The Misleading Ads About High Fructose Corn Sugar

It's hard to turn on the TV these days without seeing that ad which states that your body cannot tell the difference between corn sugar and cane sugar, and therefore high fructose corn sugar is safe.

Not true. Studies around the world have proven there are vasy differences. One of the most compelling is the study done at Princeton University. When they fed rates normal cane suger and water with their diet, they remained healthy. But when fed High Fructose corn sugar in water at even 1/2 dose, every single rat became obese. In study after study the results were the same.

High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there are at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.

This seemingly minor difference makes all the difference in the world. And it appears that high fructose corn sugar is largely responsible for the high rate of obesity in America - most soft drinks and many processed foods contain HFCS.

So, why are they spending millions on ads to convince us that HFCS is no different from ordinary sugar? Money. High fructose corn syrup costs only a small fraction of what sugar costs.

So, the nest time you see that commercial saying all sugars are the same, you will know better. You will know the truth.

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