Combination of Fructose and Glucose in High Fructose Corn Syrup Leads to Heart Diseases

Combination of fructose and glucose found in high fructose corn syrup appears to be worse than fructose alone for some heart disease risk factors.

Sugar in the form of fructose is clearly bad for one’s health because, a majority of fructose consumed ends up in the liver. Higher levels of fructose in the liver produces uric acid and fat in the form of triglycerides, which increase the risk of fatty liver, heart disease and gout.//

"It turns out that the combination of fructose and glucose found in high fructose corn syrup appears to be worse than fructose alone for some heart disease risk factors. When we planned this study, we didn't expect to find this," said Kimber Stanhope, a researcher with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

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‘Consuming high fructose corn syrup appears to be as bad as consuming sugar in the form of fructose alone due to an interaction of fructose and glucose in high fructose corn syrup.’

Research has revealed that fructose when compared to glucose has increased risk factors for heart diseases and diabetes. This leads to an assumption that the glucose in the high fructose corn syrup is anodyne.

A new study, published in Metabolism Journal, tested this assumption by inspecting differences in health risk factors based on sugar type.

Study participants consumed beverages containing fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup or an aspartame control and researchers examined their blood for known risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.

The researchers expected risk factors to be high for fructose and low for glucose, with high fructose corn syrup being moderate.

The researchers found that risk factors were highest for high fructose corn syrup due to an interaction of fructose and glucose.

Current study results suggest that dietary guidelines and consumer choices should not be based on the assumption that fructose content is the main reason for all adverse effects from dietary sugars.

"Our study shows that nutrition is more than looking at individual food components. To understand the way our food affects our bodies, we need to study diets as a whole," said first author Bettina Hieronimus with the Department of Child Nutrition at the Max-Rubner Institut in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Source-Medindia