The Enemy is in Your Food: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Until the 1970s, we ate sugar made from beets or sugar cane. It was not until recently that sugar produced from corn began to rise in popularity--corn sugars, such as corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, dextrine, and high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is the culprit we will be examining, and its effects on the poor quality of health America seems to be experiencing.

High fructose corn syrup can be made in different ways, such that it can have equal amounts of glucose to fructose, or up to 80 percent fructose. Fructose is the sugar in fruit. It's usually a good thing.

In 1980, the average consumption per capita of fructose and sucrose was 39 pounds to 84 pounds, respectively. In 1994, the average person consumed 66 pounds of sucrose and 83 pounds fructose. In 14 years, the average per capita consumption of fructose increased 44 pounds, while the average per capita consumption of sucrose decreased only 18 pounds. We are eating more and more sugars, and more and more of them are coming from fructose in the form of corn based sweeteners.

So, why is this such a problem? Pure fructose, without fiber, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, or anything, when consumed, depletes the body's stores of nutrients in order to make itself usable by the body. In nature, this does not happen, because pure fructose is never naturally occurring--it is always bound in a fruit, with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and glucose, all of which prevent it from wreaking havoc. High fructose contains a high percentage of fructose, much of which is not bound to anything to prevent it from causing havoc in the bloodstream. High fructose corn syrup has been linked to elevated LDL cholesterol levels (low-density lipoprotein. The bad kind of cholesterol.), and an increase in the incidences of blood clots in individuals whose diet is high in high fructose corn syrup.
It has also been shown to prevent the white blood cells from defending the body from invaders, though to what extent is relatively unclear.

The unbound fructose in high fructose corn syrup even goes further than that in its parade of destruction throughout the body--it reduces the ability of insulin to recognize its receptors. This is very similar to what occurs in type two diabetes. The body needs these receptors to be able to recognize insulin, so that glucose and other important nutrients can enter the cell and begin metabolization. Consequentially, one's body will be forced to produce more insulin for this unbound fructose than it would need to produce for an equal quantity of glucose.

All that aside, what else is there to be afraid of? Quite frankly, plenty.

Unbound fructose is converted into fatty tissue at a higher rate than glucose. It can result in diarrhea. It has also been shown to increase levels of uric acid in the body. Uric acid can often be taken as indicating heart disease. Uric acid, in extreme cases, can cause metabolic acidosis, which can be deadly.

In studies on humans, a diet rich in unbound fructose lead to the loss of many minerals, especially magnesium, calcium, zinc and iron, through excrement. Magnesium and calcium are vital for bone development. Iron is vital for energy and the transfer of oxygen throughout the blood. Zinc is important for many reasons, such as cellular repair, and prostate health in men.

Perhaps the scariest part of it all is that, on top of all this, unbound fructose also actually inhibits copper absorption. Copper is essential for healthy cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. Fructose already affects blood sugar levels horribly enough as-is, but with an inhibition of copper, it is even worse. Perhaps this is the reason America continues to struggle with its weight. A lack of iron makes us feel unenergetic; fructose causes us to retain fat easily; a lack of copper makes it almost impossible to get a grip on one's blood sugar levels.

High fructose corn syrup is perhaps our greatest enemy when it comes to the obesity epidemic that has struck America and is now sweeping the globe.