Contents
Obesity faces
Obesity is closely linked to coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, glucose intolerance, sleep apnea, sleep disorders, and many other chronic conditions and diseases. So it comes as no surprise that for years scientists have been looking for potential causes of obesity, i.e. increased fat consumption, increased carbohydrate consumption, excess glucose and fructose syrup, high fructose content, as well as genetic and hormonal aetiology, or an inactive lifestyle. Of course, we also know that, given the complexity of energy regulation, it is unlikely that one single element of the diet will cause global obesity.
The food market is not helping to stop the negative trend. The packages are getting bigger and the sugar content in some products is rising before the eyes accustoming the public to ever sweeter taste.
Based on data from the Agriculture Handbook no. 8 from the United States Department of Agriculture, the cola drink in 1963 had 39 kcal / 100 g, while in 2003 it had 41 kcal / 100 g.
Both sucrose and fructose were mentioned among the carbohydrate culprits. However, the most controversial is still glucose – fructose syrup. And not always because it is added, but because it is found practically everywhere, so it is difficult to control its consumption.
Historical commentary on GF syrup
The biggest storm began after the publication of an article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) in 2004. Its authors suggested that glucose-fructose syrup contained in drinks may play a unique role in the obesity epidemic in the world. Although the temporal relationship was clearly marked here, not the cause-and-effect relationship, it was enough to start a heated discussion. The syrup has come under the microscope of scientists and the media fire. Is it right? Certainly, something that is found in almost every food product should be carefully examined, especially if we have doubts about it.
And what’s next?
The syrup hasn’t been quiet since then. And that’s a good thing, because we’ve finally started to realize that something like this exists and is notoriously added to the foods we eat every day. Of course, a wave of research has also begun. Once the glucose-fructose syrup was absolved, once it was blamed for all evil. High-fructose corn syrup causes obesity in rats: increased levels of weight, body fat and triglycerides. Animal studies have often supported the hypothesis that high fructose corn syrup causes obesity, increases body weight, and increases body fat and triglycerides. However, voices were quickly raised that research uses amounts of syrup that a human would not be able to consume during normal functioning.
Fructose metabolism
Any added sugar used as an alternative to high fructose corn syrup will have a similar chemical composition, although it is possible that there are differences in how these sugars affect metabolic pathways.
Glucose-fructose syrup is accused of, as the name says, the presence of a large amount of fructose. Fructose is mainly metabolized in the liver. The metabolism of fructose begins with its phosphorylation. Fructose directly enters the glycolysis pathway, bypassing the important checkpoint through which glucose passes. This increases the pool of free fatty acids in the liver. Additionally, fructose does not suppress ghrelin and does not stimulate insulin and leptin to suppress appetite. Excessive consumption of fructose increases lipogenesis and uric acid production. This contributes to obesity, diabetes, fatty liver and gout. Theoretically, this does not matter much in the comparison of sucrose and glucose-fructose syrup alone, as their composition is relatively similar. Sucrose is a disaccharide containing 50% fructose and 50% glucose. GF syrup has two main forms commonly used in food production. SGF-55, the form commonly used to sweeten carbonated soft drinks in the US, and SGF-42 used, inter alia, in in Europe. I wrote ‘theoretically’ because the fructose content of the syrup doesn’t have to be that obvious. In a 2011 study published in the journal Obesity, the percentage of fructose found in corn syrup-sweetened beverages ranged from 47% to 65%.
Syrup or sugar?
So what to do? You should focus on minimizing both sugar and glucose-fructose syrup in your diet. It turned out that the acute reactions to glucose-fructose syrup and sucrose are practically the same with regard to glucose, insulin, leptin, ghrelin, triglycerides after a meal and appetite satisfaction. Of course, the research is different and we can come across different opinions. The American Medical Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, however, issued a statement indicating that there are no differences between glucose-fructose syrup and sucrose in the likelihood of obesity.
Instead of wondering what is worse, let’s start getting used to sweetening and buying sweetened – no matter if with sucrose or syrup – products.
Photo of the content is from: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com / Foter.com / CC BY
Cover photo is from :: osde8info / Foter.com / CC BY-SA
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