No matter how much the Corn Refiners Association tries to convince us that high-fructose corn syrup is healthy, I'm not buying it. Now I have another reason to avoid it: new findings have linked high-fructose corn syrup to high blood pressure, aka hypertension.
In the past 20 years alone, Americans have increased fructose intake by 30 percent, and that increase tracks closely to the rise in obesity. But it may also be contributing to high blood pressure. A team of doctors at the University of Colorado Denver studied more than 4,500 adults with no prior history of hypertension and tracked their fructose intake with a dietary survey. The results are pretty persuasive, so read all about it.
According to the results of the study:
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.)
Of course, that's not the only problem with HFCS. This highly processed sweetener is made from glucose and fructose, which negatively affects both your insulin and the hunger hormone leptin. That means eating foods with HFCS can actually increase your appetite, yet these processed foods offer very little in the way of nutritional value.
Does this news make you even more afraid of HFCS?
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As a registered dietitian and consultant to the food and beverage industry, I
often work with my clients to clarify one of the biggest nutrition myth among
consumers today - confusion surrounding high fructose corn syrup - and often
having to differentiate between that and plain table sugar.
I want to take this opportunity to provide the facts about high fructose corn
syrup, because readers may falsely believe that soda, fruit juices and other
beverages cause major health issues by the incorrect link to high fructose corn
syrup. First, let me clarify that sugar and high fructose corn syrup have
virtually the same identical composition, so actually the word "high" is rather
misleading for high fructose corn syrup. Both high fructose corn syrup and
fructose have been extensively researched and the data shows that the negative
health effects of fructose have involved excessively high intakes of pure
fructose, not fructose from high fructose corn syrup.
In fact, in 2008, the International Life Sciences Institute and the U.S.
1Department of Agriculture held a joint workshop on the health impact of high
fructose corn syrup which found there is little evidence that high fructose corn
syrup and sugar (or sucrose) have differing effects on satiety overall energy
balance, metabolic hormones or biochemical metabolites such as triglycerides and
uric acid - all suggesting no unique casual role for high fructose corn syrup in
obesity. Also, according to the Federal Drug Administration high fructose corn
syrup is safe, derived from corn and made up of approximately equal amounts of
glucose and fructose, deemed "natural" and does not have differing effects on
the body than regular table sugar. Instead of blaming one food or beverage for
the obesity epidemic, we need to go back to the basics for healthy living by
practicing moderation with any food and or beverage as well as keeping an active
life.
Was the only variable in the diets of these people the HFCS? Because most products that have a lot of HFCS also contain a lot of sodium (ie, they're processed foods). I'll take this with a grain of salt until I see some further proof. In the meantime, I'll continue to avoid highly processed foods.
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