High fructose corn syrup: A recipe for hypertension
October 30, 2009A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, California. The findings suggest that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may help prevent hypertension.
Over the last 200 years, the rate of fructose intake has directly paralleled the increasing rate of obesity, which has increased sharply in the last 20 years since the introduction of HFCS. Today, Americans consume 30% more fructose than 20 years ago and up to four times more than 100 years ago, when obesity rates were less than 5%. While this increase mirrors the dramatic rise in the prevalence of hypertension, studies have been inconsistent in linking excess fructose in the diet to hypertension.
Diana Jalal, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center), and her colleagues studied the issue in a large representative population of US adults. They examined 4,528 adults 18 years of age or older with no prior history of hypertension. Fructose intake was calculated based on a dietary questionnaire, and foods such as fruit juices, soft drinks, bakery products, and candy were included. Dr. Jalal's team found that people who ate or drank more than 74 grams per day of fructose (2.5 sugary soft drinks per day) increased their risk of developing hypertension. Specifically, a diet of more than 74 grams per day of fructose led to a 28%, 36%, and 87% higher risk for blood pressure levels of 135/85, 140/90, and 160/100 mmHg, respectively. (A normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mmHg.)
"These results indicate that high fructose intake in the form of added sugars is significantly and independently associated with higher blood pressure levels in the US adult population with no previous history of hypertension," the authors concluded. Additional studies are needed to see if low fructose diets can normalize blood pressure and prevent the development of hypertension.
Study co-authors include Richard Johnson, MD, Gerard Smits, PhD, and Michel Chonchol, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center). Dr. Richard Johnson reports a conflict of interest as the author of "The Sugar Fix". The authors report no other financial disclosures.
Source: American Society of Nephrology (news : web)
Feb 01, 2008 |
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Table sugar is 50/50.
You may be able to blame all the ills on added calories, but blaming fructose is ridiculous.
Again,
Corn syrup is 55% fructose, 45% glucose.
Table sugar is 50% fructose, 50% glucose.
How anyone can believe this is the cause of pediatric obesity is hard to understand.
Are you a dietician?
If you are not..
How can you say that the difference between sucrose (table sugar) and a fructose/corn syrup combinationg (high-fructose corn syrup) are _not_ metabolically different?
Your body breaks down sugars in different ways. In fact, sucrose is broken down into fructose and glucose (via the enzyme sucrase), and then broken down into further metabolites. Fructose is not as readily adsorbed by your small intestine as glucose is. Fructose is more often digested by bacteria in the large intestine and its metabolites are taken into the blood stream. It is possible that all these differences between glucose and fructose, and taking into consideration the differences in HFCS and table sugar, account for issues with obesity.
I would suggest you look into how these different molecules react in your body before posting ludicrous statements.
First, there is little difference chemically between these sugars. Is this small difference enough to make such a big difference metabolically?
Second, has there ever been an animal (or human) study where one set had a high fructose diet and one set had a "normal" sugar diet? Same amount of sugar in both.
In my mind HFCS is probably a big part of the problem. The other part is that the low cost of HFCS makes it an attactive food ingredient. Since its cheaper the food industry tends to feed more of it to us. In the end we would probably be better off eating less sugar.
Fructose : C6H12O6
Sucrose : C12H22O11
As you can see, actually a big chemical difference here... of course they are both carbohydrates, but have different properties in metabolism.
The need for this enzymatic action with sucrose gives the body the ability to regulate its rate of sugar absorption. Straight up glucose and fructose are absorbed directly through the epithelial tissues of the digestive system, beginning with the mouth. Your body has no way to control the "spike" of sugar you get into your blood with HFCS, while there is a moderating effect on sugar absorption with table sugar.
Blood sugar profiles of sucrose consumption, however are much more like a rounded hill. They don't get as high, but they stay high longer. Because they don't get as high, the liver and pancreas don't overstimulate fat production as badly, and because they last longer, physiological processes that boost metabolism in the presence of greater food availability get a chance to kick in.
All of this changes somewhat depending on the food the sugar is in. And this is not to say that HFCS is entirely bad. Maybe it just shouldn't used as a popular drink sweetener.
http://www.wisege...cose.htm
I don't see what's so hard to understand.
I never said there isn't a difference between fructose and glucose.
I said there is virtually no difference between corn-syrup and table sugar since regardless of which sweetener is used, they both have fructose and glucose in nearly equal amounts.
The damage is caused when the food industries over use it. It's in everything. 5% may not sound like alot, until it becomes 5% of your entire diet.
Companies use it as a cheap alternative to real sugar and it's a disgrace really, there's nothing wrong with sugar, they decided to try and save their own bottom line by buying this cheap imitation crap.
That's why I only purchase from companies that use real sugar, and to be honest, with these new plant-extract sweeteners I don't see how anyone can use the man-made sweeteners any more, Splenda, Equal, it's all crap and will cause cancer if used all the time.