Is White Sugar Better Than High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Question: Is White Sugar Better Than High Fructose Corn Syrup?

I have heard that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you and makes you fat. Is regular white sugar better for you than high fructose corn syrup? What's the difference between the two?

Brian -- About.com User

Answer: High fructose corn syrup and white sugar are about the same nutritionally speaking. Both are bad for your health when consumed in excessive amounts, and neither type of sweetener has any nutritive value beyond calories. Eating too much of either one can result in gaining extra weight as fat if you regularly consume more calories than you burn with daily physical activity. Too much sugar or high fructose corn syrup will also have a negative effect on the body by increasing the levels of blood lipids like triglycerides.

Some people claim that high fructose corn syrup is bad because it contains a lot of fructose, and that white sugar is somehow better. Fructose is called fruit sugar because it's the natural sugar found in fruits. Although it's a type of sugar, fructose is not absorbed well in the digestive system and does not trigger insulin release. So it has been considered for use as a sweetener in diabetic diets. However, when fructose is eaten in combination with glucose, another type of sugar, the absorption of fructose increases. Glucose is the form of sugar that your body prefers to use for energy. It is naturally found in all plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, sugar, and starchy foods like pasta and bread.

So is fructose the big difference between white sugar and high fructose corn syrup? White sugar, which is also known as sucrose, is a product of sugar cane or sugar beets. Each molecule of sucrose is simply a combination of two single sugars called fructose and glucose, so regular sugar is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose. High fructose corn syrup is produced from corn starch and it's usually composed of 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. High fructose corn syrup contains slightly more fructose than sucrose, but really, those percentages are pretty close. Excessive use of either high fructose corn syrup or white sugar results in gaining extra fat quickly. In fact, research suggests fat storage begins within a few hours.

High fructose corn syrup is sweeter than regular white sugar so food processors can use less of it. Since high fructose corn syrup is cheaper, it'spensive. Therefore it is commonly used as a sweetener in soft drinks and processed snack foods. Typically, these types of foods are high in calories, low in fiber and nutrients and should be avoided. Some experts have blamed high fructose corn syrup as a cause of obesity because the use of high fructose corn syrup has increased at the same time obesity rates have been climbing. But it's important to understand that overall calorie intake from all food sources has been increasing every year during the entire time high fructose corn syrup has increased in popularity. While consuming excessive amounts of high fructose corn syrup contributes to gaining weight as fat, your body will gain just as much weight from eating too much white sugar.

_Sources:

_{Parks EJ, Skokan LE, Timlin MT, Dingfelder CS. "Dietary sugars stimulate fatty acid synthesis in adults." J Nutr. 2008 Jun;138(6):1039-46.}

_{Elliott SS, Keim NL, Stern JS, Teff K, Havel PJ. "Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome." Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Nov;76(5):911-22.}