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Dangers of high fructose corn syrup

Soft and Sweet

No one is perfect. Sure, there may be those out there who stay pretty close to a diet that’s free of harmful chemicals, trans-fatty acids, simple carbohydrates, high fructose corn syrup, and refined sugars.

But most of us (and this certainly includes me) slip a little here and there. We go out for an ice cream on a summer evening. We order something in a restaurant that we’re pretty sure is high in the types of fats that do us no good at all. Or someone offers us a soft drink and we accept.

By and large, a dietary slip now and then won’t hurt most of us. The problem comes when a transgression from a healthy, balanced diet turns into daily transgressions. And I’m specifically thinking about sodas and other types of soft drinks, because I just read a new study that reveals how moderate consumption of soft drinks may have a profound impact on hormonal balance, hunger, calorie intake, obesity and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A whole lot of nickels

“High fructose corn syrup and/or sucrose.” If you had a nickel for every soft drink nutrition label that contains that phrase you’d be the envy of Donald Trump.

In the e-Alert “Pyramid Scheme” (6/9/04), I told you how the U.S. Department of Agriculture panel that’s updating the food guide pyramid has been deadlocked over the question of whether or not soft drinks contribute to weight gain. I can’t help but wonder: Did the lobbyists for the sugar industry and the high fructose corn syrup manufacturers manage to actually convince some of these panelists that soft drinks aren’t harmful when consumed daily?

I hope someone on the USDA panel will take a look at a new study in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. In this study, researchers in the Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis (UCD), examined the effect that fructose beverages have on hormones that help regulate hunger.


Hunger pangs

The UCD researchers recruited 12 women of normal weight. On two different days, blood samples were collected at least once an hour for 24 hours. On these days, all of the subjects ate the same three meals. After each meal, each of the subjects drank a beverage that was sweetened with either glucose or fructose (the two forms of sugar).

The blood samples taken throughout the two days of testing revealed:

  • When subjects drank fructose, levels of the hormones insulin and leptin were lower than in the subjects who drank glucose. (Rising insulin and leptin levels trigger a feeling of being “full.”)
  • When subjects drank fructose, levels of the hormone ghrelin were higher than in the subjects who drank glucose. (A rising ghrelin level triggers feelings of hunger.)
  • Subjects who drank fructose showed “a rapid and prolonged elevation of plasma triglycerides” compared with those who drank glucose.

As HSI members are aware, an elevated triglyceride level is a key marker for heart disease. In addition, the researchers concluded that an increase of ghrelin, accompanied by decreases of insulin and leptin, could lead to an excessive caloric intake, weight gain, and obesity “during chronic consumption of diets high in fructose.”


Check those labels

These days it’s hard to avoid fructose because it’s used as a sweetener in a wide variety of processed foods. Fructose is also found in fruit, but without the profound negative effects because of the natural fiber and other nutrients.

Last month, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study that compared U.S. nutrient consumption between 1909 and 1997 to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. Researchers concluded that the steadily increasing intakes of refined carbohydrates (specifically, high fructose corn syrup) ran parallel with decreasing intakes of fiber and the upward trend in cases of type 2 diabetes.

Bottom line: A soda every now and then won’t lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, or heart disease. But a soda every now and then that turns into a 32-ounce Big Gulp every day or a soda every few hours, is a trend no one can afford to follow. And even if you’re not in the habit of drinking soft drinks, check the labels of other foods you eat daily to make sure you’re not getting a hidden intake of fructose.

 

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Dietary Fructose Reduces Circulating Insulin and Leptin, Attenuates Postprandial Suppression of Ghrelin, and Increases Triglycerides in Women” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 89, No. 6, 6/4/04, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
“Too Much Fructose may Skew Appetite Hormones” Alison McCook, Reuters Health, 6/9/04, reutershealth.com
“Increased Consumption of Refined Carbohydrates and the Epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes in the United States: An Ecologic Assessment” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 5, May 2004, ajcn.org

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