High-Fructose Corn Syrup: What it is and What it Ain’t – Research Review by Lyle McDonald

Title

White JS. Straight talk about high-fructose corn syrup: what it is and what it ain’t. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec;88(6):1716S-1721S.Click here to read Links

Abstract

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a fructose-glucose liquid sweetener alternative to sucrose (common table sugar) first introduced to the food and beverage industry in the 1970s. It is not meaningfully different in composition or metabolism from other fructose-glucose sweeteners like sucrose, honey, and fruit juice concentrates. HFCS was widely embraced by food formulators, and its use grew between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s, principally as a replacement for sucrose. This was primarily because of its sweetness comparable with that of sucrose, improved stability and functionality, and ease of use. Although HFCS use today is nearly equivalent to sucrose use in the United States, we live in a decidedly sucrose-sweetened world: >90% of the nutritive sweetener used worldwide is sucrose. Here I review the history, composition, availability, and characteristics of HFCS in a factual manner to clarify common misunderstandings that have been a source of confusion to health professionals and the general public alike. In particular, I evaluate the strength of the popular hypothesis that HFCS is uniquely responsible for obesity. Although examples of pure fructose causing metabolic upset at high concentrations abound, especially when fed as the sole carbohydrate source, there is no evidence that the common fructose-glucose sweeteners do the same. Thus, studies using extreme carbohydrate diets may be useful for probing biochemical pathways, but they have no relevance to the human diet or to current consumption. I conclude that the HFCS-obesity hypothesis is supported neither in the United States nor worldwide.

My Comments

I think it’s just human nature, people seem to have a need to find a single enemy that is the cause of all woes under the sun. The one that causes obesity, diabetes, and all manners of health problems. Nutritionally, I’ve watched the enemy change over the years. In the 80′s it was dietary fat, which was blamed for all the problems of humanity. During the 90′s, things started to shift and carbohydrates became the enemy. About the same time, trans-fatty acids became the one thing that people MUST NOT EAT or they would seemingly drop dead nearly instantly.

And now, as we enter 2009, if there is a single nutrient that is blamed for everything that is wrong in the world, it is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Much of this started with a 2004 paper by Bray where he correlated changes in HFCS intake with changes in obesity, suggesting that it was the increase in HFCS intake that was driving obesity. This was taken, as usual, far out of context into the popular realm of magazines, newspapers and tv soundbites.

Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the athletic/bodybuilding and fat loss arena where people are simply losing their ever-loving minds over anything with HFCS. Any food that dare list high-fructose corn syrup on its label (even if the total quantity is obviously miniscule) is immediately deemed to be evil, a destroyer of not only one’s physique but a corrupter of children, a direct line to Satan himself. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating but not by much.

This paper addresses this idea, by looking at the hypothesis that somehow HFCS is uniquely obesity or health-problem causing beyond simply being a source of calories. The author states that several assumptions must be found to be true to accept this idea as fact. They are:

HFCS and sucrose are significantly different

HFCS must be uniquely obesity-promoting

HFCS must be predictive of US obesity

HFCS must be predictive of global obesity

Eliminating HFCS from the food supply must significantly reduce obesity

I won’t detail in full every one of his arguments; the punch line of course is that none of these actually turn out to be true. Yes, HFCS and foods containing them often contribute a large number of calories to the diet and clearly that alone causes problems; but there is nothing special about HFCS to warrant the fear about it that many seem to have developed.

Conclusion

The paper concludes, as you might imagine, by reiterating the points I’ve made above. HFCS is in no way unique amount sugars, with a composition identical to sucrose as well as the supposedly ‘healthy’ honey. Increased caloric intake since the 1970′s is the driver for increased obesity, with no relationship with HFCS intake per se.

In that all fructose-glucose solutions (whether HFCS, sucrose or honey) are metabolized in exactly the same fashion in the body, there is simply no reason to think that HFCS per se is particularly obesity promoting outside of being a caloric source.

Application

Now, since I know some people will mis-interpret this piece, I want to be clear: the paper is not saying that people can or should be consuming HFCS in massive amounts. Many HFCS containing foods contain massive numbers of calories.

This is especially true of sweetened sodas and it’s interesting to note that a good bit of data suggests that such drinks can be consumed in massive amounts without signalling the body about their caloric content; but this has more to do with their fluid nature than their composition.

What I’m getting at with this research review is that the near insane over-reaction and concern to any food containing any amount of HFCS among certain groups. Folks on forums are throwing out the baby with the bathwater under the gross misunderstanding that HFCS per se is a unique evil which it clearly isn’t. Within the context of a calorically controlled diet, there is no reson to believe it will have any differential impact beyond every other sugar that has ever been used.

So stop freaking out.