High fructose corn syrup facts

Information on High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup is commonly used as a sweetener in numerous different types of beverages and foods. It is a very hot topic included in numerous discussions among people who are heavily into fitness.

There are a lot of people who think that the syrup is the main cause of several types of medical conditions such as obesity and diabetes. It is an integral part of all those different types of products such as pizzas, juices, cookies, sodas, candies, ketchup and bread.

Facts about High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup gets produced from the corn starch by converting the glucose into fructose which is also another form of sugar. Isomerase is the integral part of the isomerization of sugar contained in the actual corn syrup. The syrup is made of up to 55 percent of fructose and the rest is basically just glucose.

High fructose corn syrup sweetener has a fructose to glucose ratio almost exactly as the honey has. It may be a chemically produced sweetener, but still its sweetness, amount of calories and the chemical composition are almost exactly the same as sucrose. It dissolves in any types of liquid very quickly so that is one of the main reasons why the beverage industry embraced it.

One of its main benefits is that it increases the shelf life of different types of food products, which makes it one of the most sought after preservatives in the entire food industry. High fructose corn syrup is also very efficient in preserving the texture and enhancing the flavor and color of numerous different types of beverages and foods. It is much cheaper than the white sugar but it is still consumed by the Americans in the same amounts as the white sugar. It is also approved by the FDA.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Health Risks

Some studies have shown that high fructose corn syrup may be associated with certain medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity and overeating. High fructose corn syrup is known for failing to stimulate sufficient amounts of insulin and that may lead to overeating because insulin provides the human body with the feeling of satiation and fullness.

1 gram of high fructose corn syrup contains 4 calories and it is made of up to 25 percent of water. It has a high content of calories and it contains almost no nutrients at all. High fructose corn syrup may get contaminated during the process of manufacture because the process itself is very complicated.