News - Nutrition
High fructose corn syrup
By Daniel Lynch, Nutritionist.
“Calories are calories,” is how it’s often put in nutrition discussions. Maybe it’s a way to make a point. But anything beyond that, such as actually applying this idea to everyday food choices, and it’s a problem of oversimplification, just as with cholesterol guidelines.
If we’re all to believe that a calorie is a calorie, then it’s okay to eat anything from candy, soda and cookies as long as we don’t eat too many, right? “Yes,” is how, in nutrition classes and books, I’ve often heard and seen it put. Again, I hope they do this to make a point because while this notion of calories are calories may be true from it’s basis science, it’s not true when it comes to our bodies. This is supported in a recent study looking at the effects of various dietary sugars--particularily high fructose corn syrup--and how they affect weight gain (1).
There are generally two storage areas of fat on our bodies: subcutaneous fat is just below the skin and visceral fat is deeper within your body, surrounding the internal organs. Fat distribution on our bodies can have different implications on our health and functioning. Unfortunately, visceral fat is a strong marker for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes and high fructose corn syrup causes increased visceral fat storage (around the internal organs) (1). Another problem with high fructose corn syrup is that it increases fat in general.
The liver is the master regulatory organ of your blood sugar. So after a meal, it will sequester some sugars but mostly it converts them into something other than sugar, usually fats. This keeps blood sugar levels within a specific, safe range. There are numerous controls and regulations for how much fat your liver produces following food consumption. The liver's fat production controls are inhibited during consumption of large amounts of fructose. As a result, our liver produces more fat while metabolizing high fructose sugars regularly, over long periods of time (1). But this isn't the only effect on liver function.
Remember LDL from the last news section? Well they're made by your liver and as high fructose corn syrup is metabolised in the liver, the LDL which is also made by your liver tends to be more oxidized (1). Oxidized LDL is found to be a better marker for health risks than a generic LDL number alone. So long-term consumption of high fructose raises risk for cardiovascular problems through increased liklihood of type II diabetes from visceral fat, elevated oxidized LDL and higher weight in general.
So this is how, in the complexity of the human body, a calorie is not a calorie. While each gram of carbohydrate from high fructose corn syrup or, say, honey is equal in calories, the varied effects of these calories in our bodies are significant.
The easiest way to lower intake of high fructose corn syrup is to avoid soda. Next, take a look at the ingredients on all other packaged foods: ketchup, cookies and even bread. if your current choices contain high fructose corn syrup, you could check for brands which contain either no added sugar, or for brands which contain better alternatives like molasses, honey or maple syrup.
(1) Stanhope KL, et al. Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose sweetened,
beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin
sensitivity in overweight/obese humans. The Journal of Clinical Investigation
2009;119.5:1322-1334
