Pour Some Sugar On Me

Trey Smith

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."
~ from A Sweet Problem by Hilary Parker ~

One of the trade groups for corn producers has a new ad campaign on television that attempts to "re-brand" High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) as corn sugar. These ads feature bright and cheery people who tell us that all sugars are the same and so "corn sugar" easily can be part of a healthy diet.

Even if this assertion was true -- it doesn't appear to be so in light of the research above -- what the spokespeople for these ads fail to note is that HFCS is so ubiquitous in processed foods! Go to your local grocery store and read the ingredient labels of a wide assortment of packages and you will find HFCS on products that don't taste the least bit sweet. In fact, my guess is that it will boggle your mind how often HFCS is a listed ingredient.

In reality, most American households are swimming in the stuff and the majority of folks don't even know it. Again, even if it was true that "corn sugar" is no different than any other sugar, too much sugar of ANY kind is not conducive to good health. That is the salient fact that these friendly ads seek to obfuscate.

Hat tip to the Fallenmonk where I first saw mention of this study.