Fructose: a lipogenic nutrient implicated in metabolic syndrome and chronic kidney disease

Fructose is a simple sugar that is the primary nutrient in fruits and honey, which are classically considered healthy foods. Fructose is also a major component of refined sugar, which has classically been viewed as a nonnutritional food or “empty calorie.” In the last decades the viewpoint that fructose is simply a caloric source of nutrition has shifted to one that places it at the top of the list for driving diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The new studies have raised important questions related to the optimal diet for subjects with chronic or end-stage kidney disease, in which historic recommendations focused primarily on a restriction of proteins (especially red meats) and high-fat diets. Here we both review the role of fructose in the subject with chronic kidney disease and also make recommendations for management.