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Posted on Aug 28, 2007 - 1:29am by John P. in Health & Fitness
Wow, this is very bad news considering my complete and utter addiction to Coke. But Dr. Chi-Tang Ho, professor of food science at Rutgers University has uncovered evidence that our addiction to canned drinks is directly linked to diabetes because of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
HFCS is a sweetener found in many foods and beverages, including non-diet soda pop, baked goods, and condiments. It is has become the sweetener of choice for many food manufacturers because it is considered more economical, sweeter and more easy to blend into beverages than table sugar. Some researchers have suggested that high-fructose corn syrup may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes as well as obesity, a claim which the food industry disputes. Until now, little laboratory evidence has been available on the topic.
In the current study, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found ‘astonishingly high’ levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage, says Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable, the researcher notes.
So, I went shopping after I read this article with a renewed interest in avoiding products with high fructose corn syrup in them, and I could not believe how many of my every day items are on the list…
But I digress…
In addition to linking this sugar substitute to diabetes, Ho found that there are some ways to remove some of the harmful effects:
Ho and his associates also found that adding tea components to drinks containing HFCS may help lower the levels of reactive carbonyls. The scientists found that adding epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a compound in tea, significantly reduced the levels of reactive carbonyl species in a dose-dependent manner when added to the carbonated soft drinks studied. In some cases, the levels of reactive carbonyls were reduced by half, the researchers say.
“People consume too much high-fructose corn syrup in this country,” says Ho. “It’s in way too many food and drink products and there’s growing evidence that it’s bad for you.” The tea-derived supplement provides a promising way to counter its potentially toxic effects, especially in children who consume a lot of carbonated beverages, he says.
In the future, food and drink manufacturers could reduce concerns about HFCS by adding more EGCG, using less HFCS, or replacing the syrup with alternatives such as regular table sugar, Ho and his associates say.
You can read the rest of the article here. But as for me I’ve been making a serious effort to curb my consumption of HFCS filled drinks and other products, so this only goes to reinforce that decision.
By the way, if you live in one of the southern states that has access to the Mexican bottled Coke, they use real sugar in it instead of fructose. So you may still get fat, but at least it would be a little less harmful. Also, I found that all of the products in my grocery store that were labeled as “organic” were HFCS free, so buy those when you can.
I suggest being very careful with the “spin” put on this research. I have diabetes myself (Type I) and I know for a fact it did not come from drinking coke or other ‘HFCS” drinks.
I find this very often when anything with the word “diabetes” is spread the words (weather intentional) or not can be misleading.
First off, let me say that I don’t think any refined sugar product (or by-product) is really “good”. We tend to live in a society where refined sugar is added to everything. This no doubt would contribute to ongoing obesity. The human body (at various weight levels) can only tolerate a certain amounts of sugar. In general, the more you weight the harder your body works to make insulin and the less efficient that insulin may be at helping the sugar get into your cells. The amount of sugar that a person can consume various from person to person, those who have a low tolerance are labeled with “Type 2″ diabetes.
So in theory, any factor which contributes to obesity could contribute to Type 2 diabetes. This comes as no big shock to me.
As for type I diabetes (which normally occurs in children, but not in my case). What happens is that the insulin producing cells “die” and the body does not re-generate them (like braincells). When there are less than 3% of the cells remaining you become diabetic (Type I). I found nothing in Chi-Tang Ho’s study that suggested that reactive carbonyls destroy insulin producing cells, only that they may be responsible for damaging tissues which might decrease the effectiveness of insulin the body.
The only specific text I noted about diabetes was
So a possible conclusion to be reached from this is that drinking a lot of non-diet soda may cause the same (or worse complications) then an adult with diabetes.
I could find nothing that suggested that the consumption of high glucose, refined sugar or any such by-products was a “causal” factor for diabetes, merely that people who consume such foods are at a similar (or higher risk) for developing the same complications as diabetes (kidney disease, blindness, high blood pressure, heart disease…oh and impotence as well).
Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, just wanted to set the record straight and remove any mis-understandings.
..And for completely selfish reasons please go now to your nearest diabetes association (Canda http://www.diabetes.ca/) (US: http://www.diabetes.org/) and give generously, because diabetes sucks and I want a cure. Of course you’ll be helping others as well ;-)
Brad,
I’m sorry to hear that you have Diabetes. I know that sucks!
You are, of course, correct in pointing out that this is not definitive research. But let’s not forget that there are massive industries supporting HFCS for profit reasons, just like the cigarette industry. So I wouldn’t write the causality off just yet. And let’s not just limit our discussion to drinks since my own research at the store indicates that we’re consuming this crap in just about every single meal we eat.
Indeed, it would be impossible for you to determine if your own diabetes was at least partially to blame on HFCS because you’ve probably been consuming it for the last 20 years. In fact, don’t you find it interesting that during the last 20 years the total number of people with diabetes worldwide has risen from 30 million to 230 million? And this happens immediately after the invention and adoption of high-fructose corn syrup?
The article also said:
Separate research suggests:
If you feel comfortable with more scientific research, here is an article by the National Institute of Health which, as I understand it, discusses how carbonals do damage.
Bottom line though is that the original article I referenced did not include enough information about why this is bad, but instead made the assumption we would all understand. Now, I’m neither a physician nor a nutritionist but when I see the scientific community using language such as “undesirable and highly-reactive compounds” referring to something I pour into my body every day it makes me want to stop. :-)
John
No need to be sorry, you posted my “donate” links. What more could I ask for :-)
..and yes, I apprecaite you took the time to look up other references. And I agree with the conclusion that “HFCS” is bad stuff.
In essence what I am saying is that no research exists (at least that I can find) states that
“HFCS is a causal factor in the ‘creation’ of diabetes”
Again, obseity is> a factor in Type 2 diabetes diagnosis , and therefore any substance that contributes to obseity,can be said to contribute to Type 2 diabetes.
The strongest text I coud find from your citation was:
..keyword for me being progression of these diseases. Sure, if I continue to consume sugar (specifically HFCS) and I have diabetes, my diabetes will get worse..again this is no big shock. Every diabetic I have known (and there are lots in my family), has “cheated” now and again and are currently feeling the consquences. Sugar of any kind if left floating around in the body without insulin, will undoubtably due damange. The same is true for any consumed substance that the body does not rid itself off.
Research has found a direct scientific co-relation between smoking and cancer. (ie: each cigarette increases your probability of cancer).
If a similar study were conducted where (of a suffiicient sample size) that drew a co-relation between HFCS consumption and becoming diabetic, then I would agree with the conclusion.
Until then, all we can say for certain is HFCS is bad stuff that causes tissue damage similar to the tissue damange found from complications of those with diabetes. Reprashing the conclusion to “HFCS may cause diabetes” is (as of yet) unfounded…
You may be able to get away with “HFCS is linked to diabetes” only in as much as “obseity is linked to Type 2 diabetes”, but then so are any other things linked to obseity. (and there’s lots of them)
John, timely post – our local news just covered this (albeit in much less detail) the other day. Wired also has an interesting sidebar about HFCS as well.
My mother has diabetes as does most of the family on her side. Growing up in high school I’d routinely drink 2 liters of mountain dew (I was even known as the mountain dew kid) and now I’ve done a complete 180. When I got into bodybuilding, I learned a lot about health and losing weight and when you realize how prevelant HFCS is and how deadly it can potentially be.. it’s startling to say the least.
I love ketchup.. Love it. It goes on everything and in liberal amounts. I’ve gone to diet soda, gone to whole grain bread, and eliminated HFCS almost completely from my diet and the diet for my kids. But ketchup… :(
Luckily, Heinz recently released a “one carb” ketchup that cuts the amount of sugar down from 4g per teaspoon to 1g!
So if you’re a fellow lover of the red paste, check it out :) It’s a tad bit more expensive, but I feel MUCH less guilty enjoying some tasty, tart, tomato topping on my foods now!
Luckily the community is becoming much more aware of the danger in HFCS and we’re starting to see laws put into place like here in Arizona where the schools can no longer serve certain foods in the vending machines. It cuts into the school’s budget, but it also keeps young kids from consuming a calorie/sugar laden diet when at school.
Hmm. I just bought some organic ketchup last night which actually contains sugar, but now that I look at it there is still 4g in it. I’ll keep an eye out for the one carb version because I’m willing to spend more to eat healthier. Thanks for the tip!
John
I stopped drinking pop last year, I still have one every now and then, but I’ve tried to not drink pop, rather drink water :)
Another reason why its best to eat all natural foods and drinks. Looks like I’m going to the girlfriend’s house for some good cookin’ from now on. :)
When I was in Dallas, my sister-in-law discovered this great new drink, that when I find it out here in Alabama, I am going to use to try to get myself off of cokes! I drink diet Coke and Sprite – and way too much of it!
The drink is actually carbonated fruit juice and it is so good. It is called Switch. Their site is still under construction, but, their drinks are yummy and they are really nice, as I emailed them right away after drinking one to tell them I’d be blogging about them! And they were nice enough to send me a shirt and my nephew some tattoos and a frisbee!
Anyway, John – if you want to try it, my SIL found it at the Campbell/Coit Target.
We know Type II is caused by diet. I am convinced it’s linked directly to High Fructose Corn Syrup. I’ve been saying it for ten years. I’m willing to push it even further and say that our genetically engineered corn does it.