High fructose corn syrup may leave you hungry...High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener produced using cornstarch. It contains a mixture of glucose and fructose. Although high fructose corn syrup can contain up to 90% fructose, most of the high fructose corn syrup used in soft drinks contains 55% fructose [4]. According to records from the Department of Agriculture for the period between 1967 and 2000, Americans eat an average of 132 calories of high fructose corn syrup each day. The figure is closer to 300 calories for 2 out of 10 Americans [2]. High fructose corn syrup can raise both blood sugar and insulin levels [5], both of which play a role in regulating hunger, but it doesn't have the same impact as other forms of carbohydrate such as glucose [6]. In other words, the calories in a soft drink don't cause a feeling of fullness in the way that calories from food do, promoting the "passive overconsumption" of calories and sugar. Publishing their findings in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania looked at the effect that high fructose corn syrup has on various hormones that help to regulate hunger [1]. The researchers recruited 12 women of normal weight. On two different days, the women ate the same three meals. After each meal, they received a drink sweetened with either glucose or high fructose corn syrup. When subjects were given the drink sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, levels of the hormones insulin and leptin were lower than when they drank glucose. Rising insulin and leptin levels trigger a feeling of being "full." Following the high fructose corn syrup drink, levels of the hormone ghrelin were also higher compared with the glucose drink. A rising ghrelin level is linked with increased feelings of hunger. "Soft drinks are the leading source of added sugar in the American diet. They provide a large amount of excess calories and no nutritional value," says Matthias Schulze, lead author of a Harvard School of Public Health study linking the regular consumption of soft drinks with weight gain in young and middle-aged women [7]. Women in the study who increased their soft-drink consumption from low to high during the study also increased their daily calorie intake by approximately 360 per day. Women who cut back on their consumption from high to low reduced their daily calorie intake by nearly 320 calories. Super-sized servings of burgers and fries head the list of foods being blamed for America's obesity epidemic. The fact that high fructose corn syrup doesn't have much effect on your appetite means that the extra-large soda you drink to wash it all down is probably just as important. However, soft drinks most likely would have contributed just as much to obesity even if they were still sweetened with sucrose (soft drink manufacturers switched from sucrose to high fructose corn syrup in the 1970's). The contribution that soft drinks make to weight gain is due largely to factors that increase their consumption, including massive soft-drink advertising campaigns, the increase in serving sizes from 6.5 ounces to bottles containing up to 64 ounces, as well as the increased intake of soft drinks by children and adults at fast-food restaurants (which sometimes offer free refills), cinemas, and convenience stores. While the occasional soft drink won't make you fat or give you type II diabetes and heart disease, an extra-large soda every day is not a good idea. Soft drink manufacturers have secret plans to come up with a low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, caffeine-free, additive-free cola. Rumor has it they plan to call it water. Related Articles
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