High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has already saturated the American food market and is now appearing more readily in the Australian food market. So what exactly is HFCS? Before we define HFCS it is also important to note that some other names are often used to describe HFCS such as maize syrup, corn sugar or glucose/fructose syrup.

HFCS comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert its glucose to fructose to produce a desired sweetness. It is widely used in the United States as a substitute for sugar and is becoming more and more prevalent in processed foods now available in Australia.

Two recent studies have added more reason for concern that HFCS causes significantly more harm to the body than its mere sugar content would suggest. HFCS contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose which differs from table sugar (or sucrose) which contains a 50/50 split.

In the first study, published in the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour, researchers from Princeton University found that rats consuming HFCS gained more weight and developed more cardiovascular risk factors than rats consuming equivalent amounts of just sucrose. In their experiment EVERY rat on the HFCS diet became obese while the rats in the control group, who were still fed high fat diets but not containing HFCS, did not ALL become obese.

In the second study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, diets considered high in HFCS were found to result in increased chances of liver damage. Previous research has suggested that large amounts of fructose affected the liver in the same way as excessive alcohol consumption. Another study linked high-fructose corn syrup specifically with a form of liver scarring known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The new study, published in the Journal of Hepatology, found that high-fructose corn syrup worsened the effects of NAFLD.

"We found that increased consumption of HFCS was associated with scarring in the liver among patients with NAFLD," researcher Manal Abdelmalek said.

The researchers analysed the diets and livers of 427 adults with NAFLD, and found that only 19 percent of them never consumed fructose-containing beverages. In contrast, 52 percent of participants had between one and six servings of a fructose-containing beverage per week, while another 29 percent had at least one serving per day. The higher patients' fructose intake, the worse the scarring of their livers.

"We have identified an environmental risk factor that may contribute to the metabolic syndrome of insulin resistance and the complications of the metabolic syndrome, including liver injury," Abdelmalek said.

Abdelmalek noted that NAFLD is a severe problem that cannot be treated and may lead in some cases to liver cancer, liver failure and a need for liver transplant.

Researchers are still unsure why high-fructose corn syrup appears to damage the body more than its extra 5 percent fructose content would suggest. Some have hypothesized that the negative effects come from the massive quantities in which it is consumed -- high-fructose corn syrup is found in nearly all processed foods.

Other researchers have observed that beverages made with high-fructose corn syrup contain high levels of reactive carbonyls, which can damage cells. Still others have noted that the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is chemically unbonded and thus spreads through the body more freely than the fructose in table sugar.


Of course with all research studies there are two sides to the story and some researchers do not agree with the above information so it is up to each one of us to make an informed decision for ourselves. Personally I would avoid HFCS as much as possible and if you need to consume sugar in any form, the more natural (for example in fruit) the better.