For years, high fructose corn syrup has been erroneously implicated as a prime suspect in the obesity epidemic. Inexact scientific reports and inaccurate media accounts have increased confusion about the sugar made from corn. New research proves otherwise.
A new study, presented on Saturday October 9, at the Obesity Society’s 28th Annual Scientific Meeting, further reinforces the facts about high fructose corn syrup. Results from the double-blind study revealed that fructose containing sweeteners (sugar, high fructose corn syrup) do not uniquely contribute to obesity when consumed as part of a healthy weight maintenance diet. The study also found that high fructose corn syrup no more contributes to caloric intake than table sugar (sucrose).
In the study, overweight or obese adults were placed on a 10-week eucaloric diet (an eucaloric diet provides your body with just the right number of calories necessary to maintain current body weight) which incorporated either high fructose corn syrup or sucrose-sweetened, low-fat milk. Participants’ consumption of low-fat milk accounted for between 10 to 20 percent of the daily allotted calories, representing typical levels of sweetener consumption. Study participants did not experience a change in body weight, percent of body fat, fat-mass, or percent of abdominal body fat. Additionally, there were no statistical differences between people given high fructose corn syrup and those given sucrose.
These results are meaningful for the food and beverage industry because they provide further scientific evidence that products containing high fructose corn syrup do not promote weight gain more than products containing sugar.
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