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The High Fructose Corn Syrup Controversy
HFCS, Obesity, and Heart Disease11/05/2010 update: Studies of foods containing high fructose corn syrup find a much higher percentage of fructose than previously reported: 65/35 instead of 55/45 as discussed below.
03/23/2010 update: Two new studies may confirm the role of high fructose corn syrup in obesity.
The average American consumes more than 60 pounds of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) every year. HFCS is found as a sweetener in nearly every aisle of every supermarket in America, even in some foods that you wouldn't really consider sweet. So ubiquitous has it become that it may astonish you to learn that HFCS didn't even exist in its current form until the late 1960's. It wasn't used in foods until the mid-1970's.
The Benefits of High Fructose Corn Syrup
High fructose corn syrup has a number of features that sped its adoption by the food industry:
- It is cheaper than traditional refined sugar (sucrose) from sugar beets or sugar cane.
- It is easier and cheaper to transport than traditional sugar, because it is a liquid, and it mixes more easily.
- It has a longer shelf life than traditional sugars.
- It softens and improves moisture control in certain food products.
- It helps prevent freezer burn of frozen products.
- It helps brown bread.
These features made it extremely attractive to processed food manufacturers. But is what's good for the balance sheets of multinational food conglomerates necessarily good for our health?
The Risks of High Fructose Corn Syrup
The answer, nutritionists increasingly believe, is no.
High fructose corn syrup began to come under scrutiny when a few nutritionists noticed that the widespread introduction of high fructose corn syrup in the late 70's and early 80's corresponded suspiciously well to a sudden rise in obesity rates, after decades of relative stability.
The Rise of Obesity
Obesity rates in 1987. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/
Obesity rates in 1997. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/
Obesity rates in 2007. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/
Their investigation turned up several interesting traits.
Fructose is a natural sugar found in fruits. Though the amount in actual fruits is insignificant and any health risks are mitigated by the other nutritional benefits of fruit, in concentrated forms such as HFCS, fructose is associated with many health problems.
It has long been known that fructose does not promote the production ofinsulin, as glucose and other sugars do. It also does not signal the production of leptin, a hormone produced by the body's fat cells. Insulin and leptin both play in important role in regulating appetite. Both signal the body to start suppressing appetite. For this reason, some researchers believe that consuming a diet that is high in fructose, especially concentrated fructose in isolation, may encourage people to eat more calories and therefore gain more weight.
Additionally, insulin helps metabolize glucose so it is burned quickly as energy. Fructose, in contrast, is metabolized by the liver, and when large or concentrated amounts of fructose are consumed, the liver cannot metabolize it fast enough and converts it to triglycerides - fat - instead. High triglyceride levels are a major risk factor for heart disease and many other health problems.
High fructose consumption is also associated with greater insulin resistance, a risk factor for type two (adult onset) diabetes, and increased risk of kidney stones, bowel disorders, and other problems.
Researchers at Yale University recently announced that they may have found the"missing link" between high fructose corn syrup and diabetes. They believe that high consumption of fructose leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, due to fructose's ready conversion to fat in the liver. Fatty liver disease then impedes the function of the liver, resulting in insulin resistance and, eventually, type 2 diabetes.
HFCS, or Sugar in General to Blame?
Fructose occurs in HFCS at a rate of about 55% fructose to 45% glucose, slightly higher than the 50/50 ratio of table sugar. It is unclear whether the 5% difference in fructose concentration between HFCS and table sugar would really make a significant difference in obesity and heart disease rates. Some researchers feel that the issue isn't HFCS itself, but rather the total amount of sugars of any sort consumed.
UPDATE - In November 2010, new studies emerged finding that the percentage of fructose in foods containing HFCS was higher than previously claimed: 65% fructose to 35% glucose, instead of 55% fructose to 45% glucose. Although a 5% difference in fructose between HFCS and table sugar is not generally considered significant, a 15% difference is, and this may account for the serious health impacts of excess HFCS consumption.
Soft drink consumption, for example, skyrocketed 200% among teenagers between 1965 and 1996, while milk consumption dropped 36%. The USDA suggests people limit themselves to 10-12 teaspoons of added sugars per day, the amount contained in a single average can of soda pop. Among teenagers, one fourth of boys drink more than 2 cans per day, and one in twenty drinks 5 cans or more every day. Rates are similar for girls.
Combine high soda consumption with the HFCS found in everything from breakfast cereal and bagels to ketchup and hot dog buns to canned soups and pasta sauces, and the severity of the problem becomes clear. With consumption rates like this, does it really matter what kind of sugar we're eating and drinking?
Well... it might.
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