The average American consumes an amazing 60 lbs. of high fructose corn syrup every year, most of it from soda and other sugary soft drinks, according to Princeton University researchers. High fructose corn syrup is an industrially made sweetener that is a combination of glucose and fructose. HFCS is associated with obesity and serious chronic health problems.
HFCS and Obesity
High fructose corn syrup was developed and introduced into the American diet approximately 40 years ago. At that time, about 15 percent of adults were obese. Now, roughly a third of U.S. adults are obese, meaning they weigh 20 percent or more over their ideal weight. Soft drinks that contain HFCS are a significant factor in this obesity epidemic, according to researchers involved a 2010 study at Princeton University. HFCS was found to cause more weight gain than regular sugar, abnormally high levels of fats in the blood and an increased abdominal girth -- a risk factor associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Soft Drinks and Type 2 Diabetes
Adults who drink just one or two sweetened soft drinks each day have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a serious but preventable disorder that can lead to amputations, kidney failure, heart disease and blindness. Soft drinks, such as soda, fruit drinks, sports drinks and sweetened iced tea, were found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by 26 percent in a Harvard analysis of data collected from 11 studies involving a total of about 320,000 people. Soft drinks were also linked to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of symptoms including high blood pressure, an enlarged waistline, and increased blood sugar and triglycerides, that point to an increased risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.
Recommended Limits
The recommended daily limit of added sugars for women is 6 tsp., or 24 g, and 9 tsp., or 36 g, for men. Everyone should limit their intake of sweetened soft drinks to a maximum of 36 oz. per week, according to the American Heart Association, because the calories in sweetened soft drinks cause more weight gain than the calories in solid foods.
Healthy Alternatives
A typical 12 oz. soft drink has about 10 to 12 tsp. of sugar in the form of HFCS, and the increasingly popular 20 oz. size can contain as much as 17 tsp. Curb your soft drink habit and reduce your risk of chronic disease by drinking healthy beverages instead. Try plain water with sliced lemon, cucumber or crushed fresh mint, unsweetened herbal iced tea or sparkling water flavored with 1 oz. of fruit juice.
References
- "News at Princeton"; A Sweet Problem: Researchers Find that High Fructose Corn Syrup Prompts Considerable More Weight Gain; Hilary Parker; March 22, 2010
- Harvard School of Public Health: Time to Focus on Healthier Drinks
- Harvard School of Public Health: Sugary Drinks or Diet Drinks: What's the Best Choice?
- AARP: Sodas and Other Sweet Drinks Raise the Risk of Diabetes
- American Heart Association: Frequently Asked Questions About Sugar
- The Free Dictionary: Obese
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