Yoni Whitten, D.C., C.C.W.P
Nowadays, high-fructose corn syrup is everywhere. The single greatest offender is undoubtedly soft drinks which account for 25% of all drinks consumed in the United States. However, HFCS is also hidden in many places where we would never expect to find it. Sure colorful, sweetened beverages are a dead give away, but foods like breakfast bars, yogurt, soup, bread, bacon, ketchup, relish, even baby formula and some over-the-counter medicines all contain HFCS. Food manufactures regularly substitute HFCS for the fat in food like salad dressing and mayonaise so they can market those foods as “healthy”, low-fat” or “diet” foods.
The Corn Refiners Association recently began a public relations campaign to try and ease growing concerns about HFCS. Television commercials and print advertisements encourage consumers to “get the facts” about HFCS. So, here are the facts.
HFCS consumption has grown ten-fold in recent decades and makes up a whopping 9% of the U.S. calorie intake. In 2007, the average American consumed 56 pounds of the stuff! HFCS is not the naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and honey. It is a highly refined clear liquid derived from corn starch. Food manufacturers love to use HFCS because it mixes well with a variety of foods and it’s extremely cheap to produce.
Use of HFCS wasn’t always so ubiquitous. Up until the mid-1970s, most of the sugar we ate was sucrose derived from sugar cane and beets. Since the widespread introduction of HFCS in the 1980's, the rates of diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome in the U.S. have skyrocketed. Recent research has shown that fructose actually promotes disease more readily than glucose. When animals are fed large amounts of fructose, they develop cirrhosis and fatty deposits in their livers – the very same changes seen in the livers of alcoholics.
The main problem with HFCS occurs during digestion. Unlike glucose, which is metabolized by every cell in the body, fructose can only be broken down by the liver. However, the liver cannot process vast amounts of fructose very quickly so instead it’s converted to fat, more so than any other sugar. In fact, fructose has been found to elevate triglyceride levels in the blood significantly – the same way wolfing down a double bacon cheese burger does. Triglycerides, of course, are the building blocks of fat.
Additionally, fructose does not trigger an insulin response from the pancreas the way table sugar does. This robs us of the feeling of “fullness” that we get from consuming other types of foods. Eating HFCS leads to a viscious cycle whereby the foods we eat are immediately converted to fat, never make us feel “full” and leave us compelled to eat even more. Could this be part of the reason why, as a society, Americans continue to get fatter and why two-thirds of the adult population in the U.S. are overweight or obese?
If all of the damaging metabolic effects of HFCS weren’t enough, in early 2009 a couple of studies were released that found that nearly half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) were contaminated with mercury and identified the toxic metal in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products. Spilled mercury is classified as “hazardous waste.” Both the FDA and the EPA have issued warnings regarding mercury exposure for pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children. And yet, we hear nothing about the mercury that has been found in some of our most popular foods!
In infants and fetuses exposure to mercury can cause mental retardation, Cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. Even in low doses mercury can interfere with a child’s development, leading to shortened attention span and learning disabilities.
In adults, mercury poisoning is a serious risk as well, and has been linked to memory and vision loss, infertility and trouble with blood pressure regulation. It can also cause extreme fatigue and neuro-muscular problems including, but not limited to: insomnia, tremors, unsteady gait, weakness, arrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, slowed mental response, blurred vision, headaches, personality changes and irritability.
After “getting the facts” we can safely conclude that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is just not worth the risk.
Action Step:
Read all your food labels - Stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup
Remember:
References:
1. Bray, G., et al. Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.2004 Apr;79(4):537-43.
2. Bantle, J., et al. Effects of dietary fructose on plasma lipids in healthy subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.2000 Nov;72(5): 1128-34.
3. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of Fructose on Blood Lipid Levels. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983, 740-748.
4. Appleton, N., Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener - http://www.becomehealthynow.com/article/carbs/1170.