High-fructose corn syrup drinks and asthma risk in adults over 17 years
What it found
Adults who drank HFCS-sweetened soda, fruit drinks or apple juice two to seven times a week had a higher risk of developing asthma.
There was no link with diet soda or orange juice.
What they found
Studies in people
HFCS drinks and asthma risk
People who drank any mix of HFCS-sweetened soda, fruit drinks and apple juice five to seven times a week had an 89 % higher asthma risk than those who rarely drank them. This held after accounting for age, weight, smoking and other factors.
Soda alone and asthma
Drinking HFCS-sweetened soda five to seven times a week was linked to a 49 % higher asthma risk compared with rarely drinking it. Drinking it more than once a day did not show a clear link.
Apple juice and fruit drinks
Having apple juice or fruit drinks two to four times a week was linked to a 58 to 61 % higher asthma risk compared with rarely having them.
Diet soda and orange juice
Neither diet soda nor orange juice showed any link to asthma risk. Orange juice has equal amounts of fructose and glucose, unlike HFCS drinks and apple juice.
Studies in people and animals
Why HFCS may differ
The authors suggest the link may come from the high ratio of fructose to glucose in these drinks. In lab tests, unabsorbed fructose formed inflammatory compounds within one hour under gut-like conditions, but glucose did not.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that moderate and frequent intake of HFCS-sweetened soda, fruit drinks and apple juice raised asthma risk in adults, independent of weight, smoking and blood sugar issues.
- They suggest this may be due to the high fructose-to-glucose ratio, poor fructose absorption in the gut, and the formation of inflammatory compounds during digestion.
- They advise that simply telling people to cut back on sugary drinks may not be enough, since even moderate amounts of apple juice were linked to higher asthma risk.
How it was done
Earlier research linked high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) drinks to asthma, possibly because extra fructose that the gut cannot absorb forms inflammatory compounds. The authors wanted to test this idea by following adults over many years.
They followed about 2696 adults from the Framingham Offspring Cohort for roughly 17 years, starting in 1984. Participants reported how often they drank HFCS-sweetened soda, fruit drinks, apple juice, diet soda and orange juice. The researchers then tracked who developed asthma.
What it can’t tell you
- This study followed people over time, so it can show a link between these drinks and asthma but cannot prove the drinks caused it.
- Participants reported their own drink habits and asthma symptoms, which may not always be accurate.
- Most participants were non-Hispanic white Americans, so the results may not apply equally to all groups.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NHLBI NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA
The paper
- Title
- Excess free fructose, high-fructose corn syrup and adult asthma: the Framingham Offspring Cohort
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- DeChristopher LR, Tucker KL (2018). Excess free fructose, high-fructose corn syrup and adult asthma: the Framingham Offspring Cohort. The British journal of nutrition. doi:10.1017/S0007114518000417Free full textPubMed 29587887DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error