High Fructose Corn Syrup and Obesity

Obesity is a problem within the United States. Ever since the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) into the American food system, obesity rates have been increasing. There is a lack of quality research to confirm that HFCS is linked to obesity. Mixed conclusions pertaining to HFCS and its link to obesity are still being debated. Some evidence states that HFCS does not in lead to obesity and others believe that HFCS does lead to obesity in the United States. The recommended policy will pursue multiple case studies to confirm the fact that high fructose corn syrup does or does not lead to obesity. I will further discuss multiple research claims of HFCS and its link to obesity.

The rate increase of obesity within the United States is on the rise. Ever since HFCS has been introduced to the American diet, the rate of obesity has been escalating.

There are many articles debating if HFCS is actually causing the increase of obesity within the United States. More research is needed to understand the effects of HFCS in the diet to better understand its impact on the human body. Below I will discuss multiple points of views on HFCS and its link to obesity.

After the introduction of HFCS into the American diet, obesity has been on the rise. HFCS is used to sweeten processed foods in a cost effective way. It not only sweetens processed food and beverages but also elongates the shelf life of the product. HFCS is diversified across the food spectrum whether it be in ketchup, crackers, soft drinks, and other processed foods. People who cannot afford organic fresh food products most likely are the lower class. HFCS is spread throughout most processed foods and beverages, which makes it difficult to escape if one's budget is minimal. People in lower income neighborhoods are bombarded with high concentrations of HFCS. Since the food that contains HFCS is cheap, poverty-stricken areas are the target market. But when HFCS is ingested it has many adverse health effects some believe, obesity is one of them. There is extensive research that provides the conclusion that High Fructose Corn Syrup when ingested leads to obesity. But on the contrary there is only one policy in place that talks ever so slightly about HFCS. Policy 200712 only addresses how people can access fresh food. This does not address the problem of HFCS being the main ingredient to sweeten processed foods and beverages. More research must be conducted to conclude that HFCS does in fact lead to obesity.

A Princeton team of scientists performed a series of tests with mice. One of the groups of mice was given access to table sugar in their drinking water and another group of mice was given access to HFCS in their drinking water. These rats were given all the same rat chow but only the ones that had HFCS in their water had significant weight gain. The researchers have concluded that all sweeteners are not the same when it comes down to weight gain. Also, in addition to weight gain the mice with access to HFCS showed abnormal increases in body fat specifically in the abdomen region. (Parker Hilary, 2010) "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight," Professor Hoebel stated in an interview. (Parker Hilary, 2010)

HFCS Diet Standard Diet

According to the Centers for Disease Control, American Obesity Association, and Chronicle research when HFCS was introduced into the American diet, consumption of HFCS and the increase of obesity of the American population have paralleled each other with little deviation. This does not specifically show that HFCS is the leading cause of obesity but as you can see in the image both obesity and the amount of HFCS are in parallel over a long period of time.

If we do not confirm the link between HFCS and obesity, HFCS will continue to be used and if it does, it will lead to more obesity. If the link between HFCS and obesity is disproven, then scientists and policy makers will have to look at other factors such as lack of exercise or added sweeteners in general leading to excess weight gain. Until scientists can prove the link between HFCS and obesity we will never know the true impacts on the health of our nation that HFCS contributes to.

According to The American Physiological society, “The inclusion of HFCS induces increased consumption, increased rates of weight gain, and impairs the sensitivity of insulin.” (Tetri Laura, 2008) This study concluded with the introduction of HFCS into the diet, weight gain present.

In a study conducted by University of California researchers, sixteen volunteers were given a diet that was strictly controlled. The study gave one-group high concentrations of HFCS and the other group was given regular sugar in their diet. Over a ten-week time period, the participants who were given HFCS produced new fat cells around the liver, heart, and other digestive organs. They also found that food-processing abnormalities were linked to heart disease and diabetes. The other group that was given glucose in their diet did not show any of these signs of problems. (Barrington Vannesa, December 24, 2009)

The National Institute of Public Health performed a long-term study, two sets of rats were given either 10% sucrose or 10% HFCS in their diet. They have found similar conclusions the Princeton group that the rats who were given the HFCS had significantly more weight gain than the other rats given the sucrose. (Bocarsly Miriam E., 2010, Februrary 26)

When consumption of HFCS is increased, it has a temporal relation to increased weight gain, and the overconsumption of HFCS in regards to calorie intake of sweetened beverages may lead to obesity. (Bray A. G, 2004)

According to the International Journal of Obesity, “the main reason for the increase of obesity is the increase of intake of one extra 20 ounce soft drink each day. Along with this increase of consumption of these beverages coincides with the increase of fructose intake in our diet. HFCS is a highly refined sweetener and should be avoided if possible to maintain health. Professor Yudkin said 25 years ago, “It might be in the interest of powerful sugar companies to protect themselves.” This might be an indicator that large corporations are protecting their investments in the sweetener industry by creating propaganda that supports consumption of these processed foods containing artificial sweeteners that are detrimental to our health. Public health implications must be addressed and this will not be easy. (Bray, G. A, 2008)

Even with this research, there are people who oppose the link between HFCS causing obesity. This is why more research is needed to confirm the link. Science is not conclusive until tested several times. If it is concluded that HFCS does lead to obesity policies to ban or regulate the amount of HFCS in food and beverages will be necessary to decrease the risk of obesity within the American population.

Within the United States obesity is a problem. The rate in which people are becoming obese is increasing rapidly. With proper research to confirm if HFCS does lead to obesity we can then prescribe a solution to this problem.

Opposing arguments presented and refuted

On the other hand, many other articles have been saying that there is no evidence provided that proves HFCS leads to higher rates of obesity. For example according to Luc Tappy of Physiology.org, “There is, however, no direct evidence for more serious metabolic consequences of high fructose corn syrup versus sucrose consumption.” (Tappy Luc, 1990) Please consider that this was written before the first study presented above concluding that HFCS is coupled with weight gain among lab rats.

Many other articles have concluded that there needs to be more research to approve or disapprove that HFCS is linked to obesity. But the most recently peer reviewed published article done by Princeton on this subject confirms that HFCS is linked to obesity.

“The Mayo Clinic states that HFCS is similar to table sugar and if you are concerned with your health then cut back on added sugar altogether.” (Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D., 2012) This is a clinical website that doctors can comment on subjects like HFCS and its link to obesity. If HFCS is linked to obesity the news has not been dispersed wide enough for doctors and scientists to agree. This is why we need more research to better understand the issue.

Dr. Mark Hyman states, “The amount of consumption pertaining to sugar and HFCS is the problem with the increase of obesity. HFCS is a natural product which is a healthy part of our diet when consumed in moderation.”(Hyman, Mark, October 18th 2014) There is a misconception that HFCS leads to obesity. Excessive amounts of HFCS and sugar lead to obesity, but in moderation it is a healthy ingredient in our diet. Since the 1970’s sugar and HFCS has been consumed at an increased rate and when consumed at an excessive rate HFCS and sugar can be toxic to the human body. Increased weight gain is due to excessive amounts of HFCS and sugar not. Consumption needs to be decreased to increase health.

When researching if HFCS does not lead to obesity, a lack of peer reviewed articles were present to back up this statement. Many of the articles were published by the corn industry to help keep HFCS in use to sweeten processed foods and refreshments. While also dampening the news about how HFCS leads to increased weight gain.

Evidence-based strategies

Allowing access to fresh food will reduce the need for processed food, while allowing people the access to the nutrients that are not provided in processed food. Most strategies that address obesity deal with access to fresh foods of underprivileged neighborhoods. But this does not manage the intake of HFCS consumed in processed foods and beverages within the population. Even if there is programs set up to provide more fresh food to consumers, this does not mean that they will consume them.

“The Departments of Agriculture, Treasury, and Health and Human Services are bringing together resources and expertise to support the development of sustainable projects and strategies to increase access to healthy, affordable foods and eliminate food deserts” (Creating Access to Healthy, Affordable Food, 2014)

Immediate food assistance programs are another strategy to allow access to healthy foods. A program called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest nutrition assistance program to poverty stricken people. SNAP provides $76.06 billion in assistance to over 47.6 million Americans as of 2013. Along side the monthly benefits SNAP provides education on nutrition funded by federal grants to help people involved get the most value out of the program by encouraging educated shopping and healthy eating habits. SNAP also has created many licenses to farmers’ markets where the participants of SNAP can use their benefits to purchase fresh food. In 2014, a new law has required merchants to provide their customers fresh food that can be purchased with the SNAP program. This ensures that the beneficiaries of SNAP have access to healthy food. This law has also created a grant of $100 million called Food Insecurity Nutrition to test the market on how to incentivize the participants of SNAP to purchase fruits and vegetables. This is a perfect example of policy 200712 in effect. (Healthy Affordable Foods, 2012)

The initiatives that are being accomplished are allowing access to fresh food and education to many underprivileged communities. But this still does not address the amount of HFCS in processed food and the fact that people will still buy refreshments and food that contains HFCS.

Action Steps

HFCS and its link to obesity are still uncertain. Because of this uncertainty more experiments need to be conducted in a large quantity and simultaneously to get proper results. More specifically scientists throughout the globe, possibly one professor and their colleagues in each state university would study the intake of HFCS within a large number of individuals in their community. The professor that is conducting the research will have patients with a set diet that consists of HFCS and another set of patients that will be given a diet that does not include HFCS. Over time the professors around the globe will record their findings and report to a forum where all the professors across the globe can upload their data to share with the rest. This will ensure that lifestyle and environments can be variable while also seeing the impact with diverse populations of people.

Another way to understand the impacts of HFCS and its link to obesity is by banning HFCS all together, for a 10-year period. Then, they will be able to see if the obesity rate has decreased over this period of time. This can be conducted in local areas such as boulder, in the state of Colorado or in the entire United States. If the research groups decided to ban the HFCS in one state and not in another, they will be able to examine the effects of the population in one area with HFCS and another with out HFCS. In regards to this implementation policies would be needed to ban the use of HFCS weather it be in a local level, state, or nation.

Finally, zookeepers could perform animal testing. In a zoo there are plenty of captive animals that could be used to determine if HFCS leads to higher rates of obesity. For example, researchers/ zookeepers will infuse HFCS in the water of one population of monkeys and in another population of monkeys serve them sugar added water. This could be done for several years to understand the effects of HFCS on the human body in a contained experiment. This does not have to be specifically done to monkeys; this research could be tried upon any species available.

All of these action plans can be an effective way of confirming if HFCS is in fact linked to obesity in an inexpensive way. Obesity is a prevalent problem in the United States and must be addressed to come up with a solution to this problem. More research will confirm if HFCS is one of the causes of the increase of obesity within the United States. If obesity is linked to HFCS consumption policies must be put in place to ensure that the exposure of HFCS is limited or totally banned from the American diet to ensure a healthier future.

Foods That Contain HFCS

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