Health Impact of High Fructose Corn Syrup

The Dire Effects of a Ubiquitous Food Additive

Jun 30, 2009

High fructose corn syrup is cheap and has found its way into almost everything in the US supermarket. Despite protests from industry, research links it to disease.

In the United States sweetening agents are a multi billion-dollar industry. Until relatively recently the standard sweetener was sucrose, or cane sugar. Over the past thirty years a more cost effective sweetener has emerged, eclipsing sucrose as a food additive. This sweetener is called high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS is Created from Cheap Corn

HFCS is created using enzymes that break down the energy storage material in corn called starch, into individual molecules of the simple sugar glucose. A large portion of the glucose is then further transformed into a close relative, fructose. Mixtures of free glucose and fructose are often sweeter than conventional sucrose but are more cost effective. Companies save money by using this instead of growing and processing sugarcane into sucrose.

The US Consumes Large Quantities of HFCS

The major producer and consumer of HFCS is the United States which is heavily lobbied by the Corn Refiners Association. Over the past thirty years US consumption of HFCS has increased by over 1000 percent. The average US adult consumes about 55 grams of fructose a day, as 10% of total calories. The consumption is highest in adolescents (more than 73 grams a day). While fructose exists in fruits and vegetables, the majority (74%) in US diets is obtained from sweetened beverages and prepared foods.

Concentrated Fructose and Human Physiology

Human physiology is not equipped to deal with concentrated amounts of dietary fructose and it is not readily absorbed. When large amounts of glucose are added, absorption is enhanced. While HFCS and sucrose both contain glucose and fructose, there is a difference in how these substances are processed by the body. Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose bound together. Enzymes attached to cells lining the small intestine selectively break the bonds between glucose and fructose and then absorb them.

In the case of HFCS this enzyme system is bypassed. Free glucose aids the absorption of tremendous amounts of free fructose into the blood. Once in the blood, fructose bypasses the regulatory controls of the liver and pancreas to immediately become triglycerides, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and other components associated with heart disease.

Pathological Conditions Linked to Concentrated Dietary Fructose

Several clinical studies have substantiated the association between concentrated dietary fructose and obesity, insulin resistance, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and hypertension. Animal and clinical research indicates that blood triglyceride levels increase by 200% when HFCS is introduced in what may seem like insignificant quantities. Reduction of triglycerides by at least 30% is observed when all dietary HFCS is removed. Due to the rapid assimilation of fructose into fat, there is thought that this is part of the “perfect storm” leading to the current obesity and diabetes epidemic sweeping the US. Those attempting to lose weight or dealing with conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes militus, hypertension, or IBS should avoid foods with HFCS when possible.

Industry for HFCS maintains the position that its product is innocent and even natural but has of yet failed to address the substantiated physiologic pathways associating it with obesity and heart disease.

Additional Resources

Heather Basciano, Lisa Federico, and Khosrow Adeli, “Fructose, insulin resistance, and metabolic dyslipidemia,” Nutrition & Metabolism 2 (2005): 5, doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-5.

George A Bray, Samara Joy Nielsen, and Barry M Popkin, “Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity,” Am J Clin Nutr 79, no. 4 (April 1, 2004): 537-543.

Xiaosen Ouyang et al., “Fructose Consumption as a Risk Factor for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease,” Journal of hepatology 48, no. 6 (June 2008): 993–999, doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2008.02.011.

Kimber L. Stanhope et al., “Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans,” The Journal of Clinical Investigation 119, no. 5 (May 1, 2009): 1322–1334, doi:10.1172/JCI37385.

The copyright of the article Health Impact of High Fructose Corn Syrup in Food Facts is owned by James Pendleton. Permission to republish Health Impact of High Fructose Corn Syrup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.