HFCS: A Health & Wellness Danger
Dr. Victor L. Dees, DC
Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, light and dark corn syrup: very roughly translated these substances are more aptly named sugary sugar, ultimate ultra-sugary sugar, sugary plain sugar and sugary sugar with a bit of molasses. When shopping all consumers should take a moment to read the food labels and insure that they are not purchasing products that contain HFSC or any of its similar sugars. Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Chronic Inflammation and a host of related conditions are exacerbated and/or perpetuated by the over indulgence of these ingredients. Yes, sugar is sugar, but sugar is also pro-inflammatory and acts as pro-pathological biochemical initiators when ingested over time and at pathologic amounts.
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High Fructose Corn Syrup is Making People Fat and Keeping Them Fat
The trouble with high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, is that it is not metabolized by the body in the same way as honey, sugar, and fruit is. Obesity in the US has reached epidemic proportions, and HFCS has been a very big contributor. Not only does HFCS boost fat storage, but animal studies indicate a link between increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and health problems like diabetes and high cholesterol.
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In the decades since High Fructose Corn Syrup's introduction, it has crept into the food stream at almost every level. Statistics reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition state that consumption of HFCS has increased 1000% from 1970 to 1990. The researchers found that lipogenesis, the process by which sugars are turned into body fat, increased significantly when the study subjects drank the drinks with fructose. When fructose was given at breakfast, the body was more likely to store the fats eaten at lunch.
It is everywhere today in the American cuisine. All sodas in the United States use varying amounts of HFCS in their recipes. Candy, breakfast cereals, juice cocktails are all loaded with high fructose corn syrup. It is even to be found in places where no one would suspect it to be like some whole grain breads, peanut butter and yogurt. In fact, HFCS represents 40% of all sweeteners added to foods in the United States.
Isn't It Natural Since It's Made From Corn?
Even though corn is the parent substance from which high fructose corn syrup is made, this does not mean that the end product in anyway resembles its parent. The nutritive value of the corn is stripped away in processing and is all but void in the end product. Kids might try to argue that the strawberry jam they eat on their toast is made from berries and therefore health food. Their petition is no more valid than anyone else who tries to claim that HFCS is good for you because the sugars in it came from what was once an ear of corn.
In soft drinks, HFCS is made from approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose. This unhealthy and very unnatural combination has many disastrous effects on our health. Today Americans consume more HFCS than sugar. It’s interesting to note that there is a direct correlation to the rise of obesity in the U.S. and Americans increased consumption of HFCS.
The Studies Back It Up - HFCS converts sugars to FAT
According to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the human body produces more fat from fructose than from other kinds of sugars. In a research article published in the Journal of Nutrition, six healthy people were put through three different tests.
In the first test, they drank only 100% glucose. In the 2nd test, they consumed half glucose and half fructose, and in the third test they drank a combination of 25% glucose and 75% fructose. The tests were double-blind and random, which means that neither the evaluator nor the subjects knew which items were the controls (This kind of testing reduces error, bias and self-deception). All the subjects ate a normal lunch approximately four hours later.
The researchers concluded that lipogenesis, production where the body converts sugars into body fat, increased significantly in the test subjects who consumed fructose as a replacement for as little as half of the glucose.
Additional findings stated that fructose consumed at breakfast altered the way the body processed the food eaten at lunch by forcing the liver to increase storage of lunch fats that could have been utilized in other ways.
Some may say that this rise in consumption in both the areas of industry use and human consumption are viewed as no cause for alarm. But they are. Rises in epidemic proportions in obesity and serious health declines have mirrored HFCS increased use. In order to lose weight or avoid obesity, High Fructose Corn Syrup needs to be eliminated from your diet. Check labels and avoid any food with High Fructose Corn Syrup. Your body will be glad you did (and your bathroom scale will show lower numbers as a result)
High doses of free fructose have been proven to literally punch holes in the intestinal lining allowing nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is at the root of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia, and accelerated aging. Naturally occurring fructose in fruit is part of a complex of nutrients and fiber that doesn’t exhibit the same biological effects as the free high fructose doses found in “corn sugar”, Mark Hyman, MD.
Dr. Bruce Ames, one of the foremost nutritional scientists in the world, and Dr. Jeffrey Bland, a nutritional biochemist, a student of Linus Pauling, and Dr. Hyman reviewed the existing science, and Dr. Ames shared shocking new evidence from his research center on how HFCS can trigger body-wide inflammation and obesity.
Here are 5 reasons you should stay way from any product containing high fructose corn syrup and why it may kill you.
- Sugar in any form causes obesity and disease when consumed in pharmacologic doses.
- HFCS and cane sugar are NOT biochemically identical or processed the same way by the body.
- HFCS contains contaminants including mercury that are not regulated or measured by the FDA.
- Independent medical and nutrition experts DO NOT support the use of HFCS in our diet, despite the assertions of the corn industry.
- HFCS is almost always a marker of poor-quality, nutrient-poor disease-creating industrial food products or “food-like substances”.
The real issues are only two.
· We are consuming HFCS and sugar in pharmacologic quantities never before experienced in human history–140 pounds a year versus 20 teaspoons a year 10,000 years ago.
· High fructose corn syrup is always found in very poor-quality foods that are nutritionally vacuous and filled with all sorts of other disease promoting compounds, fats, salt, chemicals, and even mercury.
Dr. Victor L. Dees, DC
Dees Family Chiropractic
1150 Grimes Bridge Rd., Suite 400
Roswell, GA 30075
(404) 845-7826 (Office)
(770) 695-PAIN (Patient Line)
References
(i) Dufault, R., LeBlanc, B., Schnoll, R. et al. 2009. Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: Measured concentrations in food product sugar. Environ Health. 26(8):2.
(ii) Bray, G.A., Nielsen, S.J., and B.M. Popkin. 2004. Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 79(4):537-43. Review.
Forshee RA, Storey ML, Allison DB, Glinsmann WH, Hein GL, Lineback DR, Miller SA, Nicklas TA, Weaver GA, White JS. "A critical examination of the evidence relating high fructose corn syrup and weight gain." Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2007;47(6):561-82.
Parks EJ, Skokan LE, Timlin MT, Dingfelder CS. "Dietary sugars stimulate fatty acid synthesis in adults." J Nutr. 2008 Jun;138(6):1039-46.
Elliott SS, Keim NL, Stern JS, Teff K, Havel PJ. "Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome." Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Nov;76(5):911-22.
Sievenpiper JL, de Souza RJ, Mirrahimi A, Yu ME, Carleton AJ, Beyene J, Chiavaroli L, Di Buono M, Jenkins AL, Leiter LA, Wolever TM, Kendall CW, Jenkins DJ. "Effect of fructose on body weight in controlled feeding trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Ann Intern Med. 2012 Feb 21;156(4):291-304.
Sonestedt E, Overby NC, Laaksonen DE, Birgisdottir BE. "Does high sugar consumption exacerbate cardiometabolic risk factors and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease?" Food Nutr Res. 2012;56. doi: 10.3402/fnr.v56i0.19104.
