Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

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Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/dec2008_Metabolic-Dangers-of-High-Fructose-C\

orn-Syrup_01.htm

Americans are being poisoned by a common additive present in a wide

array of processed foods like soft drinks and salad dressings,

commercially made cakes and cookies, and breakfast cereals and

brand-name breads.

This commonplace additive silently increases our risk of obesity,

diabetes, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.

The name of this toxic additive is high-fructose corn syrup. It is so

ubiquitous in processed foods and so over-consumed by the average

American that many experts believe our nation faces the prospect of an

epidemic of metabolic disease in the future, related in significant

degree to excess consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.

The food industry has long known that “a spoonful of sugar helps the

medicine go down in the most delightful way.” And cane sugar had been

America’s most delightful sweetener of choice, that is, until the 1970s,

when the much less expensive corn-derived sweeteners like maltodextrin

and high-fructose corn syrup were developed. While regular table sugar

(sucrose) is 50% fructose and 50% glucose, high-fructose corn syrup can

contain up to 80% fructose and 20% glucose, almost twice the fructose of

common table sugar. Both table sugar and high-fructose sweetener contain

four calories per gram, so calories alone are not the key problem with

high-fructose corn syrup. Rather, metabolism of excess amounts of

fructose is the major concern.

The alarming rise in diseases1,2 related to poor lifestyle habits has

been mirrored by an equally dramatic increase in fructose consumption,

particularly in the form of the corn-derived sweetener, high-fructose

corn syrup.3-12 In this article, we’ll examine the evidence for these

associations, and we’ll attempt to determine if high-fructose corn syrup

is a benign food additive, as the sweetener industry has lobbied us (and

the FDA) to believe, or a dangerously overlooked threat to public health.

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http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/dec2008_Metabolic-Dangers-of-High-Fructose-C\

orn-Syrup_01.htm

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