HFCS and Insulin

Does consumption of high fructose corn syrup,
as compared to sugar, reduce the ability of the
body to produce insulin?

No. Both have largely the same effect on insulin production. Insulin is essentially responsible for the uptake of glucose into cells and the lowering of blood sugar. All caloric sweeteners trigger an insulin response to a greater or lesser extent. Among common sweeteners, pure glucose triggers the greatest insulin release, while pure fructose triggers the least. Both table sugar and high fructose corn syrup trigger about the same intermediate insulin release because they contain nearly equal amounts of glucose and fructose.21

It is extremely rare for pure fructose to be consumed alone in the diet. Fructose is usually consumed together with glucose, as it is in high fructose corn syrup, table sugar and honey. It is important to remember that no matter the source of the ingredients—whether from sugar or high fructose corn syrup—the human body produces insulin in response to the whole meal consumed.

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. All four tested substances have been hypothesized to play a role in metabolism and obesity. The study found “no differences in the metabolic effects” of high fructose corn syrup and sugar in this short-term study, and called for additional studies of obese individuals and males.5