Prime Suspect
I recently found a bottled iced tea I like that’s remarkable for several reasons, but mostly because it’s sweetened only with organic honey. The next time you’re at the grocery, check a few products in the beverage aisle and I guarantee nearly every one will be at least partly sweetened with high- fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Honest Tea is the brand name of the honey-sweetened tea, and on the inside of a bottle top I opened last week I found this factoid: “In 2000, Honest Tea sold 3 million bottles of tea. The same amount of Coke is sold every 4 minutes.”
Staggering, isn’t it? And when you add other soft drink mainstays like Mountain Dew, Sprite, root beer, Dr. Pepper, etc. – not to mention dozens of bottled teas that contain HFCS – you don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that this ubiquitous sweetener is being consumed at an alarming rate.
So what’s the problem with HFCS? For one thing, it’s not only found in soda pop but also in many different types of processed food. And for another: A new study indicates that the rise in HFCS intake may be one of the primary keys to the growing obesity epidemic in the U.S. But as important as the obesity problem is, it’s just one negative in the larger HFCS picture.
Fructose nation
Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University (LSU) examined the relationship between HFCS consumption and the development of obesity by analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture food consumption tables from 1967 through 2000.
Among the LSU findings:
- Obesity among U.S. adults has risen from 23 percent to 30 percent in the past 10 years.
- About two-thirds of Americans are overweight.
- The average body weight of Americans rose slowly from 1900 to the late 1980s, at which point the average began to climb sharply.
- The consumption of HFCS increased more than 1000 percent between 1970 and 1990.
- The increased consumption of HFCS far exceeds the changes in intake of any other food or food group.
In addition, the researchers also observed that the body doesn’t process HFCS in the same way glucose (sugar) is processed, with the result that fructose is more likely to be converted into fat.
Off the mark?
Of course, you won’t be surprised to hear that a few nutritionists question the LSU findings. As always, when it comes to dietary questions, there’s no shortage in differences of opinions.
For instance, Alison Kretser, a dietician for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (members include Coca-Cola and Kellogg), dismissed the idea that high-fructose corn sweeteners present a problem, telling the Associated Press that the real concern is how many calories people eat compared to how many calories they burn.
Ms. Kretser makes a good point. You can’t go wrong burning more calories than you eat. But according to the label on my bottle of Moroccan Mint Green Honest Tea, this brew has only “a sixth of the calories of the super-sweet, tea- flavored drinks.” And needless to say, those drinks deliver plenty of HFCS.
The fact is, the LSU research doesn’t “blame” HFCS for the rise in obesity. The authors state that, “dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain. Furthermore, calorically sweetened beverages may enhance caloric overconsumption.” So while HFCS may not be the one and only prime suspect in the obesity epidemic, it certainly can’t be dismissed as irrelevant.
Browning reaction
In the e-Alert “Back to the Garden” (11/19/02), I told you about a review of nutritional data on fructose from the Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis (UCD).
In animal studies, the UCD team found that fructose consumption contributes to insulin resistance, an impaired tolerance to glucose, high blood pressure, and elevated levels of triglycerides. And although the data in humans is not quite as conclusive as the animal trials, the researchers report that an high intake of fructose may increase body weight and encourage insulin resistance, both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
And after reviewing the UCD research, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., pointed out another problem with HFCS: the browning reaction. Dr. Spreen explained: “The browning reaction occurs when certain carb molecules bind with proteins and cause aging. It’s also called ‘glycation’, ‘glycosylation’, and sometimes the Maillard reaction. It changes the structure of enzymes and other proteins, resulting in tissue and organ damage (and it’s suspected in organ damage particularly in diabetics).”
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation, the browning reaction occurs with any sugar, but with fructose it happens seven times faster than it does with glucose.
Downright irritable
Another serious side effect of HFCS consumption is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In the e-Alert “Reversal of Fortune” (10/29/04), I told you about a one-year study conducted by gastroenterologists at the University of Iowa (UI).
Among a group of 80 IBS patients, 30 were diagnosed with fructose intolerance (an inability to properly absorb fructose in the digestive tract). Each of these 30 subjects was given detailed information about dietary sources of fructose and how to avoid them. One year later, 54 percent of this group had remained on the suggested diet. Overall these subjects reported a significant decline in IBS symptoms, and some reported a complete absence of abdominal pain.
IU researchers noted that their previous fructose research indicated that perhaps more than half of all IBS patients are fructose intolerant (particularly those with persistent diarrhea). And many of these patients might easily reduce their symptoms simply by avoiding fructose foods.
One of many
Obviously, the current wave of obesity in the U.S. and other countries is due to a variety of factors. The sharp intake of HFCS is probably an important element in the epidemic, but certainly not the sole culprit.
Nevertheless, as the studies above clearly show, HFCS is far from benign and should be avoided by anyone who wants to maintain the best of health.
Sources:
“Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages May Play a Role in the Epidemic of Obesity” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, April 2004, ajcn.org
“Study Blames Popular Sweetener For Rise in Obesity” Associated Press, 3/25/04, thewbalchannel.com
“Study Partly Blames Fructose for Obesity Jump” Associated Press, 3/25/04, cnn.com
“ACG: Fructose Linked to Irritable Bowel Symptoms” Charlene Laino, DocGuide.com, 10/17/03, docguide.com
“Fructose, Weight Gain, and the Insulin Resistance Syndrome” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2002 Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922, ajcn.org
