Meta-analyses of Fructose-containing Sugars and Incident Cardiometabolic Disease

Since uncontrolled observational studies first linked fructose to the epidemic of obesity almost a decade ago, it has become a focus of intense concern regarding its role in the obesity epidemic and increasing burden of cardiometabolic disease. Despite the uncertainties in the evidence, international health organizations have cautioned against moderate to high intakes fructose-containing sugars, especially those from sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). To improve the evidence on which nutrition recommendations are based, the investigators propose to study of the role of fructose-containing sugars in the development of overweight/obesity, diabetes, hypertension, gout, and cardiovascular disease, by undertaking a series of systematic syntheses of the available prospective cohort studies. Prospective cohort studies have the advantage of relating "real world" intakes of sugars to clinically meaningful disease endpoints over long durations of follow-up. The findings generated by this proposed knowledge synthesis will help improve the health of consumers through informing recommendations for the general public, as well as those at risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.