High-fructose corn syrup vs. table sugar

There has been a big push from the corn industries to convince us that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is natural and reacts exactly the same way in our body as table sugar.  Any time an industry needs to spend millions to convince the public that something is healthy, the public should take a second look.

There are two types of HFCS:  HFCS-55 is 55% fructose and 45% glucose and is generally found in soft drinks; HFCS-42 is 42% fructose and 55% glucose and is generally found in canned fruit syrup, ice cream and desserts, and baked goods.  Table sugar is also glucose and fructose.  The fructose and glucose in table sugar is chemically bonded, so it must be digested to break the bond before it can be absorbed.  HFCS, on the other hand, is blended so there is no digesting needed before the bond is broken and the sugars enter the blood stream.  This may or may not cause a greater impact on blood sugars.

So, what happens when this glucose and fructose enter the blood stream?  Simply put, the glucose goes to the muscles, brain, organs, etc to be used as immediate fuel.  The fructose, on the other hand, goes to the liver to be further metabolized into a usable product (glycolysis).  If you are consuming a lot of table sugar or a lot of products that contain HFCS, you are over-loading your liver.  All that excess has to go somewhere, so it goes to the fat cells.  I suppose, in a way, HFCS does act exactly like sugar:  it makes things sweet and it makes us fat.



The long and short of it is to keep sugars to a minimum--less than 150 calories/day.