Rats that eat high levels of a natural sugar known as fructose seem to age faster than other rats.and the same could be true for people who eat too much sweet junk food,Israeli researchers said Monday. Fructose,found naturally in honey and fruit,is used widely in foods ranging from soft drinks to yogurt.But while its sweet taste is popular,the sugar could cause wrinkles,the researchers said.Dr.Moshe Werman and Boaz Levi of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology fed large amounts of fructose to laboratory rats.Writing in the Journal of Nutrition,they said the fructose-fed rats showed changes in the collagen of their skin and bones.Collagen basically holds the body together.The loss of collagen is what causes loose skin and deep wrinkles in older people. The process affected,Werman's team said,is known as"cross-linking "."Too much cross.1inking makes the skin stiff, and these are the conditions that encourage wrink1ed skin,"Werman said in a statement.He said the same could be true of people,although this has not been shown."Americans are eating more and more processed foods such as baked goods,canned fruits,jams is and dairy products that contain fructose,"Werman said.Other studies have shown that taking in high fructose may cause diabetes . The rats Werman worked with were fed much more than the average adult person might eat in a day,which is standard in such experiments.The rats were fed 12.5 grams of fructose per kg of weight everyday for a year. What can we learn from the passage?
The fructose-fed rats only showed changes in the collagen of their skin. Too much cross-linking makes the skin soft. The amount of sugar the rats ate was larger than an ordinary adult might eat in a day. It hasn't been shown that taking in high fructose may cause diabetes.