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A lot of Americans are justifiably worried about sugar consumption, but the debate over "real" sugar and high-fructose corn syrup shows that legitimate concerns can often be layered with some unfounded fears. Excess sugar consumption is a big contributor to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, and the average American adult consumes around 17 teaspoons worth of added sugar in food each day. That's almost twice as much as the daily recommended maximum. But does switching from high fructose corn syrup to real cane sugar actually make anything better? We posed that question to Angel Luk, a registered dietitian, and she tells us there really isn't much difference between the two when it comes to health.
Luk says, "So far, there is no reliable research that concludes real sugar or high fructose corn syrup is better than the other." According to her, both high fructose corn syrup and real sugar (usually meaning cane sugar) have basically identical amounts and ratios of fructose and glucose, which are processed by the digestive system in the exact same way. Their calories are the same, and both also have similar effects on your metabolism. Luk also explains, "Their sweetness levels are also near identical, meaning someone would not use more of one or the other to achieve the same level of sweetness in their food product."
The one difference noted between the two chemically is that the fructose and glucose in high-fructose corn syrup are not bound together like in cane sugar. However, multiple recent studies have still not actually found any difference in health outcomes between the two when tested against each other.
Read more: These 10 Canned Foods Are Healthier Than You Think
High-fructose corn syrup and real cane sugar are both processed and metabolized by the body similarly
Luk does note one exception, telling us, "Arguably, there is a very concentrated form of high fructose corn syrup, namely HFCS 90, but due to its 90% fructose content, the sweetness level is very extreme and therefore rarely used." Instead, the most common form of high fructose corn syrup is HFCS 55, which is very close to cane sugar.
So why do people think cane sugar is better for you? Luk says, "The controversy behind the high fructose corn syrup is likely due to the large amount of processing required to create it versus harvesting real sugar from plants like sugarcane and sugar beets." She explains that public health information encourages less processed foods, so consumers and non-experts will make a natural assumption one is healthier than the other. Luk also muses, "I think people can better imagine growing a plant, harvesting it, and boiling it down to create sugar crystals much more easily than imagining corn," which she explains needs multiple enzymes, and is "something that wouldn't naturally exist without advanced human technology."
So while Coke may make headlines for switching to cane sugar, the reality is that it isn't actually any better for you. Fears of high-fructose corn syrup may have some understandable sources, but the real concern is with Americans' overall consumption of sugar, and anger at high-fructose corn syrup is a way of avoiding a complicated discussion about a larger, tougher problem.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.
