In the 1970's, manufacturers started sweetening foods and drinks with HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup.) HFCS is cheaper than sugar, has a longer shelf life than sugar and is slightly sweeter than sugar. There are actually 3 different levels of sweetness for HFCS; HFCS-55, HFCS-42 and HFCS 90. HFCS- 42 means the syrup contains 42% fructose and 58% glucose while HFCS -55 contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. HFCS 90 is 90% fructose and is not used in foods but rather to change HFGS-42 to HFCS-55.
HFCS is created from corn and starts out as entirely glucose and then enzymes are added which change some of the glucose into fructose. Sucrose (table sugar) is made from cane or sugar beets and is also composed of glucose and fructose. The confusing thing is that the bonds connecting the glucose and fructose are different for sucrose compared to HFCS. The body produces a special enzyme called sucrase whose primary job is break down sucrose into glucose and fructose.
Syrup for canned fruits, desserts, bread, salad dressings, ketchup, jams, sauces, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups, baked good, ice cream, even baby foods typically use the HFCS-42 version while carbonated beverages are usually sweetened with the 55% HFCS version. About 55% of sweeteners added to foods during the manufacturing of foods and drinks today in the United States contain HFCS. Other countries, including Mexico, typically use sugar in soft drinks. When low fat foods are manufactured, they typically have HFCS added to them to make up for the fat that was removed. It seems foods need either sweetener or fat to taste good. I read one article that suggested the number one source of caloric intake in the U.S. was in the form of HFCS.
And in case you are wondering, HRCS is very different from the corn syrup we buy to cook with from the grocery store. Also very different from the fructose naturally in food. Fruits, for instance apples, grapes, berries, dried fruits as well as sweeteners like honey and molasses have less than 10% fructose in them.
HFCS has even gotten into the farming industry here in the United States. Beekeepers are using HFCS to feed their honeybees rather than sucrose which is what they used to be fed. A study done in 2012 (Chensheng Lu et al.) found that at high temperatures, the HFCS forms a toxic substance that can kill honeybees.
Many other experts are now producing research that questions the use of HFCS in our foods. Robert H. Lustig, M.D. (Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California, San Francisco, and Director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health [WATCH] Program at UCSF) has been studying the differences between HFCS and other sugars and finds that fructose is absorbed from the G.I. tract and metabolized differently than glucose. Fructose is metabolized 100% in the liver and then enters the pathways that produce triglycerides. Triglycerides are blood lipids that aid in the transferring of adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver. Other findings from his research find that because every cell in your body is created to burn glucose, glucose tends to be burned while HFCS ends up being turned into free fatty acids (FFAs), VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat. The fatty acids created during fructose metabolism accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD.) Fructose is much more lipophilic than glucose and is turned into activated glycerol (g-3-p), which then turns free fatty acids into triglycerides. The more g-3-p you have, the more fat you store. Glucose does not do this. ) Insulin resistance progresses to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes. In addition, the metabolism of fructose by your liver creates multiple waste products and toxins, including a large amount of uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout.
Eat 120 calories of glucose and your body will store less than one calorie as fat. Eat 120 calories of fructose and your body stores 40 calories as fat. In addition, after a meal including glucose, the hunger hormone ghrelin is suppressed and the appetite suppressing hormone leptin is stimulated. Consuming fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
The Journal of Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, (published online Feb. 26, 2012) reported on two studies that showed that rats become obese drinking HFCS at half the strength of soft drinks but do not become obese drinking sugar sweetened soft drinks with sugar at the full concentration. The second study showed that rats fed both HFCS and rat chow for 6 months developed metabolic syndrome while the rats eating only rat chow did not.
Other issues that worry me regarding HFCS include the fact that the corn used to create HFCS is all genetically modified corn. Crystalline fructose (an extra strength version now being used in foods and beverages) may contain arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals. A study published in Environmental Health (2009) reported mercury found in nine of 20 commercial HFCS samples with an estimated daily mercury intake of up to 28 micrograms. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a non-profit watchdog group, tested 55 HFCS-containing products and detected mercury in one out of every three products. In 2007, a bill was proposed (S. 1818 "Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act",) to stop all manufacturing of HFCS using mercury cells as of January 1, 2012. Unfortunately, the bill died and there is no indication its status will change. Under current regulations, manufacturers of HFCS do not have to disclose to the food manufacturers that use their products whether they are using mercury cell technology.
If you have to have a sweetener, the healthiest choices are stevia (which is made from an herb and marketed under the trade name Truvia), organic cane sugar in small amounts, organic raw honey (also in very small amounts), and avoid agave syrup (which is 100% fructose) as well as all artificial sweeteners, fruit juices and fruit drinks, energy drinks and sports drinks. The healthiest drink is still water. Second choice is plain coffee or tea. If we stopped buying products containing HFCS we would both stop the obesity epidemic in the United States as well as force manufacturers to stop using HFCS.
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