Your soda doesn't come by its sweetness naturally. Sweet processed foods from beverages to candy rely on high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), an additive that boosts sweet flavor and syrupy texture. Unfortunately, HFCS also adds calories to your food. Worse, your body doesn't digest it well, which may lead to unexpected and even dangerous weight gain.
Definition
Corn syrup, also known as glucose syrup, is derived from starchy plants, primarily corn. HFCS is further processed to raise its sweetness, during which much of its glucose is converted to fructose. Fructose and glucose are both naturally occurring types of sugar, but HFCS contains them at concentrations much higher than what's found in nature.
Fructose in the Body
The more dangerous component of HFCS seems to be fructose, which is not processed the same way as glucose in your body. Elizabeth Parks, a professor of clinical nutrition, told "The New York Times" that fructose bypasses the normal process for converting sugars. Rather than going through the liver, fructose is almost immediately converted to body fat. A 2008 review in Obesity Reviews notes that, because humans evolved to drink only milk and water, we may have difficulty processing carbohydrates, including sugars, obtained from beverages. Our bodies handle HFCS-sweetened beverages differently from foods and unsweetened drinks, which can ultimately be dangerous to our health.
HFCS and Weight Gain
Multiple studies have shown that fructose causes fat gain. In 2009, the Journal of Clinical Investigation published a large study showing that fructose-sweetened beverages increased fat around organs and decreased the body's sensitivity to insulin. Glucose-sweetened beverages did not have this effect. A 2004 review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition theorized that HFCS-sweetened beverages may play a significant role in the obesity epidemic in America.
Misconceptions
High-fructose corn syrup has come to be seen as an unhealthy food additive. However, there's very little real difference between HFCS and table sugar, which also contains high levels of fructose. In fact, the main problem is not with the ingredient itself, but the volume at which it's consumed. Rather than cut out HFCS, try to cut back on all sugars -- and get your fructose from a natural source, like a piece of fruit.
References
- Sugar.org: Other Caloric Sweeteners
- "The New York Times"; Does Fructose Make You Fatter?; Tara Parker-Pope; July 2008
- "Obesity Reviews"; A Short History of Beverages and How Our Body Treats Them; A. Wolf et al.; March 2008
- "Journal of Clinical Investigation"; Consuming Fructose-Sweetened, Not Glucose-Sweetened, Beverages Increases Visceral Adiposity and Lipids and Decreases Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight/Obese Humans; K.L. Stanhope et al.; May 2009
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play a Role in the Epidemic of Obesity; G.A. Bray et al.; April 2004
- "Slate"; Dark Sugar - The Decline and Fall of High-Fructose Corn Syrup; Daniel Engber; April 2009
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