This kind of sugar is a hidden "health killer". Many people eat it almost every day, but they don't know it.

With the popularization of health concepts, people have begun to consciously avoid foods containing added sugar, such as foods with white sugar and sucrose in the ingredient list.

Some people think that they can enjoy delicious food in a healthy way, but they don’t know that they have stepped on another landmine unknowingly, that is, foods with "high fructose corn syrup" in the ingredient list. We can see the shadow of high fructose corn syrup in the carbonated drinks we usually drink, candies, chocolates, cakes, biscuits, bread and other foods we eat, but many people ignore this hidden "health killer".

So what are the potential hazards of consuming too much fructose corn syrup? And how can we reduce its intake in our daily life?

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What is "glucose fructose syrup"?

Fructose corn syrup, also known as high fructose syrup or isomerized syrup, is a starch sugar product made from starch or starchy substances through hydrolysis, isomerization, refining, concentration and other processes. It is mainly composed of fructose and glucose. It can also be understood as a mixed syrup composed of fructose and glucose. In fructose corn syrup, the ratio of fructose to glucose can be flexibly controlled. The higher the fructose ratio, the sweeter the syrup.

There are four types of fructose:

Type 42 (F42) means that the syrup contains 42% fructose and 58% glucose;

Type 55 (F55) means that the syrup contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose;

Type 60 (F60) means that the syrup contains 60% fructose and 40% glucose;

Type 90 (F90) means that the syrup contains 90% fructose and 10% glucose.

The syrup of Coca-Cola we usually drink is type 60. In addition, type 90 fructose syrup is not common in daily life because of its high fructose content and excessive sweetness.

As early as the 1960s, the United States began to use fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. By 1985, the use of fructose corn syrup accounted for 35% of the total added sugar, becoming the main sweetener in soft drinks and other sugary drinks such as soda, iced tea and juice. According to statistics, the production of fructose corn syrup in my country has shown a sustained and stable growth trend in recent years. In 2021, the production of fructose corn syrup in my country reached 6.85 million tons.

The reason why high fructose corn syrup is so popular in the field of food production is mainly because it is colorless and odorless, has good fluidity at room temperature, is easy to use, has the advantages of high solubility, good moisture retention, high osmotic pressure, good fermentation performance, and has cold sweet properties below 40°C.

In addition to providing sweetness, adding fructose corn syrup to food can also bring better flavor, color or texture to the product, and can improve stability and extend shelf life. These advantages make fructose corn syrup stand out among many "sugars" and widely used in the food field.

Excessive intake of fructose corn syrup

It's not just about getting fat

Although adding fructose corn syrup can make some foods taste better, eating foods containing fructose corn syrup frequently can also be harmful.

1. Increase the risk of obesity

Obesity has become a common problem nowadays. The prevalence of overweight/obesity among adults in my country has exceeded 50%, and that among school-age children is close to 20%. It is urgent to control obesity.

Drinks containing fructose corn syrup may be one of the driving forces behind people's gradual obesity. After all, drinks with fructose corn syrup taste good, have high calories, and have a weak sense of fullness. You can gulp down a whole bottle. If you drink them frequently without controlling your diet or increasing your exercise, you will naturally gain weight.

High fructose corn syrup contains a lot of fructose, and studies have shown that pure fructose consumed with a mixed meal can lead to a decrease in circulating insulin and leptin, and weaken the suppression of postprandial growth hormone releasing peptide in women, compared with dietary glucose.

In simple terms, the differential effects of fructose on energy regulatory systems compared to glucose may lead to increased caloric intake and ultimately weight gain and obesity during long-term consumption of a high-fructose diet.

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2. Increased risk of fatty liver disease

High fructose corn syrup is composed of glucose and fructose. Glucose can be used by the body's tissues and organs as an energy source, while most of the fructose is metabolized in the liver after ingestion. Excessive intake of fructose will be converted into fat in the liver, thereby increasing the risk of fatty liver.

A study published in the Journal of Nutrition showed that people who drank at least one beverage containing fructose corn syrup per day had a 55% higher risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease than those who did not drink the beverage.

Many research evidences also show that the intake of high fructose corn syrup not only increases the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but also increases the risk of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

3. Increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Fructose and glucose have different effects on blood sugar. We usually set the GI value of glucose at 100. Fructose must be converted into glucose to cause an increase in blood sugar. Since the conversion takes a certain amount of time and only a small amount of fructose can be converted, the GI value of fructose is only 19~23.

In other words, the metabolism of fructose in the body has little effect on blood sugar, and high fructose corn syrup containing high fructose will not have a great effect on blood sugar. But the problem is that excessive fructose intake is the main cause of liver fat accumulation, which can lead to insulin resistance and increase the risk of diabetes.

4. Increased risk of dyslipidemia

Studies have found that high fructose intake can increase plasma total cholesterol levels in healthy individuals and diabetic patients.

5. Increased Risk of Gout

There is strong evidence that fructose metabolism in the liver increases the risk of gout by inducing uric acid production through increased degradation of ATP to AMP (a uric acid precursor).

Since the introduction of high fructose corn syrup in 1967, fructose consumption in the United States has increased substantially, and the consumption of high fructose corn syrup has coincided with an increasing trend in the prevalence of gout among Americans.

6. Damage to teeth

As for the problem of eating "sugar" causing tooth decay, fructose corn syrup is no exception. Animal experiments have shown that both sucrose and fructose corn syrup can cause tooth decay. The glucose and fructose in fructose corn syrup are monosaccharides. Monosaccharides have a small molecular weight and high water solubility. They can easily penetrate into plaque and can be directly used by caries-causing bacteria to produce acid, causing tooth surface demineralization. This is the culprit that makes you secretly grow a belly.

However, compared with sucrose, the ability of high fructose corn syrup to cause smooth surface caries is relatively weaker, but its ability to cause pit and fissure caries is relatively more obvious.

Avoid excessive intake

Try this

At present, high fructose corn syrup is widely used in the food industry. For example, the cakes, milk tea, ice cream, popsicles, preserved fruits, candied fruits, jams, sandwich biscuits, bread, sweet drinks, wine, etc. that we eat may contain high fructose corn syrup.

If you want to identify whether there is high fructose corn syrup, the more reliable way is to look directly at the ingredient list on the food packaging. If the words "high fructose corn syrup" are shown, then eat less or not eat it, especially if high fructose corn syrup is listed relatively early in the ingredient list, which means the content is higher, so you should choose with caution.

Figure: E-commerce platform

Although foods containing fructose corn syrup are sweet and delicious, eating them frequently can quietly become a "health killer" for you, making you fat, damaging your liver, damaging your blood sugar, raising your uric acid, and possibly damaging your teeth. When buying food, be sure to read the ingredient list carefully. It's okay to eat it occasionally, but it's not worth it to eat it frequently. Don't sacrifice your health for this "sweet" taste!

References

[1] GB/T 20882.4-2021, Quality requirements for starch sugars Part 4: Fructose syrup[S].

[2] Tong Yi, Li Yi, Wu Yandong, et al. Absorption and metabolism of fructose corn syrup and its effects on health[J]. Food Science and Technology, 2018, 43(05): 54-58. DOI: 10.13684/j.cnki.spkj.2018.05.011.

[3]Angelopoulos TJ, Lowndes J, Zukley L, Melanson KJ, Nguyen V, Huffman A, Rippe JM. The effect of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on triglycerides and uric acid. J Nutr. 2009 Jun;139(6):1242S-1245S. doi: 10.3945/jn.108.098194. Epub 2009 Apr 29. PMID: 19403709.

[4]Schaefer EJ, Gleason JA, Dansinger ML. Dietary fructose and glucose differentially affect lipid and glucose homeostasis. J Nutr. 2009 Jun;139(6):1257S-1262S. doi: 10.3945/jn.108.098186. Epub 2009 Apr 29. PMID: 19403705; PMCID: PMC2682989.

[5]Jensen T, Abdelmalek MF, Sullivan S, Nadeau KJ, Green M, Roncal C, Nakagawa T, Kuwabara M, Sato Y, Kang DH, Tolan DR, Sanchez-Lozada LG, Rosen HR, Lanaspa MA, Diehl AM, Johnson RJ. Fructose and sugar: A major mediator of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. J Hepatol. 2018 May;68(5):1063-1075. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2018.01.019. Epub 2018 Feb 2. PMID: 29408694; PMCID: PMC5893377.

[6]Rho, Young Hee et al. “The epidemiology of uric acid and fructose.” Seminars in nephrology vol. 31,5 (2011): 410-9. doi:10.1016/j.semnephrol.2011.08.004

[7] Xiao Tianming, Xia Wenwei. Animal experimental study on the cariogenicity of high fructose corn syrup[J]. Journal of Endodontics and Periodontology, 2013, 23(7): 446-449.

Author: Xue Qingxin, registered nutritionist

Reviewer: Ruan Guangfeng, Director of Science and Technology Department, Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center