After a Can of Soda, Walk It Off

iStock/Thinkstock(SYRACUSE, N.Y.) — Sweetened soda is losing its popularity in the U.S. but not soon enough for health officials who believe that high-fructose corn syrup is a serious threat to Americans’ health.

One of the chief problems with the ingredient is that transforms into fatty acids, some of which stay in the liver while the rest of it filters into the blood stream. Either way, fructose is a health menace.

Amy Bidwell, currently a researcher at SUNY Oswego in New York, conducted a small study at Syracuse University to determine if physical activity could lessen then detrimental effects of fructose when included in soda.

Among 22 students who volunteered for the experiment, half moved around half as much as they normally did on a daily basis while the other participants doubled their activity, namely walking about 12,000 steps a day. Meanwhile, everyone drank two fructose-laden sodas daily for a total of 500 calories.

Bidwell also conducted metabolic and health tests before and after the two-week experiment and found, to some dismay, that the group who didn’t walk as much experienced higher concentrations of very-low-density lipoproteins, a type of bad cholesterol that builds up on the walls of arteries.

Naturally, Bidwell believes that cutting out high-fructose corn syrup is the best option but if people feel the need to drink soda, she recommends plenty of exercise to help offset its effects.

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