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Facts on HFCS & Metabolism
Watch experts discuss how the body handles and metabolizes high fructose corn syrup.
Experts on HFCS
Experts from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from health professional organizations to consumer advocacy groups, talk about high fructose corn syrup.
HFCS Study on Hunger
A peer-reviewed study found that beverages sweetened with sugar and high fructose corn syrup affect fullness and hunger in the same way.
Metabolism
Myth: High fructose corn syrup is metabolized differently.
It blocks the ability of the body to know when it is full.
Reality: A study published in the July 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) by Pablo Monsivais, et al., at the University of Washington found that beverages sweetened with sugar, high fructose corn syrup and 1% milk all have similar effects on feelings of fullness.
Another study published in the December 2007 issue of AJCN by Stijn Soenen and Margriet S. Westerterp-Plantenga from the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, also found that beverages sweetened with sugar and high fructose corn syrup, as well as milk, have similar effects on feelings of fullness.
The November 2007 AJCN included a study on the effect of solutions containing sugar, high fructose corn syrup and various ratios of glucose to fructose on food intake, average appetite, blood glucose, plasma insulin, ghrelin and uric acid in men by Tina Akhavan and G. Harvey Anderson at the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. The researchers found that sugar, high fructose corn syrup and 1:1 glucose/fructose solutions do not differ significantly in their short-term effects on subjective and physiologic measures of satiety, uric acid and food intake at a subsequent meal.
A study published in the February 2007 issue of Nutrition by Kathleen J. Melanson, et al., at the University of Rhode Island reviewed the effects of high fructose corn syrup and sugar on circulating levels of glucose, leptin, insulin and ghrelin in a study group of lean women. The study found “no differences in the metabolic effects” of high fructose corn syrup and sugar.