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The Real Scoop on High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sugar
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Bob sent me an email wanting to know if bee honey is more fattening than jelly or jam when used on a piece of bread. Bob, it’s your personal preference. The calories in a tablespoon of honey, jam or jelly average 55-65 and there is very little difference nutritionally so enjoy your favorite. The key to weight maintenance is portion control and the total calories you take in every day against how many you burn off in daily activities and exercise. Your question, Bob, ties in with the current urban myth that high fructose corn syrup is the evil sweetener that is making everyone fat. It reminds me of when eggs got such a bad rap and people stopped eating them because they were told their cholesterol would go up. Then research clearly showed us that cholesterol levels in the body elevate because of the total saturated fat in the diet, not the cholesterol in an egg.
The real deal about high fructose corn syrup is that your body doesn’t see it any differently than sugar or honey. Why? Because HFCS is comprised of approximately equal ratios of glucose and fructose just like sugar (sucrose) and honey. It is purified from corn with no artificial ingredients as sugar is derived from sugar cane and sugar beets. Sugar and corn syrup are equally sweet and both contain four calories per gram. You might have heard that honey is healthier than either sugar or HFCS. Honey does contain small amounts of proteins, vitamins and minerals, but these compounds together make up less than 0.5% of honey. Depending on the type of floral, honey does contain varying levels of antioxidants.
There is no difference in how the body metabolizes table sugar and high fructose corn syrup. This past June The American Medical Association concluded from evidence-based research that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.” Bottom line…HFCS doesn’t make you any fatter than sugar or honey. Yes, as a country Americans are heavier than we’ve ever been. Portion sizes are obscene. We consume more calories from all food sources including foods made with sweeteners and we exercise way less. The remote control and computer mouse see all the action.
Consider the 90-10 way of eating…90% of the time you make the healthiest choices possible and then 10% of the time you allow for treats. Become a label sleuth and be aware of the amount of sweet treats and sweeteners that you consume. It’s all about the calories.
Dr. Susan
Dr. Mitchell is co-author of Fat is Not Your Fate, Eat to Stay Young and I’d Kill for a Cookie.
Listen to her weekly Internet Show on AM580 WDBO: http://580wdbo.com/healthcenter/
Visit her websites: http://www.susanmitchell.org and http://www.fatisnotyourfate.com
Comments
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Posted December 2, 2008 11:06 AM
I wonder who funded the research that says HFCS is digested the same as sugar in your body. I have seen information from other MD's saying that in fact it is not digested the same way. That it goes right to your cells with little digestion at all, that it is one of the major contributors to high colestoral, and that if at all possible it should not be in a healthy diet. The only stated reason most companies use HFCS is cost.
Posted November 29, 2008 2:56 PM
The reason fructose is worse than sucrose is due to glycation and advanced glycation end products. Glycation is the addition of a sugar to proteins and lipids (fats) in the body. This is not an enzymatic process, but occurs randomly. This is a natural process. Some of the glycation events progress further to advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Some AGEs are very reactive and cause damage to the body. AGEs are involved in aging and the damage that results from diabetes. (Glycated hemaglobin. HbA1c, is used as a measure of diabetes.) Addtionally they are implicated in cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer's as well as a number of other diseases.
The body has mechanisms to remove AGEs. However, the more sugar in the blood etc the higher the rate of formation of AGEs. High levels of circulating sugars in the body increases the rate of AGE formation and there is a build up in the body.
Fructose forms AGEs at a much high rate than glucose. Sucrose (regular sugar) is a composed of glucose and fructose. Whereas, of course, high fructose corn syrup is made of all fructose. The more fructose circulating in the body, the higher the rate of AGEs formed, the increased rate of aging and the increased risk of "age-related" diseases.
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