Why HFCS May be Worse for You Than Sugar

High-fructose corn syrup is not the same as the corn syrup you buy to make 
pies. Whereas regular corn syrup is all glucose, HFCS is composed of half 
glucose and half fructose.

Says George A. Bray, former director of Louisiana State University's 
Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, "Fructose is absorbed 
differently [than other sugars]. It doesn't register in the body metabolically 
the same way that glucose does."

When glucose is consumed, a set of reactions occur in the body allowing it to 
be used as energy, and production of leptin, a hormone that helps control 
appetite and fat storage, is increased. Meanwhile, ghrelin, a stomach hormone, 
is reduced, which is thought to help hunger go away.

Many experts agree high-fructose corn syrup, particularly in soft drinks, is 
at least partly responsible for America's obesity epidemic.

When fructose is consumed, however, it "appears to behave more like fat with 
respect to the hormones involved in body weight regulation," explains Peter 
Havel, associate professor of nutrition at the University of California, 
Davis. "Fructose doesn't stimulate insulin secretion. It doesn't increase 
leptin production or suppress production of ghrelin. That suggests that 
consuming a lot of fructose, like consuming too much fat, could contribute to 
weight gain."

Many experts have, in fact, suggested that HFCS, particularly those in soft 
drinks, are at least partly responsible for the obesity epidemic in America.