High-Fructose Corn Syrup – Killing Us Sweetly

There once was a time in the not-so-distant past when food was something you ate or drank to nourish your body. It's a necessity of life -- like air and water -- and you could usually depend on food to be nourishing and healthy. But then, in the 1970’s, something happened. Someone decided that food didn't have to be nutritious or healthy -- as long as they could make a profit from selling it. This line of thinking caught on and has grown within the food industry over the past 40 years to the point that many experts are saying that we are experiencing an epidemic of health problems directly related to our diet. This article will cover one of the dietary factors that is causing this epidemic – high fructose corn syrup.

We are being poisoned by a common additive present in a wide array of processed foods like soft drinks, salad dressings, cakes and cookies, breakfast cereals, brand-name breads, BBQ sauce, yogurt, mayonnaise, ketchup, fruit juices, …the list of products goes on and on and on but this killer is in almost every processed food that you buy!

This commonplace additive silently increases our risk of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. The name of this toxic additive is high-fructose corn syrup (aka glucose-fructose syrup, corn sugar, glucose/fructose or high-fructose maize syrup, HFCS). It is so prevalent in processed foods and so over-consumed by the average American that many experts believe our nation faces the prospect of an epidemic of metabolic disease in the future, related in significant degree to excess consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.
 
In the past, cane sugar had been America’s most delightful sweetener of choice, that is, until the 1970s, when the much less expensive corn-derived sweeteners like maltodextrin and high-fructose corn syrup were developed. While regular table sugar (sucrose, as bad as that is) is 50% fructose and 50% glucose, high-fructose corn syrup can contain up to 80% fructose and 20% glucose, over 150% the fructose of common table sugar! Both table sugar and high-fructose sweetener contain four calories per gram, so calories alone are not the key problem with high-fructose corn syrup. Rather, metabolism of excess amounts of fructose is the major concern.

The alarming rise in diseases related to poor lifestyle habits and lack of exercise has been mirrored by an equally dramatic increase in fructose consumption, particularly in the form of the corn-derived sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup. The sweetener industry and the FDA has lobbied us to believe that high-fructose corn syrup is a benign food additive, but most nutritional experts believe that it is a dangerously overlooked threat to public health.

HFCS and Disease

While cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer in America, scientists have noted that “we are experiencing an epidemic of heart and kidney disease characterized by increasing rates of obesity, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease.” Add to this list a disturbing rise in new cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and you have a public health crisis of enormous proportions. In addition, a study in 2005, published by Renee; LeBlanc, Blaise; Schnoll, Roseanne; et al. (2009), found trace amounts of mercury within nine of twenty samples involved, having likely leached into the solutions during the manufacturing process. In March, 2010, Bart Hoebel and colleagues at Princeton University published a study in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior saying animals eating HFCS were far more likely to develop obesity than those eating equal amounts of table sugar.

With a growing urgency, scientists are examining the relationship between consumption of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and numerous adverse medical conditions. And they’re coming away with a sour taste in the mouth. Emerging research shows that excessive dietary fructose, largely from consumption of HFCS, represents “an important, but not well-appreciated dietary change,” which has “…rapidly become an important causative factor in the development of the metabolic syndrome,” a conglomeration of risk factors that greatly elevates the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Other research suggests that high dietary fructose consumption contributes to obesity and insulin resistance, encourages kidney stone formation, promotes gout and is contributing to an upsurge in cases of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Furthermore, high dietary fructose consumption is associated with increased production of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are linked with the complications of diabetes and with the aging process itself.

Stealthy Insertion Into the Food Chain

With little fanfare, and even less scrutiny, HFCS was introduced into the food supply four decades ago. It is now commonly found in an astounding array of popular food and beverage products. Sweetened, carbonated soft drinks are considered by many to be the worst offenders. Real sugar is very expensive because of sugar tariffs and import quotas. Even with all the chemistry and processing, HFCS is still the cheapest way to sweeten food. It's also said to extend the shelf-life of products and is much easier to mix in food because it's a liquid. Over the past 40 years, as methods for producing HFCS improved, food and beverage companies have replaced all other sweeteners with HFCS and it has mixes well with a variety of products, including beverages, baked goods, jams and jellies, candies, and dairy products. In fact, between 1970 and 1990, the annual intake of HFCS increased by more than 1,000%, greatly exceeding the change in intake of any other food or food group. High-fructose corn syrup is now the primary caloric sweetener added to soft drinks in the United States, and comprises more than 40% of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages.

While it is derived from a natural source, HFCS is essentially an unnatural product, in the sense that for most of human history we consumed no more than about 15 grams of fructose per day (approximately one-half ounce), mostly from fruits and vegetables. In contrast, daily consumption in 1997 was estimated to have increased to 81 grams (nearly three ounces) per day. For the first time in history, humans are consuming fructose at extraordinarily high levels.

The Dangers of Fructose

High dietary intake of fructose is problematic because fructose is metabolized differently from glucose. Like fructose, glucose is a simple sugar. Derived from the breakdown of carbohydrates, glucose is a primary source of ready energy. Sucrose (table sugar) comprises one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose. Thus, excessive sucrose intake also contributes to the rise in overall daily fructose consumption. Glucose can be metabolized and converted to ATP, which is readily “burned” for energy by the cells’ mitochondria. Alternatively, glucose can be stored in the liver as a carbohydrate for later conversion to energy. Fructose, on the other hand, is more rapidly metabolized in the liver, flooding metabolic pathways and leading to increased triglyceride synthesis and fat storage in the liver. This can cause a rise in serum triglycerides, promoting an atherogenic lipid profile and elevating cardiovascular risk. Increased fat storage in the liver may lead to an increased incidence in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and this is one of several links between HFCS consumption and obesity as well as the metabolic syndrome.

Fructose may have less impact on appetite than glucose, so processed foods rich in fructose can contribute to weight gain, obesity, and its related consequences by failing to manage appetite. Additionally, loading of the liver with large amounts of fructose leads to increased uric acid formation, which may contribute to gout in susceptible individuals.

What You Need to Know: Health-Damaging Effects of Excess Dietary Fructose

·         Dietary intake of fructose, particularly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), has dramatically increased in the US in recent decades. Increased HFCS consumption has paralleled increasing rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other conditions associated with poor lifestyle habits. ·         High-fructose corn syrup is found in sweetened carbonated soft drinks as well as in many packaged foods such as cakes, cookies, jams, jellies, and crackers. ·         Excess fructose intake has been associated with adverse health effects such as metabolic syndrome, elevated triglyceride levels, hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, excess uric acid levels (associated with gout), and elevated levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs; linked with aging and complications of diabetes). ·         Minimizing intake of dietary fructose is essential to mitigating its potentially dangerous effects. Sources of dietary fructose include HFCS, fruit juices, honey, and table sugar (sucrose; comprising fructose and glucose). ·         Targeted nutritional strategies can help avert some of the damaging effects of excess fructose intake. Beneficial nutrients include benfotiamine, alpha-lipoic acid, carnosine, pyridoxamine, acetyl-L-carnitine, vitamin C, and fish oil.

 

Fructose Linked With Insulin Resistance and Diabetes

The high flux of fructose to the liver, the main organ capable of metabolizing this simple carbohydrate, disturbs glucose metabolism and uptake pathways and leads to metabolic disturbances that underlie the induction of insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes.

In fact, the effect of HFCS on insulin resistance has been shown to have an impact on the prevalence of diabetes. In 2004, investigators conducted an ecological correlation study, in which they compared the relationship between food consumption of refined carbohydrates and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the US from 1909 to 1997. They found that during this period, the use of corn syrup sweeteners, which were almost non-existent at the turn of the century, increased by more than 100%. During the same period, the prevalence of diabetes skyrocketed. After controlling for total energy intake from other foods such as fats and proteins, only the increase in corn syrup and a decrease in fiber intake correlated positively with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

Scientists have therefore come to realize that all sugars are not created equal, which has been borne out in a number of studies. In one study, investigators looked at whether reduction in insulin sensitivity was caused by glucose or fructose components of the diet. They took two groups of young healthy men and fed one group a high-glucose diet, while the other received a diet high in fructose. At the end of one week, high-fructose feeding was accompanied by a significant reduction in insulin sensitivity and insulin binding, whereas no significant changes were seen in the high-glucose group. Another study found that diets containing a moderate amount of fructose produced undesirable changes in glucose metabolism in both normal and hyper-insulinemic men.

Fructose-Induced Hypertension

Very few people realize that excess fructose intake may contribute to hypertension. High blood pressure is a well-known comorbidity associated with obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperlipidemia. Hypertension is part of a cluster of dangerous disorders called the metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by insulin resistance and is a key factor in the development of many vascular diseases.

Excess fructose contributes to hypertension by inhibiting a key enzyme called endothelial nitric oxide synthase, which is located in blood vessels walls and is essential for the production of the vasodilator, nitric oxide. By allowing healthy blood vessels to relax and ensuring smooth blood flow in vessels, nitric oxide is absolutely necessary for preventing hypertension, coronary artery disease, and erectile dysfunction.


2010: The Princeton Study reveals the terrible truth

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

When lab rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board!

In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly 33% of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. Today, on average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.

Strategies to Prevent or Minimize Dangers of Excess Dietary Fructose

Today, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) hasbecome nearly ubiquitous in the food supply. The sticky stuff features prominently in everything from packaged cereals and convenience drinks to ketchup and baked goods. Sugary soft drinks are thought to be the single largest source of this fructose-rich sweetener. The best way to avoid the dangers of excess dietary fructose is to avoid foods with added sugars as well as processed or pre-packaged foods and undiluted fruit juices. Instead, focus on a heart-healthy diet—such as the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes whole grains, fresh vegetables, low-fat dairy, fresh fish, and limited meat. Other tips to protect yourself against the danger of excess fructose include: ·         Avoid all sweetened soft drinks. Consider switching to an alternative, such as sparkling water, herbal tea, or green tea (stick to home-brewed teas, since most commercially available bottled tea is brimming with HFCS). ·         Read product labels carefully. Avoid any products containing “high-fructose corn syrup” or fructose. Fruit juices—even unsweetened juices—contain fructose and should not be consumed in excess. Fruit juice diluted with sparkling water is delicious and contains less fructose than undiluted juice. ·         Find ways to cut your overall intake of table sugar. Sucrose consists of one molecule of glucose and one of fructose. Thus, sucrose consumption can contribute to unnaturally high fructose levels. Furthermore, research suggests that sucrose may have similar adverse metabolic effects as fructose, thus contributing to obesity and metabolic syndrome. ·         Try using the natural non-caloric sweetener stevia extract in your coffee, tea, or homemade desserts. ·         Consider writing a letter to the manufacturers of your favorite products; ask them to market alternatives to HFCS-sweetened products. If enough people vote with their pocketbooks, manufacturers may eventually respond with more healthful products. ·         Consider taking supplements that may prevent or ameliorate the damage associated with elevated blood sugar.

 Now that you're educated as to the dangers of HFCS, please change the way you eat. If you do eat any processed food be sure to read the label and remember that ingredients are listed in the order of their percentage contained in the food that you're buying. Be healthy!