What is HFCS?
Before I explain what HFCS is, we need to review sugar. A Monosaccharide is the big fancy word for the simplest structure of sugar. There are different kinds of monosaccharides—glucose, fructose, galactose, xylose and ribose. We mostly care about only about glucose, fructose and galactose. These sugars are found in different combinations in the foods we eat. For example, the table sugar is glucose/fructose combination. The sugar found in milk is glucose/galactose.
To get HFCS, we start with corn syrup which is made up of fructose/glucose, the same basic building blocks as table sugar, but a little bit different. The corn syrup is enzymatically changed so that it has a higher ratio of fructose to glucose than normal corn syrup. The end result is something very similar chemically to honey.
Why is HFCS in everything?
HFCS is in everything because it’s cheap. I don’t understand agricultural law, but there are tarrifs on sugar and subsidies for corn in the United States. The end result is that sugar is much more expensive in the United States than any other part of the world. And Corn is cheaper. The process to make HFCS is to make the corn syrup sweeter so they don’t have to use as much of it, again making it cheaper.
What’s the fear?
As the use of HFCS increases, the rate of obesity, type 2 diabetes and CVD has also been increasing. This leads many to believe that HFCS is the cause.
(Another branch of fear of HFCS is related to the use of genetically modified corn (GMO’s). That’s a topic all in itself, so we will just focus on if HFCS is what is making us fat.)
What we need to know is that if the body reacts differently to HFCS than to regular sugar and if that is, in any way, what is contributing to rampant obesity.
Research Says
As I began to dig into the research of HFCS, I found several problems with the research. First, many studies were funded by either parties that would profit from HFCS being tarnished (sugar companies) and parties that would profit from HFCS being exonerated.
Second, most studies are of a correlative nature. Meaning, lets look at the statistics and see if they somehow make sense. And what's the number one rule of statistics? "Correlation does not imply causation." I was not finding any good controlled studies, the kind that show cause and affect. (As a personal preference, I don't count rat studies.) I summed up a few of the articles I found below.
The resounding message I got from the research was that HFCS is just as bad as regular sugar. Both are, simply put, extra calories. Extra calories lead to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. I will submit that there needs to be better and more research with controlled studies on HFCS just to make sure there isn't something we're missing.
Take Home Message
As we feed ourselves and our families, we need to think about the added sugar/calories we and they are getting. I suggest that if we are going to avoid HFCS, we need to do it not because were scared of HFCS, but because were scared of added sugars. Here are some other added sugars to be aware of:
- Anything that ends in "ose" dextrose, glucose, fructose
- cane syrup, cane juice
- fruit juice concentrates, nectars
- honey (there's no nutritional advantage to honey over other sugars)
- malt syrup
- molasses
- Remember that ingredients in foods are listed by weight. The higher up on the list a food is, the more of it is in that food. If an added sugar is high on the list, then you know that food is high in added sugar. If it's near the end of the list, you don't need to worry about it as much.
- Stop buying soda or juices. If you are frequenting a fast food place, get your kids the milk (even chocolate) or water option. Be mindful of the times you or your child is getting a soda or other sugary drink--you may be unaware of just how often that is.
- Put smaller portions of ketchup on your child's plate. If you have a ketchup-loving kid that wants it on everything, tell them that you can only give them ketchup for specific foods (i.e. ketchup is only for hotdogs and fries).
- Limit meals eaten out at restaurants--they add sugar to make it taste better. Don't add sugar to your own cooking.
- Opt for a less sugary cereal. Here is a list of breakfast cereals and the amount of added sugar by weight. I suggest you find the cereals you usually eat, see how much added sugar is in it and then find a few options that have less added sugar in it.
Research and some other sources of info
The American Medical Association wanted to know how HFCS measured up against other sweeteners. They looked at the research others had done on HFCS (not quite a meta-study) and concluded that the composition and the way the body absorbs HFCS is so similar to table sugar, it is unlikely that HFCS is contributing more to obesity than table sugar. They do say that more research needs to be done.
This article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looks at global statistics of HFCS and other sweetener use and obesity rates. The author concludes that the hypothesis of a HFCS-Obesity link is not supported by these statistics. He says that the increase of calories (and increase of obesity) starting in the 1970s was due to an increase of all nutrients, fats included.
This study found an increased correlation between type 2 diabetes and the use of HFCS within a country. In countries where HFCS was prevelant, there was a 20% increased liklihood of type 2 diabetes.
Mayo Clinic "What is high fructose corn syrup? What are the health concerns?"
Princeton university research showed that rats fed HFCS gained more weight than rats fed other sugars, but had a similar caloric intake.
Harvard University "High Fructose Syrup and Health"
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