Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes

Overview

The development of the HFCS process came at an opportune time for corn growers. ¹ Refinements of the partial hydrogenation process had improved to the point that it was possible to get better shortenings and margarines out of soybeans than corn. As the need for corn began to decline, HFCS took up the slack.

HFCS was introduced into the consumer market in the early 1970's. Japanese scientists found a reliable way to turn cornstarch into syrup that was sweet enough to compete with liquid sugar. They developed a formula that was 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. This new formula was sweet enough (and cheap enough) to make most soda makers jump from traditional liquid sugar to HFCS to sweeten their soft drinks by the 1980's. Most of the sugar prior to the 1980's came from sucrose derived from sugar beets or sugar cane. As the 1980's began to roll along, the sugar from corn in the forms of corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, dextrine and especially HFCS began to grow in popularity as a sweetener because it was much cheaper to produce.

HFCS is made by processing cornstarch to yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to create a high percentage of fructose, 55% and 45% glucose. The steps for creating HFCS are actually quite complicated. First, the cornstarch is treated with an enzyme called alpha-amylase. This is to produce shorter chains of sugars called polysaccharides. Next, an enzyme called glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further. This process yields the simple sugar glucose. A third enzyme, glucose-isomerase, converts the glucose to a mixture of about 42 percent fructose and 50-52 glucose with some other sugars mixed in. Two final steps produce the HFCS that is used in products today. Liquid chromatography is used to increase fructose in the mixture to 90 percent. Then, this mixture is back-blended with the original mixture to yield the final concentration of about 55 percent fructose, what the industry has called HFCS.

The use of HFCS has grown rapidly. In 1980, less than three million tons of HFCS were used. In 1995 almost eight million tons were used. By the late 1990's the use of sugar from sugar canes and beets actually declined and was surpassed by HFCS. Today, HFCS is consumed more than sugar in America. Yet despite the fact that special enzymes are required to produce HFCS, it is actually cheaper to produce than sugar. High Fructose Corn Syrup is cheaper to produce than sugar because of subsidies to corn farmers and trade policies that encourage farmers to grow more corn, as well as the tariffs imposed on imported sugar cane. It is easier to transport, it is piped into tanker trucks and they are sent anywhere it is needed. There are 16 chemical plants in the Corn Belt that produce HFCS. All of this means lower costs and higher profits for food producers.

It is important to look at how HFCS interacts with your body. Sugar is sugar right? Your body should deal with High Fructose Corn Syrup the same way as it does with any other sugar. Well… not exactly. HFCS does have the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar. This is basically where the similarities end. It is believed that because HFCS contains fructose, which can be found in fruit, that it must be healthier than sugar. Dr. Meira Field and her team of investigators at the USDA have discovered otherwise. Sucrose is made up of glucose and fructose. Sugar was given to rats in high amounts. The rats developed multiple health problems. These health problems were noticed especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients such as copper. The researchers looked at the initial results and wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. The researchers then repeated the experiments with two groups of rats. One group was given high amounts of glucose and the second group of rats was given high amounts of fructose. The rats in the group that were given the high amounts of glucose were relatively unaffected. The rats in the group that were given the high amounts of fructose had disastrous results. The male rats with the high amounts of fructose did not reach adulthood, they had delayed testicular development, they had anemia, high cholesterol, and heart hypertrophy which means their hearts enlarged until they exploded. The females were not as affected as the males, but they were unable to produce live young. Simply put, fructose in combination with copper deficiency, a widespread problem in America, in a growing animal interferes with collagen production. Also, the livers of test animals that were fed large amounts of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis. The livers of these test animals were similar to the livers of alcoholics.

Well, what does this mean for humans? Glucose can be metabolized by any cell in the human body. Fructose is a different story; it can only be metabolized by the liver. Primarily, fructose is absorbed in the jejunum, a segment of the small intestine, and metabolized in the liver. Fructose is converted into fatty acids by the liver at a greater rate than glucose. This causes an increase in the levels of fat in the bloodstream in the form of triglycerides (fat in blood). When there is an excess of fructose in the system, the liver cannot convert all of it. The excess fructose may be malabsorbed, which is faulty absorption of nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract. The portion that does not become converted, may overload the intestines' ability to absorb carbohydrates because of the excess fructose. This can cause cramps, bloating, and may be expelled in the form of urine and or diarrhea. Fructose converts into fat more than any other sugar. ² This could be one of the primary reasons why Americans are getting fatter and fatter.

There are other processes the body goes through when fructose enters into the body. Fructose is different from other types of carbohydrates made up of glucose. Fructose does not stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin. Studies have also shown that fructose does not increase the production of leptin, which is a hormone produced by the body's fat cells. Insulin and leptin work together to act as signals to the brain to turn down the appetite and control body weight. Research has also shown that fructose does not appear to suppress the production of ghrelin, which is a hormone that increases hunger and appetite. ³ So how does it all work together? Well, consuming a diet high in fructose could lead to taking in more calories and over time, weight gain, because fructose in isolation doesn't activate the hormones that regulate body weight as do other types of carbohydrates composed of glucose. Simply put, fructose adds to overeating because it does not trigger the chemical messengers that tell the brain that the stomach is full and no longer hungry, like other food and drinks that have regular refined sugar. The reason for this is that fructose in its purist form contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals, and it robs the body of its micronutrients in order to assimilate itself for physical use. While naturally occurring sugars contain fructose, this fructose is bound to other sugars. High Fructose Corn Syrup has a great deal of "free" or unbound fructose. This free fructose has shown in research that it interferes with the heart's use of key minerals like magnesium, copper and chromium. ⁴