dFL {live fit}: A Picture of HFCS & Obesity...or Two

Mar 8, 2011

A Picture of HFCS & Obesity...or Two

This stuff is nasty...cut it out.

Although I don't think that obesity can be directly attributed to only increased high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) consumption, there's no doubt that HFCS has been one of the major factors.

I've posted on HFCS and insulin before (here), but here's a quick recap of what HFCS does to the body.

The High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Story:

There are many different types of sugar, a few include: lactose, which is found in dairy products, fructose, which is found in fruits, and glucose which is a product of carbohydrate breakdown. These sugars are not chemically identical and have much different effects on our blood sugar levels. Most fruits have a relatively low glycemic index value (low glycemic index foods raise blood sugar levels at a slower rate). Even though they're high in sugar, they're slower digesting because they're primarily composed of fructose (which digests slower than other types of sugar).
Sugar is made up of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. HFCS is a chemical meant to imitate sugar that's made up of a higher % of fructose depending on the type (hence the name "high fructose"). Typical HFCS is 55% fructose, 45% glucose, but some variations can go as high as 92% fructose.
The issue with HFCS is that our body, in particularly the liver, isn't used to such a high % of fructose in normal sugar.
The high fructose component of HFCS is sent directly to the liver and completely bypasses the bloodstream. In the 1000 years of existence our liver has never had to deal with such a high amount of fructose in sugar. It doesn't know what to do with it--so it converts it into fat immediately and sends it out to the fat tissue to be stored.
What's even worst is that because HFCS skips the bloodstream it has no effect on our hunger levels and we keep eating more and more. Because we never get any hungrier this creates an endless cycle of HFCS consumption, fat gain, and ultimately obesity.