Fructose Boosts Blood Pressure, St...( All of the mice gained weight. If yo...),Health

All of the mice gained weight. "If you give them fructose at the wrong time, when they are supposed to be sleeping, it has a greater pathological effect on blood pressure and body weight," Morris said. "But they love it, no matter when they get it."

The results paralleled those of a study reported Sept. 3 online in Obesity in which mice were put on a high-fat diet. Some were fed during their normal daytime sleeping hours, and others were fed at night. The mice that ate during the day (when they were supposed to be sleeping) averaged a 48 percent weight gain, compared with 20 percent for those fed at night.

What happens in mice probably happens in people, Morris said. "We have 99 percent of the same genome," she said.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has more on high blood pressure .

SOURCES: Richard J. Johnson, M.D., professor and head, division of renal diseases and hypertension, University of Colorado, Denver; Mariana Morris, Ph.D., assistant vice president, graduate studies, and chairwoman, Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio; Sept. 23-24, 2009, presentations, American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Conference, Chicago