The Corn Refiners Association has long advertised that "the body can't tell the difference" between cane or sugar beet sweetener and high fructose corn syrup. Several groups of sugar growers and other producers have sued the Corn Growers Association in federal court for false advertising. High fructose corn syrup is not a natural sweetener.
Research conducted by two universities announced last week their findings that significantly higher levels of fructose circulated through the bloodstream, raising uric acid levels that increased blood pressure. Increased uric acid in the body is also a factor in diabetes, kidney disease and gout.
Colorado University School of Medicine (CUSM) and the University of Florida conducted the study on 40 men and women who were given a 24-oz. soft drink sweetened with either table sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The chemical composition of the two sweeteners is different. Cane sugar is made of 50 percent each of fructose and glucose in a complex carbohydrate. HFCS is composed of 55 percent free fructose and 45 percent free glucose.
The study was published in the Journal Metabolism, " Compared with sucrose, HFCS leads to greater fructose systemic exposure and significantly different acute metabolic effects."
"Ten of the 11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension," according to the seventh annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010 report. The report states that Georgia ranks 17th highest for adults and second highest of the 50 states and DC. for childhood obesity.
Soft drinks are not the only product sweetened with HFCS. This sweetener is also found in most brands of ketchup, salad dressing, bouillon cubes, candy and most any processed food with a sweetener. On any average day, a person can consume an inordinate amount of HFCS that can cause multiple health issues as well as weight gain.
Professor Richard Johnson, MD with the CUSM, indicated further studies would be done on the long-term effects of HFCS on the body. The state of Georgia has not addressed an of the issues that would help decrease the rate of childhood obesity.
Information for this article came from Lee Betancourt, Account Executive with Levick Strategic Communications, LLC.
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