the dangers of high fructose corn syrup
From 1977 to 2001, the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages containing fructose has increased 135%. Think that doesn't matter? Think again.
Fructose used to enjoy something of a good reputation as sugars go, largely because- unlike other sugars- it doesn't raise blood sugar very quickly. This property made it a long-standing favorite of diabetics and those who treated them. But like so much other "conventional" wisdom, this turned out to be anything but wise.
Fructose- and it's "steroid" version known as high-fructose corn syrup- have become "ubiqui-foods". They're everywhere, we consume them in insanely high amounts, and the health costs are just beginning to be recognized. New research points to some of the possible consequences.
In one study, overweight and obese adults were instructed to eat their usual diet along with sugar sweetened beverages. One group was asked to consume 25% of the day's calorie requirement as a specially made beverage sweetened with glucose. The other group was given an identical beverage sweetened with fructose. Both groups were allowed to eat as little or as much of their usual diet as they wanted, but were required to drink the sugar beverages.
Not surprisingly, all subjects gained weight. But the fructose-consuming subjects gained intra-abdominal fat, whereas the glucose subjects did not.
Why does this matter? Because intra-abdominal fat- the kind that makes you more of an apple than a pear- is the most dangerous kind of fat to carry around. It puts you at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease and a constellation of symptoms called Metabolic Syndrome, an almost certain path to either heart disease or diabetes. The fructose-consuming subjects also had increases in fasting insulin and in fasting glucose, both of which are associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Triglycerides have long been recognized as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In many of the previous human studies on fructose, researchers have measured fasting triglycerides, and fructose didn't always have much effect on fasting levels. But in this study, researchers measured triglycerides after eating- what's called a post-prandial measurement. In the fructose group, post prandial triglycerides more than doubled.
While the research is preliminary and needs to be borne out by future studies, high fructose consumption could well be setting consumers up for atherosclerosis. The overweight men and women assigned to drink the fructose-sweetened beverages developed a more athrogenic lipid profiles in just two weeks.
Consider that In 2006 five different publications came out showing that adolescents, college students and adults under 50 were consuming as much as 15-20 percent of calories just from sugar sweetened beverages- and that doesn't include the sugar calories from cakes and desserts. Most of this sugar comes from high-fructose corn syrup.
Do the math.
Fructose used to enjoy something of a good reputation as sugars go, largely because- unlike other sugars- it doesn't raise blood sugar very quickly. This property made it a long-standing favorite of diabetics and those who treated them. But like so much other "conventional" wisdom, this turned out to be anything but wise.
Fructose- and it's "steroid" version known as high-fructose corn syrup- have become "ubiqui-foods". They're everywhere, we consume them in insanely high amounts, and the health costs are just beginning to be recognized. New research points to some of the possible consequences.
In one study, overweight and obese adults were instructed to eat their usual diet along with sugar sweetened beverages. One group was asked to consume 25% of the day's calorie requirement as a specially made beverage sweetened with glucose. The other group was given an identical beverage sweetened with fructose. Both groups were allowed to eat as little or as much of their usual diet as they wanted, but were required to drink the sugar beverages.
Not surprisingly, all subjects gained weight. But the fructose-consuming subjects gained intra-abdominal fat, whereas the glucose subjects did not.
Why does this matter? Because intra-abdominal fat- the kind that makes you more of an apple than a pear- is the most dangerous kind of fat to carry around. It puts you at greater risk for diabetes, heart disease and a constellation of symptoms called Metabolic Syndrome, an almost certain path to either heart disease or diabetes. The fructose-consuming subjects also had increases in fasting insulin and in fasting glucose, both of which are associated with a greater risk of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Triglycerides have long been recognized as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In many of the previous human studies on fructose, researchers have measured fasting triglycerides, and fructose didn't always have much effect on fasting levels. But in this study, researchers measured triglycerides after eating- what's called a post-prandial measurement. In the fructose group, post prandial triglycerides more than doubled.
While the research is preliminary and needs to be borne out by future studies, high fructose consumption could well be setting consumers up for atherosclerosis. The overweight men and women assigned to drink the fructose-sweetened beverages developed a more athrogenic lipid profiles in just two weeks.
Consider that In 2006 five different publications came out showing that adolescents, college students and adults under 50 were consuming as much as 15-20 percent of calories just from sugar sweetened beverages- and that doesn't include the sugar calories from cakes and desserts. Most of this sugar comes from high-fructose corn syrup.
Do the math.
Labels: high fructose corn syrup obesity heart disease overweight, sugar
Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S. is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health and is the author of several best-selling books.
You make a case for a diet high in FRUCTOSE being potentially problematic. How do you make the leap to HFCS, which is very similar in fructose content to sucrose being problematic? Stay focused doc. Americans are not eating high fructose diets. diets high in HFCS, possibly, since it is the cheapest, preferred sweetener in the US. But obesity and diabetes are afflicitng all developed nations, and most outside the US do not use HFCS.
Rather than add to confusion by relating an abnormally high frustose research diet to mixed sugar HFCS, spread the word to quite ingesting so much sugar and junk...period! It is all useless calories that the US population does not move enough to justify eating.
In response to Mr. "Reason": Encouraging a general solution is all well and good, but consider that people are the same everywhere; at least, they start out the same and over a lifetime accumulate habits that either save them from health problems or doom them. So why aren't you asking: What about the American ENVIRONMENT makes people end up obese? Here's a possibility for you: American store shelves are absolutely _crammed_ with foods that contain added sugar; and not just any old sugar, but sugar that has been refined, and refined towards a composition that triggers a sharper insulin response, because that delivers the sweetest taste. As a consequence, Americans develop a sweet tooth without even being aware of it. You can't just tell people: "Quit eating so much junk!". You need to instead say: "Quit putting so much junk into our 'staple' foods!" But why would any food manufacturer listen to you, when HFCS has been rendered extremely cheap by tariffs, and it also moves product and makes dollars? You can yell at individuals all you want about their food choices, but lock them in a room for five hours with a cake, a pie, a soda, a shake, a chocolate bar, a cookie, and a single artichoke, and your advice won't mean jack squat. It's the environment.
Hey guys! We're all on the same page!
I agree with both of you- if you're new to my blog and writing, let me assure you I've been asking those same questions and raging about those same issues for years!
And you're right that HFCS is not SUBSTANTIALLY worse than sucrose, just way more available, and cheaper, and added in huge quantities to everything,making it far more prevalent in the diet supply than the (equally bad) sucrose was.
Thanks for the passion and the comments!
warmly
jb
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