Several scientific and non-scientific articles have been blamed this sweetener, HFCS, as a grave sponsor of the mounting obesity rate in the United States and other nations that use it. Customary corn syrup usually has glucose as the major constituent at100 percent. Glucose is a simple carbohydrate that is the principal sugar employed by the cells of the human body for energy production. HFCS is not similar to the usual corn syrup. It is produced by utilizing an enzyme to transform glucose to fructose, a similar simple sugar but an isomer to glucose. An amalgam is then generated between this novel ingredient and usual corn syrup to produce a homogeneous artefact with an accurate fructose to glucose ratio. The most known forms include HFCS 42 usually used in baking and thus can be found in baked goods and has around 42 percent of fructose and the rest; glucose. The other form is HFCS 55 which is commonly found and employed in soft drinks. It has about 55 and 45 percent fructose to glucose respectively (Malik, Schulze, and Hu 569).
Now, as individuals rummage around for a clear origin for the epidemic of obesity, one issue they scrutinize is variations in dietetic behaviours. HFCS, as a comparatively novel constituent within the American nutrition, and one that is established in several insalubrious foods and caloric drinks, has developed into a contentious issue. Research has investigated the conceivable association, giving rise to varied messages. However, an obvious connection is that the U.S. calorie ingesting has mounted progressively for several decades. A significant foundation of the increment calorie diet is syrupy beverages for example sodas. According to Malik, Schulze, and Hu, U.S. soft drink ingestion propagated 135 percent between 1977 and 2001.
Numerous scientific papers issued have conjectured a direct association between HFCS and obesity. Such a paper principally reasoned along binary lines of thinking. One was the matter discoursed afore about augmented ingestion. The second is rooted on the fructose metabolism. Fructose is processed differently from glucose within the body. Glucose is conveyed to the cells via the hormone insulin while fructose is not (Forshee RA, et.al 581). Consequently, its consumption does not inspire insulin release. This, consecutively, denotes that fructose consumption does not cause the insulin-induced upsurge in leptin. As a proliferation in insulin and leptin are related with satiety (Forshee RA, et.al 582), certain researchers hypothesized that conceivably consuming fructose in place of glucose causes individuals to devour more calories for the reason that they do not obtained the right indications to feel filled.
Elevated fructose diets likewise have been revealed to cause a more direct production and storing of fat (Sheu and Wiley 304). In addition, notwithstanding not partaking the same influence on insulin emission as glucose, fructose consumption is powerfully related to the progression of insulin resistance (Sheu and Wiley 304) and Diabetes mellitus type 2. This seems to happen since consumption of an elevated fructose diet causes additional fat fabrication, counting as well the augmented production of flow triglycerides (Sheu and Wiley 305).
A Princeton University research team has also established that all sweeteners are not identical when it relates to weight gain. According to them, laboratory rats with given high-fructose corn syrup increased meaningfully in weight than those given table sugar, even when their general caloric consumption was identical. As well as instigating momentous weight gain, continuous ingestion of high-fructose corn syrup similarly led to irregular upsurges in body fat, particularly in the abdomen, and an intensification in triglycerides. This work made some progress on the issues leading to obesity tendencies in the United States.
Work Cited
Forshee RA, et.al. A critical examination of the evidence relating high fructose corn syrup and weight gain. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2007;47(6):561-82. Review.
Malik VS, Schulze MB, and Hu FB. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review. Am J Clan Nutr. 2006 Aug; 84(2):274-88. Review.
Sheu MJ and Wiley RC. Influence of Reverse Osmosis on Sugar Retention in Apple Juice Concentration. Journal of Food Science, 1984; 49 (1), 304–305.
