For some reason, corn somehow sneaks its way into an argumentative debate. The questionable High Fructose Corn Syrup artificial sweetener that is practically on the list of every ingredient summary on the shelf of many grocery stores boggles the average person’s mind. The three main controversial topics about High Fructose Corn Syrup suggested that High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad; High Fructose Corn Syrup is the cause of obesity; and High Fructose Corn Syrup is addictive. These accusations are just hasty generalizations because the naïve population will absorb and believe anything the media portrays. This awesome post will explain both topics about the hasty generalizations of the different usages of corn and the truth behind them.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is typically branded as a “bad sweetener”. According to Wood (2005), it is suggested that “With all purchases, read labels carefully and bypass any product that contains cheap additives like corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose or artificial sweeteners” (Wood, 2005). Throughout Wood’s (2005) article Discerning Good Sweeteners From Bad Ones, she reiterates how both corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are both hydrolyzed products “devoid of trace nutrients and are not recommended” (Wood, 2005). Wood is not the only writer to state her thoughts about the controversial artificial sweetener. Another online article called The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup is another HFCS bashing article by Bill Sanda. After explaining the components of high fructose corn syrup, Sanda (2004) states in her article that:
Until the 1970s most of the sugar we ate came from sucrose derived from sugar beets or sugar cane. Then sugar from corn–corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, dextrine and especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)–began to gain popularity as a sweetener because it was much less expensive to produce. High fructose corn syrup can be manipulated to contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.2 Thus, with almost twice the fructose, HFCS delivers a double danger compared to sugar (Sanda, 2004).
Without any substantial research provided, these two online media articles both have the same perception about HFCS; it is bad. Determining whether or not HFCS is harmful to the human body or beneficial requires research and an educated mind.
In Understanding Food: Principles & Preparation, Brown (2008) explains the differences of corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. Corn syrup is a by-product of cornstarch. The viscosity of corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup is due to the combination of the seventy-five percent sugar content and the remaining twenty-five percent water content. Producing corn syrup is obtained in multiple steps: first, a weak acid solution is added to cornstarch, then the weak acid and cornstarch solutions is brought to a boil, filtered, and is then evaporated until the correct sugar concentration is obtained. High fructose corn syrup is produced in a slightly different way. Instead of the cornstarch being treated with a weak enzyme (don’t know what an enzyme is? Google it.), high fructose corn syrup is treated with an enzyme called isomerase. By adding the isomerase enzyme to the cornstarch, the syrup that is formed yields an approximate amount of forty percent fructose and fifty percent glucose depending on what the high fructose corn syrup will be used for (Brown, 2008, Chapter 20, pp. 406-407). Just to reiterate, high fructose corn syrup is made of forty-two, fifty-five, or ninety percent fructose with the remainder consisting of glucose. The two monosaccharides (Google it) that are the building blocks of high fructose corn syrup are very similar to that of sucrose, which is basic table sugar, except sucrose consists of fifty percent glucose and fifty percent fructose (Rolfes, Pinna, & Whitney, 2009, Chapter 4, pp. 118).
Glucose is the main monosaccharide preferred for baking, beverages, canned fruits, candies, and fermented beverages. The reason for this is because during baking, the enhancement of the crust, the texture, and the crumb formation is more desirable than any other monosaccharide. Fructose on the other hand, is solely the sweetest sugar and is not recommended for preparing foods. Fructose causes an undesirable stickiness in making candies, fructose causes over browning in baked goods, and needs lower freezing temperatures in ice cream (Brown, 2008, Chapter 20, p. 405). In the form of high fructose corn syrup, the glucose that also makes up the components of high fructose corn syrup, other than fructose, creates a more subtle mixture of both worlds. The sweetness of the fructose provides a lesser need of extra additive sweetener, while the glucose creates a more desirable product to work with in food preparation.
As for Wood’s (2005) statement of high fructose corn syrup being “devoid of any trace nutrients”, one can say that sucrose is also devoid of such trace nutrients since the components of sucrose and high fructose corn syrup are one in the same.
Another misconception of high fructose corn syrup is its controversial relation to obesity. In the article Sugar Coated / We’re drowning in high fructose corn syrup, Severson (2004) claims that “An overweight America may be fixated on fat and obsessed with carbs, but nutritionists say the real problem is much sweeter — we’re awash in sugar. Not just any sugar, but high fructose corn syrup” (Severson, 2004). As the article continues, Severson (2004) also states that
Almost all nutritionists finger high fructose corn syrup consumption as a major culprit in the nation’s obesity crisis. The inexpensive sweetener flooded the American food supply in the early 1980s, just about the time the nation’s obesity rate started its unprecedented climb (Severson, 2004).
In order to determine the truth about these hasty generalizations, knowledge and education on the topic must be present.
Within the last three decades, obesity has risen in the United States, as well as the consumption of added sugars due to the dramatic rise of high fructose corn syrup used in beverages (Rolfes, et al, 2009, Chapter 4, pp. 120). According to Rolfes, et al, (2009) “Between 1977 andd 2001, as people grew fatter, their intake of kcalories from fruit drinks and punches doubled and kcalories from soft drinks nearly tripled” (Rolfes, et al, 2009, Chapter 4, pp. 120). Common knowledge suggests that too much of something is never a good thing. When consuming an excess amount of kcalories from sugar, the excess calories turn into fat. Since most people like to snack on different types of foods other than fruits and vegetables, the amount of kcalories consumed in one day from added sugars promotes weight gain and type two diabetes.
“Adolescents, for example, who drink as much as twenty-six ounces or more (about two cans) of sugar-sweetened soft drinks daily, consume four-hundred more kcalories a day than teens who don’t. Overweight children and adolescents increase their risk of becoming obese by sixty percent with each additional syrup-sweetened drink they add to their daily diet” (Rolfes, et al, 2009, Chapter 4, pp. 120).
By limiting these added sugars from the diet, weight-loss may occur.
Another controversial topic of high fructose corn syrup is its addictive characteristics. Murphy’s (2009) article, Is High Fructose Corn Syrup an “Addiction?” she states that
Without even realizing it, (or maybe they know somehow?) the food manufacturers of HFCS have developed a quite “legal” addictive substance adding to our obesity epidemic. The fructose in HFCS apparently has a direct effect on the central nervous system in the hedonic (pleasure producing) pathway of the brain similar to alcohol (Murphy, 2009).
Rolfes, et al (2009) states the generally, comparing carbohydrates and sugars are not as physically addictive as drugs. People tend to restrain themselves from consuming sugar because of a sense of “bad” diet guilt. With anything, when restriction is applied to something, the desire of what is restricted rises. Glucose fulfils the needed levels of the brain’s neurotransmitters (that means it provides energy for your brain). When glucose levels are low, the body usually gets “carbohydrate cravings” in order for one to consume more sugar to replenish glucose levels (yes…that means that cookie craving you’re having right now is your body telling you that your glucose level is almost on empty). “Interestingly, when those with self-described carbohydrate cravings indulge, they tend to eat more of everything” (Rolfes, et al, 2009, Chapter 4, pp. 120).
With this new found knowledge in mind, just remember that when you eat a lot of everything, you will most likely gain A LOT of EVERYTHING.
Be smart.Read labels.Educate yourself.
Eat.Sleep.Work.LEARN
References
Wood, R. (2005). Discerning good sweeteners from bad ones. Retrieved from http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2005/1109/life/stories/03life.htm
Sanda, B. (2004). The double danger of high fructose corn syrup. Retrieved from http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Double-Danger-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup.html
Brown, A. (2008). Sweeteners. Understanding food: principles & preparation (p. 405-407). Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.
Rolfes, S. R., Pinna, K., Whitney, E. (2009). The carbohydrates: sugars, starches, and fibers. Understanding normal and clinical nutrition (pp. 118-120). Australia: Wadsworth.
Murphy, E. (2009). Is high fructose corn syrup an “addiction?”. Retrieved from http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-02-18/food/17412906_1_high-fructose-corn-syrup-nutritionists-food-supply
Marieb, E. N., & Hoehn, K. (2008). Fundamentals of the nervous system and nervous tissue, Anatomy & physiology third edition (p.415). San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
Hill, J. W., Baum, S. J., Scott-Ennis, R. J. (2000). Carbohydrates, Chemistry and life: An introduction to general, organic, and biological chemistry sixth edition (pp509-510). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.