Tc
Thu, May-26-05, 17:17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A8003-2003Mar10?lang-
uage=3Dprinter
Sweet but Not So Innocent? High-Fructose Corn Syrup May Act
More Like Fat Than Sugar in the Body
By Sally Squires Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, March
11, 2003; Page HE01
>From fruit-flavored drinks to energy bars, a huge array of
>sweetened
foods and beverages crowds grocery shelves, vending machines,
restaurant menus, school lunches and kitchens. According to
the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), consumption of various sweeteners, often in
calorie-dense foods and drinks, has risen in the United
States from an estimated 113 pounds per person in 1966 to 147
pounds in 2001.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended
limiting intake of added sugars found in food and drink to no
more than 10 percent of daily calories, a step the WHO said
could help stop the worldwide rise in obesity that is fueling
the growth of such chronic diseases as type 2 diabetes. The
WHO recommendation is far stricter than any that U.S. groups
have produced.
_____On the Web_____
=B7 Dietary Guidelines for Americans =B7 USDA: Is Intake of
Added Sugars Associated With Dietary Quality?
_____From Our Advertisers_____
=B7 Find health and fitness experts in the Washington area.
Free E-mail Newsletters Lean Plate Club See a Sample |
Sign Up Now
But increasingly, it's not just the growing consumption of
foods with added sugars that concerns some nutrition experts.
What has also changed during the past four decades, the USDA
figures show, is the type of sweeteners consumed -- a trend
that some studies suggest may help to undermine appetite
control and possibly play a role in weight gain.
In 1966, refined sugar, also known as sucrose, held the No.
1 slot, accounting for 86 percent of sweeteners used,
according to the USDA. Today, sweeteners made from corn are
the leader, racking up $4.5 billion in annual sales and
accounting for 55 percent of the sweetener market. That
switch largely reflects the steady growth of high-fructose
corn syrup, which climbed from zero consumption in 1966 to
62.6 pounds per person in 2001.
While soft drinks and fruit beverages such as lemonade are the
leading products containing high-fructose corn syrup, plenty
of other items -- including cookies, gum, jams, jellies and
baked goods -- also contain this syrup. [For more information
about which foods contain these and other added sweeteners,
see the Lean Plate Club column on Page F2.]
Made from corn starch, high-fructose corn syrup is a thick
liquid that contains two basic sugar building blocks, fructose
and glucose, in roughly equal amounts. Sucrose, most familiar
to consumers as table sugar, is a larger sugar molecule that
breaks down into glucose and fructose in the intestine during
metabolism.
An advantage of high-fructose corn syrup is that it "tastes
sweeter than refined sugar," making it a popular ingredient
for food manufacturers because it enables them to use less,
says George A. Bray, former director of Louisiana State
University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton
Rouge. As a liquid, the syrup is easier to blend into
beverages than refined sugar, according to the National Soft
Drink Association (NSDA). Industry taste tests suggested that
consumers liked food and drink with high-fructose corn syrup
as much as refined beet or cane sugar.
In the 1980s, manufacturing methods improved, prompting a
boost in production of high-fructose corn syrup and a drop in
price to just pennies below that of refined sugar. "While that
may not sound like much to the average consumer, when you
consider how many pounds [the soft drink industry buys], it
was millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars
in savings," says Drew Davis, NSDA's vice president for
federal affairs.
The switch made economic sense and, as Davis notes, "back
then, there was no suggestion that high-fructose corn syrup
was metabolized differently" than other sugars. More recent
research suggests, however, that there may be some unexpected
nutritional consequences of using the syrup. "Fructose is
absorbed differently" than other sugars, says Bray. "It
doesn't register in the body metabolically the same way that
glucose does."
For example, consumption of glucose kicks off a cascade of
biochemical reactions. It increases production of insulin by
the pancreas, which enables sugar in the blood to be
transported into cells, where it can be used for energy. It
increases production of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate
appetite and fat storage, and it suppresses production of
another hormone made by the stomach, ghrelin, that helps
regulate food intake. It has been theorized that when ghrelin
levels drop, as they do after eating carbohydrates composed of
glucose, hunger declines.
Fructose is a different story. It "appears to behave more like
fat with respect to the hormones involved in body weight
regulation," explains Peter Havel, associate professor of
nutrition at the University of California, Davis. "Fructose
doesn't stimulate insulin secretion. It doesn't increase
leptin production or suppress production of ghrelin. That
suggests that consuming a lot of fructose, like consuming too
much fat, could contribute to weight gain." Whether it
actually does do this is not known "because the studies have
not been conducted," said Havel.
Another concern is the action of fructose in the liver, where
it is converted into the chemical backbone of trigylcerides
more efficiently than glucose. Like low-density lipoprotein --
the most damaging form of cholesterol -- elevated levels of
trigylcerides are linked to an increased risk of heart
disease. A University of Minnesota study published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000 found that in
men, but not in women, fructose "produced significantly higher
[blood] levels" than did glucose. The researchers, led by J.P
Bantle, concluded that "diets high in added fructose may be
undesirable, particularly for men."
Other recent research suggests that fructose may alter the
magnesium balance in the body. That could, in turn, accelerate
bone loss, according to a USDA study published in 2000 in the
Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
In November, however, Havel and his colleagues published a
review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that
examined evidence from multiple studies. They concluded that
large quantities of fructose from a variety of sources,
including table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, induce
insulin resistance, impair glucose tolerance, produce high
levels of insulin, boost a dangerous type of fat in the blood
and cause high blood pressure in animals. "The data in humans
are less clear," the team noted.
Others are skeptical that high-fructose corn syrup acts
differently in the body than table sugar. "I don't see it as a
particular evil," says Michael Jacobson, director of the
Center for Science in the Public Interest and a vocal critic
of soft drinks, which he dubs "liquid candy." "It wouldn't
make much difference if soft drinks were sweetened with
sucrose [table sugar] or high-fructose corn syrup."
Until scientists sort out the details, many nutrition experts
say it makes sense to not surpass the 10 percent
recommendation of the WHO. On a 2,000-calorie intake, that
works out to about 200 calories -- roughly the amount found in
a 16.9-ounce bottle of soda or about eight Chunky Chips Ahoy
cookies or about an three ounces of plain M&M's. (Last year,
the National Academy of Sciences suggested that added sugars
should not exceed 25 percent of daily calories -- about 500
calories on a 2,000-calorie intake.)
"Reducing consumption of added sugars seems reasonable to me,"
Havel says, "just as you should not consume too many calories
from fat and you should exercise regularly."
But industry groups urged consumers not to respond by avoiding
any one food ingredient. Audrae Erickson, president of the
Corn Refiners Association, notes that many of the studies used
pure fructose rather than the combination of fructose and
glucose found in corn syrup.
"There are many sources for the obesity epidemic," Erickson
says. "There's no one single source of the obesity epidemic or
the onslaught of diabetes in America. But there are many
contributing factors and no scientific link to suggest that
high-fructose corn syrup is a contributing factor."
Erickson says that research published in a 1993 supplement to
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that there
is no evidence linking the syrup to the obesity epidemic.
What does play a role, she noted, "is the lack of physical
exercise. You can not discontinue the use of any one food or
beverage and expect tomorrow -- or even in 10 years from now
-- to be thin without increased physical activity."
That's a message being delivered not just by the food and
beverage industries, but also by the U.S. Surgeon General, the
National Academy of Sciences and the WHO, which also urged
more physical activity -- an hour a day of moderate-intensity
activity, such as walking -- in its report last week.=B7=20
---
TC
uage=3Dprinter
Sweet but Not So Innocent? High-Fructose Corn Syrup May Act
More Like Fat Than Sugar in the Body
By Sally Squires Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, March
11, 2003; Page HE01
>From fruit-flavored drinks to energy bars, a huge array of
>sweetened
foods and beverages crowds grocery shelves, vending machines,
restaurant menus, school lunches and kitchens. According to
the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), consumption of various sweeteners, often in
calorie-dense foods and drinks, has risen in the United
States from an estimated 113 pounds per person in 1966 to 147
pounds in 2001.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended
limiting intake of added sugars found in food and drink to no
more than 10 percent of daily calories, a step the WHO said
could help stop the worldwide rise in obesity that is fueling
the growth of such chronic diseases as type 2 diabetes. The
WHO recommendation is far stricter than any that U.S. groups
have produced.
_____On the Web_____
=B7 Dietary Guidelines for Americans =B7 USDA: Is Intake of
Added Sugars Associated With Dietary Quality?
_____From Our Advertisers_____
=B7 Find health and fitness experts in the Washington area.
Free E-mail Newsletters Lean Plate Club See a Sample |
Sign Up Now
But increasingly, it's not just the growing consumption of
foods with added sugars that concerns some nutrition experts.
What has also changed during the past four decades, the USDA
figures show, is the type of sweeteners consumed -- a trend
that some studies suggest may help to undermine appetite
control and possibly play a role in weight gain.
In 1966, refined sugar, also known as sucrose, held the No.
1 slot, accounting for 86 percent of sweeteners used,
according to the USDA. Today, sweeteners made from corn are
the leader, racking up $4.5 billion in annual sales and
accounting for 55 percent of the sweetener market. That
switch largely reflects the steady growth of high-fructose
corn syrup, which climbed from zero consumption in 1966 to
62.6 pounds per person in 2001.
While soft drinks and fruit beverages such as lemonade are the
leading products containing high-fructose corn syrup, plenty
of other items -- including cookies, gum, jams, jellies and
baked goods -- also contain this syrup. [For more information
about which foods contain these and other added sweeteners,
see the Lean Plate Club column on Page F2.]
Made from corn starch, high-fructose corn syrup is a thick
liquid that contains two basic sugar building blocks, fructose
and glucose, in roughly equal amounts. Sucrose, most familiar
to consumers as table sugar, is a larger sugar molecule that
breaks down into glucose and fructose in the intestine during
metabolism.
An advantage of high-fructose corn syrup is that it "tastes
sweeter than refined sugar," making it a popular ingredient
for food manufacturers because it enables them to use less,
says George A. Bray, former director of Louisiana State
University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton
Rouge. As a liquid, the syrup is easier to blend into
beverages than refined sugar, according to the National Soft
Drink Association (NSDA). Industry taste tests suggested that
consumers liked food and drink with high-fructose corn syrup
as much as refined beet or cane sugar.
In the 1980s, manufacturing methods improved, prompting a
boost in production of high-fructose corn syrup and a drop in
price to just pennies below that of refined sugar. "While that
may not sound like much to the average consumer, when you
consider how many pounds [the soft drink industry buys], it
was millions of dollars if not hundreds of millions of dollars
in savings," says Drew Davis, NSDA's vice president for
federal affairs.
The switch made economic sense and, as Davis notes, "back
then, there was no suggestion that high-fructose corn syrup
was metabolized differently" than other sugars. More recent
research suggests, however, that there may be some unexpected
nutritional consequences of using the syrup. "Fructose is
absorbed differently" than other sugars, says Bray. "It
doesn't register in the body metabolically the same way that
glucose does."
For example, consumption of glucose kicks off a cascade of
biochemical reactions. It increases production of insulin by
the pancreas, which enables sugar in the blood to be
transported into cells, where it can be used for energy. It
increases production of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate
appetite and fat storage, and it suppresses production of
another hormone made by the stomach, ghrelin, that helps
regulate food intake. It has been theorized that when ghrelin
levels drop, as they do after eating carbohydrates composed of
glucose, hunger declines.
Fructose is a different story. It "appears to behave more like
fat with respect to the hormones involved in body weight
regulation," explains Peter Havel, associate professor of
nutrition at the University of California, Davis. "Fructose
doesn't stimulate insulin secretion. It doesn't increase
leptin production or suppress production of ghrelin. That
suggests that consuming a lot of fructose, like consuming too
much fat, could contribute to weight gain." Whether it
actually does do this is not known "because the studies have
not been conducted," said Havel.
Another concern is the action of fructose in the liver, where
it is converted into the chemical backbone of trigylcerides
more efficiently than glucose. Like low-density lipoprotein --
the most damaging form of cholesterol -- elevated levels of
trigylcerides are linked to an increased risk of heart
disease. A University of Minnesota study published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2000 found that in
men, but not in women, fructose "produced significantly higher
[blood] levels" than did glucose. The researchers, led by J.P
Bantle, concluded that "diets high in added fructose may be
undesirable, particularly for men."
Other recent research suggests that fructose may alter the
magnesium balance in the body. That could, in turn, accelerate
bone loss, according to a USDA study published in 2000 in the
Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
In November, however, Havel and his colleagues published a
review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that
examined evidence from multiple studies. They concluded that
large quantities of fructose from a variety of sources,
including table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, induce
insulin resistance, impair glucose tolerance, produce high
levels of insulin, boost a dangerous type of fat in the blood
and cause high blood pressure in animals. "The data in humans
are less clear," the team noted.
Others are skeptical that high-fructose corn syrup acts
differently in the body than table sugar. "I don't see it as a
particular evil," says Michael Jacobson, director of the
Center for Science in the Public Interest and a vocal critic
of soft drinks, which he dubs "liquid candy." "It wouldn't
make much difference if soft drinks were sweetened with
sucrose [table sugar] or high-fructose corn syrup."
Until scientists sort out the details, many nutrition experts
say it makes sense to not surpass the 10 percent
recommendation of the WHO. On a 2,000-calorie intake, that
works out to about 200 calories -- roughly the amount found in
a 16.9-ounce bottle of soda or about eight Chunky Chips Ahoy
cookies or about an three ounces of plain M&M's. (Last year,
the National Academy of Sciences suggested that added sugars
should not exceed 25 percent of daily calories -- about 500
calories on a 2,000-calorie intake.)
"Reducing consumption of added sugars seems reasonable to me,"
Havel says, "just as you should not consume too many calories
from fat and you should exercise regularly."
But industry groups urged consumers not to respond by avoiding
any one food ingredient. Audrae Erickson, president of the
Corn Refiners Association, notes that many of the studies used
pure fructose rather than the combination of fructose and
glucose found in corn syrup.
"There are many sources for the obesity epidemic," Erickson
says. "There's no one single source of the obesity epidemic or
the onslaught of diabetes in America. But there are many
contributing factors and no scientific link to suggest that
high-fructose corn syrup is a contributing factor."
Erickson says that research published in a 1993 supplement to
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that there
is no evidence linking the syrup to the obesity epidemic.
What does play a role, she noted, "is the lack of physical
exercise. You can not discontinue the use of any one food or
beverage and expect tomorrow -- or even in 10 years from now
-- to be thin without increased physical activity."
That's a message being delivered not just by the food and
beverage industries, but also by the U.S. Surgeon General, the
National Academy of Sciences and the WHO, which also urged
more physical activity -- an hour a day of moderate-intensity
activity, such as walking -- in its report last week.=B7=20
---
TC