You thought you knew about nutrition, and then BAM! You get slapped with someone asking you why high fructose corn syrup is worse for you than sugar. Can you tell them? The majority of people, including myself before I did some serious research, couldn’t give a clear answer. But the answer is actually a pretty easy one.
Most high fructose corn syrups (HFCS) contains about 42 or 55% fructose and the rest glucose. This is roughly the same proportions as table sugar (sucrose) which is half fructose, half glucose. GASP! But what about that unnaturally processed syrup with such high fructose levels? Surely that MUST be worse than sugar! Not so. Where people start to go wrong is to assume that HFCS is mostly fructose. Again, the % of fructose in HFCS can vary depending on brand, but most common brands contain either 42 or 55% fructose. That puts it on a pretty even playing field as sugar, especially as far as the way it is broken down in the body. Fructose makes the liver work in overtime, glucose takes a toll on the pancreas.
So which kind of sweetner is worse, you ask? Well, that’s actually the wrong question to be asking. There is NO CLEAR EVIDENCE that high fructose corn syrup is worse for your body than sugar, but what IS clear, is that Americans get some 35% of our calories from sugar- all kinds of sugar. So let’s stop arguing over whether cookies or brownies are worse. Rather, the more effective way to combat obesity is to ask the question: how can we reduce ALL kinds of added sugar in our diets?
Sweet intoxication comes in many forms. May the health conscious beware.
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:49 am
Thank you for this article – it is nice to read something on HFCS that makes sense and doesn’t portray HFCS as the bad guy in the world of sweeteners.
Love your last line!
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:19 am
Good article on HFCC I will cut down on all sugar I like your last comment
March 29th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I’ve never thought that corn syrup itself was worse than sugar. It’s just that it’s a cheap “shortcut” ingredient, and I find that foods that use large amounts of corn syrup also tend to have other low-quality ingredients.
I’ve always been able to taste the difference in teas and juices that have been made with corn syrup vs. natural sugar, though I didn’t realize the actual cause until recently. Corn syrup beverages always felt thick in the mouth and left a sort of acidic taste, while drinks made with sugar went down like water and were overall more refreshing.