Another bad news for the beverage companies and restaurant chains since researchers say that fructose – a form of sugar found in sweetened drinks and junk food raises blood pressure among men.
 
Two studies were done to reach this conclusion and one of these provided the first proof that fructose raises blood pressure. The researchers also found that the drug,  allopurinol, used for the treatment of gout can alleviate the effect by reducing uric acid  levels in the body.
 
The second study done on mice suggested that consumption of sweetened drinks and junk foods could lead to faster weight gain.
 
"These results suggest that excessive fructose intake may have a role in the worldwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes," said Dr. Richard Johnson of the University of Colorado-Denver, who studied the link between blood pressure and men.
 
Another study recently suggested a tie between sweetened drinks and health problems prompting a tax on soft drinks.
 
Fructose is found in high quantities in high-fructose corn syrup and in half the sugar molecules.
 
The study examined 74 adult men in Spain with an average age of 51. The men were made to consume 200 grams of fructose everyday over and above their normal diet.
 
Half of these men were given the generic gout drug, allopurinol, while the other half was placed on a placebo.
 
Two weeks later the fructose-placebo group had an increase of 6 mm Hg in their systolic blood pressure and a 3-m-m Hg rise in their diastolic blood pressure. When these men went back to their normal diets their blood pressure went back to normal too.
 
As per the American Heart Association women should eat no more than 100 calories of added processed sugar per day while men should keep it to just 150 calories per day. An average American consumes 355 calories of added sugar each day.