Corn syrup may be more toxic than we first thought

It is estimated that between 13 and 25 percent of Americans consume foods in which 25 percent or more of the calories come from sugars such as corn syrup. This suggests that people, especially women, may experience harmful health effects if they consume too much corn syrup.

With a headline like this we invite everyone to reflect on how important it is to avoid candy.

Biologists at the University of Utah report that their research indicates corn syrup is more dangerous, in other words more toxic, than ordinary table sugar. At least that proved true for female mice, which showed higher mortality and lower reproductive rates when they consumed corn syrup.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, was the first to distinguish the effects of the fructose glucose blend found in corn syrup from those of sucrose, or table sugar. This was confirmed by Wayne Potts, the lead author of the paper.

The research, scheduled for publication in March this year in the Journal of Nutrition, found that female mice fed a diet that included corn syrup died 1.87 times as often as females on a diet that included sucrose. Females that consumed corn syrup also showed a 26.4 percent reduction in reproductive success compared with their counterparts on the table sugar diet.

It is estimated that between 13 and 25 percent of Americans consume foods in which 25 percent or more of the calories come from sugars such as corn syrup. This means that people, especially women, could experience adverse health effects if they consume too much corn syrup.

sugar-is-toxic

However, since rodents and humans do not share closely similar anatomy, it is not possible to make a precise comparison when assessing the health impact of any food or ingredient. The authors themselves note this in the paper.

Even so, it remains a sound idea to limit added sugar, as previous research has shown.

First reduce your overall intake of added sugars. Then consider the types of sugars you consume and cut back on products that contain high fructose corn syrup. This recommendation was offered by James Ruff, another author of the study.

In other words, it is time to cut back on cocoa cornflakes before we completely lose control.