High Fructose Corn Syrup vs Sugar
High fructose corn syrup- HFCS made by processing cornstarch with acids and enzymes is so common now that roughly half the sugar in foods that we buy comes from it and not the usual beet or cane sugar. High fructose corn syrup vs sugar? Well, the former is definitely cheaper and no doubt is sweeter than the latter. Let’s see which one is better.
It is true that the rates of obesity have increased sharply with the widespread use of high fructose corn syrup. However, it really is hard to tell whether it is the increased use of sugar overall, worse eating habits, increased consumption of processed foods in the developed world or any other reason.
Some nutritionists claim that HFCS is not worse than fructose or common sugar and it is not to blame for the obesity epidemic. HFCS is also a mixture of fructose and glucose in approximately the same amounts and digested the same way in the human body. They both contain 4 calories per gram. Please note that the Glycemic index- GI value for corn syrup is 73 on average but this will depend on fructose to glucose ratio, it is 75 for table sugar and 65 for raw sugar.
Production of insulin and hormones that regulate hunger, satiety, metabolism and body weight is not much different with either of them. And neither cane sugar nor corn syrup is natural, they both need human touch and artificial processing.
Although corn sugar is not evil, just like cane sugar it is very high in calories and if you eat too much sugar of any sort, it can’t be good for your waistline or health. It is probably not a bad idea to stick to your low sugar healthy eating plan every day. It won’t matter much in terms of calories and weight gain, whether it is the brown sugar, fruit sugar, honey, cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Your best bet is to consume very little ‘sugar’ of any sort to avoid type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and other health problems.
Others believe that HFSC is totally artificial and synthetic and the reason it is found in almost all processed foods is it is cheap and nasty and food companies prefer them to the usual cane sugar to lower their costs and make much bigger profits.
Foods made with corn syrup also tend to have a longer shelf life. Your body digests HFCS differently to glucose, it is turned into fat easier and affects your appetite and blood glucose differently, as it contains a little more fructose than cane sugar. They also claim that corn syrup contains harmful neurotoxins.
You need to be wiser consumers that know your bodies, not believe everything you read and ask smart questions and see whether things apply to you personally. So I choose to cut back on sugar of all types gradually because I know the stuff is loaded with empty calories with no nutritional value that causes a spike in my blood sugar and makes me hungry and craves for more of the bad stuff.
I always check the ingredients of the packaged foods I buy at the shops, paying particular attention to the sugar part. There is a lot of hidden sugar in stuff that you wouldn’t expect much like crackers and bread and sugar comes with different names, such as molasses, malt, fructose, maple syrup, dextrin and more. I try and replace sugar with vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon or fruit purees to sweeten many things I eat or drink. I never buy sugar-loaded fruit yogurt but add fruit or a little jam to the natural plain yogurt.
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