Don’t Believe a Rat Who Eats Corn Syrup

I’m sure you have all seen the commercials stating that high fructose corn syrup is just like sugar, but there is a group of obese rats at Princeton University who would say otherwise.

A Princeton University research team fed two groups of rats the same diet of rat chow except that one group drank sugar water sweetened approximately the same concentration as a soda pop and the other group drank water sweetened with high fructose corn syrup equivalent to about half of the amount in a soda, over a six month period.

Every one of the rats drinking the high fructose corn syrup gained weight, 48% more weight than rats eating a normal diet.  They all became obese with an abnormal increase in body fat, especially around the abdomen.  Blood tests also showed an increase in triglycerides.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is quite different from sucrose (table sugar) on a molecular level.  Sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose, while HFCS is 55% fructose.  In sucrose, every fructose molecule is bound to a glucose molecule which has to be broken down in the body before it is used.  However, in HFCS, the fructose molecules are unbound and more quickly absorbed by the body.  This difference is what causes most sucrose to be available for energy or glycogen storage in the muscles, as opposed to HFCS which is quickly stored as fat.

When HFCS hit the market 40 years ago, only 15% of the population was considered obese.  Today about one third of the U.S. population is considered obese.  HFCS can be found in juice, soda, bread, cereal, ketchup, mayo, yogurt and several other foods.  On average we will consume about 60 lbs of the stuff per person per year.  Coincidence?  I think not. There is more information like this on ReshapeTheNation.com

So check your labels and don’t believe the ad campaigns trying to lull you into thinking HFCS is the same as sugar.  The fat rats don’t lie but the high fructose corn syrup fat cats do. The moral of the story, never believe what a fat rat says.

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