Experts Respond - High Fructose Corn Syrup and Metabolism

Is high fructose corn syrup metabolized differently than sugar?

Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food
Studies, and Public Health at New York University and author of “What to Eat” and “Food Politics” told the Spokesman Review ,“HFCS is glucose and fructose separated. Table sugar is glucose and fructose stuck together, but quickly separated by digestive enzymes. … The body can hardly tell them apart.” (Lamberson C. January 2, 2008. “High-fructose corn syrup may be the next target” Spokesman Review.)

“There is no difference in how the human body handles HFCS and sugar. The two sweeteners are equivalent metabolically,” said James M. Rippe, M.D., Cardiologist and Biomedical Sciences Professor, University of Central Florida. (Buchanan S. May 7, 2008. “Higher Corn-Syrup Prices Make Sugar Look Sweeter” Wall Street Journal.)

“HFCS is the chemical and nutritional equivalent of table sugar (sucrose). The two substances have the same calories, the same chemical composition and are metabolized identically,” wrote Arthur Frank, M.D., Medical Director, George Washington University Weight Management Program. (Frank A. December 6, 2006. “Carbs and Calories, Confusion and Chaos” The Washington Times.)

Does high fructose corn syrup have a unique impact on triglycerides?

A study by Linda M. Zukley, M.A., R.N., et al., at the Rippe Lifestyle Institute reviewed the effects of HFCS and sugar on triglycerides in a study group of lean women. This short-term study found “no differences in the metabolic effects in lean women [of HFCS] compared to sucrose,” and called for additional studies of obese individuals or individuals at risk for the metabolic syndrome. (Zukley LM, et al. June 2007. The Effect of High Fructose Corn Syrup on Post-Prandial Lipemia in Normal Weight Females. Presented at the June 2007 meeting of The Endocrine Society. Program Abstract #P2-46.)

Does high fructose corn syrup have a unique impact on uric acid?

Joshua Lowndes, M.A., et al., at the Rippe Lifestyle Institute reviewed the effects of HFCS and sugar on circulating levels of uric acid in a study group of lean women. Uric acid is believed to play a role in the development of the metabolic syndrome. This short-term study found “no differences in the metabolic effects in lean women [of HFCS] compared to sucrose,” and called for additional studies of obese individuals and males. (Lowndes J, et al. June 2007. The Effect of High-Fructose Corn Syrup on Uric Acid Levels in Normal Weight Women. Presented at the June 2007 meeting of The Endocrine Society. Program Abstract #P2-45.)

Does high fructose corn syrup have a unique impact on the appetite control hormones leptin and ghrelin?

“Compared with pure glucose, fructose is thought to be associated with insufficient secretion of insulin and leptin and suppression of ghrelin,” wrote James M. Rippe, M.D., Cardiologist and Biomedical Sciences Professor, University of Central Florida, in a recent study. “However, when HFCS is compared with sucrose the more commonly consumed sweetener, such differences are not apparent, and appetite and energy intake do not differ in the short-term.” (Melanson KJ, Angelopoulos TJ, Nguyen V, Zukley L, Lowndes J and Rippe JM. December 2008. High-fructose corn syrup, energy intake, and appetite regulation. Am J Clin Nutr 88(suppl):1738S-1744S.)

Kathleen J. Melanson, Ph.D., R.D., L.D., et al., at the University of Rhode Island reviewed the effects of HFCS 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 HFCS and sugar. (Melanson KJ, Zukley L, Lowndes J, Nguyen V, Angelopoulos TJ, Rippe JM. 2007. Effects of high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose consumption on circulating glucose, insulin, leptin, and ghrelin and on appetite in normal-weight women. Nutrition 23(2):103-112.)