If you follow the news on nutrition or obesity, you have probably heard about high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
In 2004, noted obesity expert George Bray, a close friend since our days together as interns, proposed the hypothesis that the growing use of HFCS as a sweetener in our beverages has made a significant contribution to the obesity epidemic in the U.S. He based his proposal largely on the close temporal relationship between the rising incidence of obesity during the early 1970s to 2000 and the increasing amounts of HFCS used in our foods and beverages over that same period.
Bray bolstered his argument by pointing out possible differences in how the body handles HFCS compared with sucrose (table sugar), the other common sweetener in soft drinks. He also stated that HFCS, because it is sweeter than sucrose, was partly responsible for the increased consumption of soft drinks.
This hypothesis has gained considerable attention over the past 5 years. Many people and nutritional experts, but certainly not all of them, have accepted that HFCS is a significant player in the development of obesity.
John S. White, however, questioned the Bray hypothesis in a December 2008 article entitled, "Straight talk about high-fructose corn syrup: What it is and what it ain't" in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He questioned whether the body would handle HFCS differently than sucrose since they both contain nearly identical amounts of the 2 sugars fructose and glucose. Moreover, he presented data suggesting that HFCS is not sweeter than sucrose.
Now, John White isn't a close friend of mine; in fact, I don't even know him or his credentials. But his article made sense to me. I am especially impressed with the fact that no real direct evidence exists that shows HFCS to be more likely to cause obesity than sucrose.
I do, however, support Bray's belief that the intake of sweetened soft drinks encourages the development of obesity, whether or not it's because of the HFCS they contain. These beverages are usually "add-ons" to the calories we get from food. Just adding one 20-ounce soft drink a day would lead to a 2.5-pound weight gain at the end of a year. This might not sound like a lot, but after 10 years of drinking a soft drink a day we're talking about a whopping 25 extra pounds.
Other potential obesity-producing products seem to be gaining in popularity. These include the varied assortment of widely promoted "vitamin waters" being endorsed in television ads by well-known athletes. Besides the vitamins and minerals, which are not needed by the people who drink them, many of these products contain caloric sweeteners as well. If people really feel the need for vitamin supplements, they could take a multivitamin for a few pennies a day rather than a bottle of "vitamin water" at a cost of about 2 dollars a day (not to mention the ecological disaster caused by the containers).
Plain water is definitely cheaper and better for you. So, save your money and save your health: Ditch the sodas and expensive health waters, regardless of which sweeteners they contain.
