#559 What is high fructose corn syrup?

What is high fructose corn syrup? It is a sweetener made from cornstarch. There is a lot of debate over whether high fructose corn syrup is bad for you or not. The American Food and Drug Administration says there is no evidence to show that high fructose corn syrup is any worse for you than table sugar or honey.

High fructose corn syrup is derived from corn syrup, which comes from cornstarch, which in turn comes from corn. To make cornstarch, the carbohydrate is removed from the corn kernel. Dried corn kernels are placed in giant tanks with warm water and a little sulfur dioxide. This takes about 40 hours and softens the kernels. The kernels are passed through a grinding machine which takes out the germ, the inner part, of the kernel. The slurry is spun in a centrifuge to pull out the germs. They are sent to another machine to be pressed for their corn oil. The rest of the slurry goes on and is ground again to remove the protein and the fiber from the carbohydrate, which makes cornstarch gluten free. The protein and fiber are used for animal feed. The corn endosperm sludge is washed a few times and then left to dry. When it has dried it becomes the white powder that we know as cornstarch. It is worth noting that corn flour and corn starch are different. Corn flour is made with the whole corn kernel, which means that it has protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Cornstarch only has the carbohydrate, which our body can easily use to make energy.

Corn syrup is then produced from this cornstarch. The process is called acid hydrolysis. If the end goal is corn syrup, then the corn slurry isn’t dried. The wet corn carbohydrate sludge is mixed with a weak solution of hydrochloric acid and then it is heated under pressure. They are heated under pressure because it makes the process faster. The molecules are closer together and it is easier to pass heat energy between them. The hydrochloric acid and the heat make the starch break down into sugar. The length of time this process is allowed to continue relates to the sweetness of the syrup. The longer the cornstarch mush is heated, the sweeter it will be. The resultant syrup is filtered and then most of the water is evaporated off leaving corn syrup.

Corn syrup is not as sweet as regular table sugar and the goal of making it into high fructose corn syrup is to make it sweeter. The sugars in corn syrup are dextrose sugars. These are basically glucose. The process of making high fructose corn syrup wants to turn these dextrose sugars into fructose sugars because they are far sweeter. Fructose is a sugar that is present in fruit. This is done by adding enzymes that break the dextrose sugar down into fructose. The resultant product is high fructose corn syrup.

So, is high fructose corn syrup healthy? The sugar is called fructose, “fruit sugar” because it is present in fruit, but this name might lead people to believe that it is healthy. The problem is that when you eat the fructose in fruit, you are also eating the fruit, which contains a lot of water, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The fructose sticks to the fiber and your body can deal with it easily. When you just eat or drink refined sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup, your body cannot deal with it so easily. The FDA says that it is not worse for you than regular sugar, but that is not to say that it is good for you. And people can easily eat large amounts of high fructose corn syrup without even knowing it. An apple has 13 grams of fructose, along with all the fiber. A 330 ml can of Coca Cola has 17 grams of fructose, with nothing else.

A diet high in fructose (that’s refined fructose and not the small amounts of fructose you get in fruit) can cause increased liver fat, weight gain, diabetes, and other diseases. Our bodies can break down most carbohydrates into glucose, but fructose has to be converted into glucose by the liver. Consuming a lot of it can lead to insulin resistance, which is the main cause of obesity and diabetes.

High fructose corn syrup was introduced in the early 1970s and the amount that is used in foods has slowly reason. It is sweeter than sugar and is more stable, as well as lasting longer on the shelf. It is also far cheaper than sugar. Companies desperately want to use it in their products and the amount we consume has gradually increased over the years. Obesity has gradually increased in step with it. And this is what I learned today.

Sources

https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/carbs-and-blood-sugar