The issues of increased weight, obesity and other medical related problems have surfaced over the years and have become a serious topic for many health organizations and researchers. There are many factors that contribute to this increase in weight, but the intake of high-fructose corn syrup provides one of the greatest concerns for persons. The paper will address whether high-fructose corn syrup contributes to rapid weight increase even if persons take similar caloric intake as table sugar.
Extensive or long term consumption of high fructose sugar and its by-products can lead to excessive increases in the fat in the body. Studies reveal that the excessive fat mostly forms in the abdomen and increases the triglycerides or blood fats that circulate within the abdomen. This reaction leads to obesity, but some critics will argue that high – fructose corn syrup has the same effects on the body as other sweeteners and any form of sugar will cause obesity.
High - fructose corn syrup serves a common sweetener in much of the food we consume today. Zeratsky argues that high-fructose corn syrup is similar in its composition to table sugar (Zeratsky n.d) but the controversy around the topic arise because of the way in which the body handles high -fructose corn syrup against the way the body handles table sugar. Forshee et al. suggests that the consumption of high fructose corn syrup contributes to the increase in body mass index (BMI) (Forshee et al 2007) and thereby increase the weight of these persons which can lead to serious health concerns.
According to Hilary Parker, “high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose” (Parker 2010). Nonetheless, the difference between both fructose and glucose lies in the composition of these products. Sucrose contains equal amounts of the fructose and glucose, but Parker’s study used a slightly imbalanced ratio that consisted of 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose (Parker 2010). In addition, the researcher included saccharides as the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener used in the research (Parker 2010). Based on this experiment, it was clear that the high sucrose contain remained as a likely contributor to the increase in weight gain in many persons.
Statistics have revealed that there has been an increase in the number of obesity cases since the emergence of high-fructose corn syrup on the market. Many persons gravitate towards its use because of the fact that is cost-effective and as such it is easier to introduce this product in the diet. Bray et al agrees that high fructose syrup is a favorite substitute for the use of sucrose in baked goods, carbonated beverages, jams and jellies, canned fruits, and a number of other dairy products (Bray et al. 2004). High fructose sugar is now one of the major caloric sweeteners in products that consumers use as a part of their daily diets.
Of course, one could argue the common byproducts, soft drinks and other sweetened beverages are not nutritional to one’s diet, but the arguments would be futile as the average person in the United States have changed the healthy diet to take on an unhealthy diet because of the lack of time and the low cost of dining on foods that have high fructose. Majority of the persons in the society are not longer concerned with the health risks that are associated with the food they consume because the lives of these persons do not foster the time or cost of preparing healthy foods. As such, the increase in high fructose sugar in just about every desirable product will undoubtedly increase the weight of many persons in the society.
The rates obesity continues to rise in the United States and a number of other countries around the world. According to Parker, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have recorded that obesity is common in about a third of the American population and this is a result of the high intake of high fructose corn syrup in the diet (Parker 2010). Interestingly, “Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year” (Parker 2010) and this figure suggests that the intake of high fructose corn syrup can cause a challenge for person who continue to consume the by-products. The present media concern on the increase in weight in the American society has led critics such as Hyman to argue that the average citizen in American consume from zero to sixty pounds of high fructose corn syrup annually (Hyman 2015). This consumption is a result of the commonness of high fructose corn syrup in the diet of these persons. Within this time many persons would have gained excessive weight as they do not take steps to improve their metabolic rate and neither do they exercise in order to remove the excessive fat cause by the intake of high fructose corn syrup in the diet. In other words high-fructose corn syrup increases the likelihood of weight gain because persons make little or no effort maintain a healthy physical structure.
Nonetheless, advocates on the benefits of high fructose corn syrup in the diet will argue that the increase in the weights of these persons stem from the lack of exercise and care for the body. But, one could easily counter this argument by suggesting the obvious truth that one’s should not be guided by mandatory exercises and being constantly vigilant of what goes into the body. The truth is that persons want to enjoy the process of food consumption, but at the same time persons need to practice responsible eating habits and be mindful of the amount of high fructose corn syrup in the diet if they want to avoid a serious increase in their weight.
References
Forshee, R. A. et al., (2007) A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High
Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17653981
Bray, G. A (2004) Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role
in the epidemic of obesity, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.full
Hyman, M., (2011) 5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You Retrieved March
09, 2016, from http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/
Parker, B. H. (2010). A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn
syrup prompts considerably more weight gain. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/
Zertasky, K. (n.d.). Nutrition and healthy eating. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/high-fructose-corn-syrup/faq-20058201
