this specific metabolic risk.
The direct pathway involves the unregulated hepatic uptake and metabolism of fructose, leading to liver lipid accumulation, dyslipidemia, decreased insulin sensitivity and increased uric acid levels.
Why this rating
Supported by plausible mechanisms and multiple intervention studies, though the author notes a lack of definitive, unconfounded energy-balanced studies.
Source
Sugar consumption, metabolic disease and obesity: The state of the controversy
Kimber L. Stanhope · Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences · 2015
DOI 10.3109/10408363.2015.1084990
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