For the last several years, getting good answers about the health risks of
high fructose corn syrup has been difficult. There has been a lack of true scientific substantiation on either side of the debate.
Although many of us suspected this stuff really isn't healthy for us, we didn't actually know how it was affecting our bodies.
Well, a team of Princeton researchers has now released their official
findings on a high fructose corn syrup study with (not so) shocking
conclusions.
The Princeton researchers had been studying not only side effects of
high fructose corn syrup, but how your body reacts when it's ingested.
They discovered that rats which had access to high fructose corn syrup
gained significantly more weight than those with access to basic table
sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.
They did two studies and here are a few excerpts from their findings:
The first experiment — male rats given water
sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet
of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water
sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard
diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same
as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn
syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.
The second experiment — the first long-term study of
the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab
animals — monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in
rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six
months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in
high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous
condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal
weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and
augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male
rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to
high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating
a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man
gaining 96 pounds.
What does this mean to you as a consumer, chef, cook, parent and
conscious adult who cares about what goes into your body? It means all
these months that you've been reading labels and finding out what snacks
and pre-packaged foods are laced with this obesity enticing ingredient
(which seems like almost everything), the time has come to say good-bye.
Sure a candy bar packs a punch and for lack of a better phrase, really
satisfies you, but it will do more damage than eating an entire tray of
cookies fresh from the oven (and then some).
This doesn't mean you have to quit eating what you love, but it does
mean that cooking for yourself and your family is more important than
ever. Use real ingredients, use sugars and fats of all sorts, but the
time to hesitate is through when it comes to the ever present, High
Fructose Corn Syrup. As a consumer you vote with your dollar and the
more we chose foods (even if they're prepackaged) without this nasty
ingredient, the better!
Read more about Princeton's Findings from the University Website.
Here's a few more thoughts on High Fructose Corn Syrup to brush up on
what is is, why we should avoid it and even some advertisements on
television telling us that it's just fine to eat.
•
Good Question: Why Should High Fructose Corn Syrup Be Avoided?•
Food Science: The Low-Down on High-Fructose Corn Syrup•
TV Watch: New High Fructose Corn Syrup Ads
(via: Princeton University)
(Image: Flickr member Pink Shebet Photography licensed for use by Creative Commons)
Posted March 22, 2010; 10:00 a.m.
by Hilary Parker
A
Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners
are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to
high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those
with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was
the same.
In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term
consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases
in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood
fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on
the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.
"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different
than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our
results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the
conditions of our tests," said
psychology professor
Bart Hoebel,
who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar
addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels
well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single
one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't
see this; they don't all gain extra weight."
In
results published online Feb. 26 by the journal Pharmacology,
Biochemistry and Behavior, the researchers from the Department of
Psychology and the
Princeton Neuroscience Institute reported on two experiments investigating the link between the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.
The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with
high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow
gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened
with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The
concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found
in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup
solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.
The second experiment -- the first long-term study of the effects of
high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals --
monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with
access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared
to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose
corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in
humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain,
significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat
deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in
particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn
syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet.
"These rats aren't just getting fat; they're demonstrating
characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal
fat and circulating triglycerides," said Princeton graduate student
Miriam Bocarsly.
"In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high
blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes." In
addition to Hoebel and Bocarsly, the research team included Princeton
undergraduate
Elyse Powell and visiting research associate
Nicole Avena,
who was affiliated with Rockefeller University during the study and is
now on the faculty at the University of Florida. The Princeton
researchers note that they do not know yet why high-fructose corn syrup
fed to rats in their study generated more triglycerides, and more body
fat that resulted in obesity.
High-fructose
corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple
sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences
between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two
simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but
the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a
slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent
glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the
remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the
manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose
molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption
and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that
comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose
molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be
utilized.
This creates a fascinating puzzle. The rats in the Princeton study
became obese by drinking high-fructose corn syrup, but not by drinking
sucrose. The critical differences in appetite, metabolism and gene
expression that underlie this phenomenon are yet to be discovered, but
may relate to the fact that excess fructose is being metabolized to
produce fat, while glucose is largely being processed for energy or
stored as a carbohydrate, called glycogen, in the liver and muscles.
In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a
cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the
U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the
definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults
are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is
found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice,
soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average,
Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.
"Our findings lend support to the theory that the excessive consumption
of high-fructose corn syrup found in many beverages may be an important
factor in the obesity epidemic," Avena said.
The new research complements previous work led by Hoebel and Avena
demonstrating that sucrose can be addictive, having effects on the brain
similar to some drugs of abuse.
In the future, the team intends to explore how the animals respond to
the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in conjunction with a
high-fat diet -- the equivalent of a typical fast-food meal containing a
hamburger, fries and soda -- and whether excessive high-fructose corn
syrup consumption contributes to the diseases associated with obesity.
Another step will be to study how fructose affects brain function in the
control of appetite.
The research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.
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