Why Real Sugar is Better than High Fructose Corn Syrup

Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) actually have similar components, but in different ratios. Normal sugar is pure sucrose, which is a loose chemical bonding of fructose and glucose in a 50/50 ratio. HFCS is usually 55% fructose and 45% glucose, though sometimes it can be as high as 90% fructose and 10% glucose.

Why is this bad? Well, honestly, for some it isn't. A small handful of people actually cannot properly process sucrose, and therefore HFCS is a better option for them as the glucose and fructose are already separated. However, for the majority of us, HFCS is worse than sugar. And why is that? The short answer is that it has more fructose in it, but be prepared for the long answer.

Many studies have linked fructose with negative health effects. High volumes of fructose can cause your liver to produce extra triglycerides, and can cause insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is what causes Type II Diabetes, so, in other words, fructose has been linked with diabetes. As evidence of that, a study involving rats put them on a diet high in fructose and fat, which is similar to the typical American diet. The rats started showing signs of Type II Diabetes and fatty liver disease within 4 weeks. But couldn't that just be the fat content that causes that? Well, no, it's not just the fat content. Another study involving rats fed one group of rats a high fructose diet while the other group was fed a fructose free diet. When both groups had fatty foods added to their diets, the rats with a high fructose diet had developed a leptin resistance from the fructose, which caused them to gain more weight and have more problems than the rats that were not fed fructose.

Both sugar and HFCS have fructose in them, though, and the difference is pretty small between them. But, a small difference over a long period of time can lead to a large difference. So, why is HFCS in everything in the US? Two reasons. One, corn farming subsidies keep corn prices artificially low given the quantities that are actually produced. Two, sugar tariffs and import restriction make sugar more expensive. In other words, sugar is cheaper in many other countries, but HFCS is cheaper here, and that is why so many American foods and drinks have HFCS in them.

While I hate to fall back on this statement, it seems true in this case. Largely, it's the government's fault that Americans have so much HFCS in their diet.

For more information about sugars in foods, or controlling your blood sugar level, try Natural Diabetic's blood sugar control page.