Obesity is alarming problem in all parts of the globe. Not being a disease itself, it does pave way for many illnesses and ill health for the obese individuals. There is no single factor identified for obesity and weight gain but many contribute to increase the weight. The fats contribute maximum towards the weight gain and the added sugars like sucrose, fructose present in diet have been explored for their role in obesity. Focusing on high fruit corn syrup being a contributor towards obesity, let’s consider the current opinions. Being an artificial sweetener that was introduced in 1960’s (Klurfeld et al, 2013), some consider it to be a major cause but others don’t. It has been statistically recorded that its consumption increased subsequently till 1990’s over sucrose and other sweeteners due to its feasibility in food industry.
Interrelation of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) with Obesity
It has been documented that as the HFCS consumption in the sweetened food products and soft drinks increased after 1970’s, the obesity endemic has occupied the entire US (Bray et al, 2004). Fructose is a cheaper option than sucrose and is sweeter than sucrose and glucose making it profitable for food industry. Glucose is a natural energy source for the body that has metabolism pathways leading to ATP generation whereas, fructose follows a different path. In adequate amounts, fructose is beneficial but when a limit exceeds than it unbalances carbon sources for hepatic lipogenesis (Bray et al, 2004). It is evident that carbohydrates in form of liquids like soft drinks than in solids like jellies make an individual more prone towards obesity.
But, there is another contrasting group of researchers that do not consider HFCS to be a contributing factor to obesity. Klurfeld et al in 2013 published an article stating that HFCS is not consumed alone but with glucose from food sources. When these are consumed together, the factors stated by Bray et al regarding fructose metabolism in the human body are ruled out. Also, sucrose and HFCS do not vary much in fructose composition making them comparable in terms of caloric intake when present in food stuffs.
Conclusion
HFCS is been under debate by the groups of researchers for playing role in causation of obesity. The metabolism differences between glucose and excess amounts of fructose need to be studied and compared in much detail to draw a righteous conclusion. Further, to control the increasing obesity rates as well as weight gain ratios, it is important that rather than considering a single factor, the overall calories should be managed by an individual.
References
Bray, A, G., Nielsen, J, S., and Popkin, M, B. (2004). Consumption of High-Fructose Corn Syrup in Beverages may play a role in the Epidemic of Obesity. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 79;537-43. Accessed at http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/4/537.full.pdf+html on 1 April 2016.
Klurfeld, M, D., Foreyt, J., Angelopoulos, J, T., and Rippe, M, J. (2013). Lack of Evidence for High Fructose Corn Syrup as the cause of the Obesity Epidemic. International Journal of Obesity. 37; 771-773. Accessed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3679479/pdf/ijo2012157a.pdf on 31 March 2016.
