High-Fructose Corn Syrup is Evil: 7 Key Findings

high fructose corn syrup

If you look at the ingredients of the food you buy, you’ve probably seen high-fructose corn syrup on the list more times than you can count. Following up on a great new corn syrup post by Jeannie, “Corn Syrup May Get a New Name…Nice Try,” and finally catching up on a few articles I’ve been meaning to write on for awhile, I’ve create a list of 7 clear reasons to avoid (or even ditch altogether) high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

High-Fructose Corn Syrup = Evil

Ok, maybe not “evil,” since that would require having abilities of discrimination and such. But high-fructose corn syrup is definitely bad for you. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this information.

1. Cancer Cells Love Fructose & It Has Been Linked to Pancreatic Cancer.

Apparently, cancer cells have a special attraction to fructose, according to recent research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate,” the study, which was published in the journal Cancer Research, found. This seems to explain what researchers found previously, that pancreatic cancer is linked to fructose intake:

“[These findings] have major significance for cancer patients given dietary refined fructose consumption, and indicate that efforts to reduce refined fructose intake or inhibit fructose-mediated actions may disrupt cancer growth,” Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA’s Jonsson Cancer Center and colleagues wrote.

2. High-Fructose Corn Syrup Often Contains Mercury.Yummy!

Yeah, that’s right, and not just a little bit of mercury. “Mercury was found in over a third of processed food products tested, the source of the mercury is contaminated high fructose corn syrup,” in the Environmental Health Journal last year.

3. High-Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Autism and Mental Retardation

Due to the mercury in HFCS, this common sweetener has been linked to “neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and mental retardation.” Autism has skyrocketed in the U.S. in recent years, and exposure to mercury in vaccines and now HFCS are considered to be some possible reasons why.

Photo Credit: JonathanCohen via flickr

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By Zach | September 15, 2010 | Food & Water, Health | 10 Comments |
  • http://www,elliottsamazing.com Juicemaven

    The body has to break down sugar which is a complex carbohydrate first into fructose then into glucose before it can be digested. Fructose found in all fruit is easily digested because the body skips a step in the metabolism and just breaks it down to glucose. If you keep drinking that McDonald’s 32 oz sweet tea, or sodas which went from 12 oz to 24 oz in 20 years, maybe the amount of sugar, in any form, is the problem. When you ingest more food than your body burns off, the rest isn;t peed out…it is converted into FAT and stored by the body. If you plot the curve of homes with cable TV and the increased seditary lifestyle over the last 30 years against gains in average body weight, you will also see a coorelation.

  • http://Web R Prasad

    Now the Corn refining mafia is calling it “Corn Sugar” instead of High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Beware of the name change.

    • http://Web john j acres

      we have a sugar in australia called dextrose which is derived from wheat & they call it “corn sugar”.

      regards john j acres

  • http://www.ageconomist.blogspot.com Matt Bogard

    A better alternative, if ‘corn sugar’ is not approved, is to require all sweeteners that are 50% fructose or greater (table/cane/beet sugar, honey, or corn sugar) with the prefix ‘high-fructose.’ That would put all sweeteners on level ground and would force the media and ‘pollanized’ monsantophobes to call things what they are and limit their ability to perpetuate these ‘osegate’ style conspiracy theories at the expense of modern agriculture and family farms.

    See below for additional research related to HFCS, its metabolic equivalency other sweeteners and health impacts.

    Sun SZ, Flickinger BD, Williamson-Hughes PS, Empie MW. 2010. Lack of association between dietary fructose and hyperuricemia risk in adults. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2010 Mar 1; 7:16.

    White JS. 2009. Misconceptions about High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Is It Uniquely Responsible for Obesity, Reactive Dicarbonyl Compounds, and Advanced Glycation Endproducts? J Nutr 139(6): 1219S-1227S.

    Fulgoni V. 2008. High-fructose corn syrup: everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask. Am J Clin Nutr 88(6):1715S.

    White JS. 2008. Straight talk about high-fructose corn syrup: what it is and what it ain’t. Am J Clin Nutr 88(6):1716S-1721S.

    Melanson KJ, Angelopoulos TJ, Nguyen V, Zukley L, Lowndes J, Rippe JM. 2008. High-fructose corn syrup, energy intake, and appetite regulation. Am J Clin Nutr 88(6):1738S-1744S.

    Soenen S and Westerterp-Plantenga MS. 2007. No differences in satiety or energy intake after high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, or milk preloads. Am J Clin Nutr 86(6):1586-1594.

    Akhavan T. and Anderson GH. 2007. Effects of glucose-to-fructose ratios in solutions on subjective satiety, food intake, and satiety hormones in young men. Am J Clin Nut 86(5) 1354-1363.

    Forshee RA, Storey ML, Allison DB, Glinsmann WH, Hein GL, Lineback DR, Miller SA, Nicklas TA, Weaver GA, White JS. 2007. A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 47(6):561-582.

    Sun SZ, Empie MW. 2007. Lack of findings for the association between obesity risk and usual sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in adults – A primary analysis of databases of CSFII-1989-1991, CSFII-1994-1998, NHANES III, and combined

    NHANES 1999-2002. Food Chem Toxicol 45(8):1523-1536.

    Monsivais P, Perrigue MM, Drewnowski A. 2007. Sugars and satiety: does the type of sweetener make a difference? Am J Clin Nutr 86(1):116-123.

    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.

    Zukley L, 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.

    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.

    Schorin MD. 2006. High Fructose Corn Syrups, Part 2: Health Effects. Nutrition Today 41(2):70-77.

    Schorin MD. 2005. High Fructose Corn Syrups, Part 1: Composition, Consumption, and Metabolism. Nutrition Today 40(6):248-252.

    Hein GL, Storey ML, White JS, Lineback DR. 2005. Highs and Lows of High Fructose Corn Syrup: A Report from the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy and Its Ceres Workshop. Nutrition Today 40(6):253-256.

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  • http://Web carles

    lol the majority of things you say doesn’t even have logic…
    i’m a nutritionist and believe me i know that HFCS is not the best thing in the world, personally i don’t even like it…
    but..come on…cancer loves fructuose is so obvious…cancer cells are cells anyways..they love energy…which is given by fructuose..duh!…u should definitively not take HFCS if u have cancer already..but there is no prove this generates cancer…lol…
    and also his is linked to obesity..if u abuse wathever carbohidrate that will make u fat..duh…if u abuse WATHEVER GOOD FOOD IN THE WORLD..if u have more than 2000 calories without exercise…u will get fat.

  • http://Web Ali

    Carles, you’re a nutritionist? seriously? you didn’t know that fructose and glucose are processed differently by the cells and most prefer glucose to any other form of energy? The reference link suggests they compared the two and fructose increase growth rate. Obviously all sugar should be reduced with cancer but this was thought to be the insulin effect also which stimulates cancer cells.
    When it comes to obesity, the form of the calorie is important. It is refined sugar that causes the problem, simply because it is absorbed too quickly with no nutrients to process the energy. It is really difficult to get obese on a high fibre diet, even if you are eating over 2000 calories.

  • http://Web Jeff Robinson

    I have a horse in this race because I am allergic to corn. Then more processed the corn is, the worse my allergic reaction. This shit is in almost every factory made food from bread to salad dressing. I spend more time reading labels in the store than actual shopping time.

    Jeff Robinson, KCMO

    • http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan

      i can imagine

  • http://Web john.j acres

    hi jeff robinson
    well are’nt you the lucky one only alergic to corn,try being ceoliac i am alergic to wheat,barley,rye,oates & all that derives from these grains, the only grains i can have are corn,millet,buckwheat,quinoa,sorgham,how many lables do you think i read.

    regards john j acres