High fructose corn syrup: A recipe for hypertension

Eurekalert ^ | 10/29/09 | Shari Leventhal

[TennesseeGirl]

Elevated dietary fructose linked to high blood pressure

A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Diego, California. The findings suggest that cutting back on processed foods and beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may help prevent hypertension.

Over the last 200 years, the rate of fructose intake has directly paralleled the increasing rate of obesity, which has increased sharply in the last 20 years since the introduction of HFCS. Today, Americans consume 30% more fructose than 20 years ago and up to four times more than 100 years ago, when obesity rates were less than 5%. While this increase mirrors the dramatic rise in the prevalence of hypertension, studies have been inconsistent in linking excess fructose in the diet to hypertension.

Diana Jalal, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center), and her colleagues studied the issue in a large representative population of US adults. They examined 4,528 adults 18 years of age or older with no prior history of hypertension. Fructose intake was calculated based on a dietary questionnaire, and foods such as fruit juices, soft drinks, bakery products, and candy were included. Dr. Jalal's team found that people who ate or drank more than 74 grams per day of fructose (2.5 sugary soft drinks per day) increased their risk of developing hypertension. Specifically, a diet of more than 74 grams per day of fructose led to a 28%, 36%, and 87% higher risk for blood pressure levels of 135/85, 140/90, and 160/100 mmHg, respectively. (A normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mmHg.)

"These results indicate that high fructose intake in the form of added sugars is significantly and independently associated with higher blood pressure levels in the US adult population with no previous history of hypertension," the authors concluded. Additional studies are needed to see if low fructose diets can normalize blood pressure and prevent the development of hypertension.

Study co-authors include Richard Johnson, MD, Gerard Smits, PhD, and Michel Chonchol, MD (University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center). Dr. Richard Johnson reports a conflict of interest as the author of "The Sugar Fix". The authors report no other financial disclosures.

[wolfcreek]

I looked at the UNICEF page to see what was in those care packages. There’s *sugar* but, it doesn’t say what kind.

Bet it’s NOT cane sugar. (which is what many food producers are returning to)

[discostu]

If they’re giving sugar then yes it’s probably cane sugar, probably C&H just like at the grocery store.

[exDemMom]

Over the last 200 years, the rate of fructose intake has directly paralleled the increasing rate of obesity, which has increased sharply in the last 20 years since the introduction of HFCS

foods such as fruit juices, soft drinks, bakery products, and candy were included

In other words, as intake of processed foods has gone up, obesity has gone up. Big surprise. Many other factors influence obesity. It's absolutely silly to blame one specific food ingredient for obesity. Sorry, but there is no quick and easy fix to the obesity epidemic; if there were, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic.

What I don't see in this study is any kind of comparison to people eating the exact same foods sweetened with a different sugar.

--HFCS can contain varying amounts of fructose, from less than 50% to 90%.

--Sucrose contains exactly 50% fructose.

--Fruits and vegetables contain varying amounts of fructose.

So where is the actual study that compares groups with different levels of fructose consumption, keeping every other factor constant (especially total sugar content), that supports a causative relationship between fructose consumption and obesity?

[TennesseeGirl]

The study I posted wasn’t a comparison of sucrose v. HCFS. However, if you’re really interested, there are studies and information out there. I stick with the scientific journals myself. Like anything, there is ongoing debate in the scientific disciplines. There is no dispute over calorie for calorie. There is, however, debate over metabolic processes when sucrose and various sugars are studied.

[wbill]

Not sure if they even ask if you want vaccines at the hospital anymore

They do.

IMHO, people would be foolish not to get vaccinated against the major diseases - Polio, Rubella, Pertussis, etc etc etc. The Vaccines are all mature and well-established, and in fact the diseases are seeing a "revival" in the US due to the influx of our un-vaccinated, undocumented neighbors to the south.

The newer vaccines - particularly the one for HPV, that requires a massive ad campaign to sell - I'd be a little more dubious about. Research - but from good sources (not Rush Limbaugh/Bill Maher). Ask a doc that you trust. For instance, with H1N1, I talked to my doc. I asked her if she'd give the H1N1 shot (not the flumist) to her grandkids. She replied "I already have." End of discussion, as far as I'm concerned. My kids got the shot. It's been cleaning out the schools at an alarming rate down here.

Also, FWIW, she doesn't *allow* flumist in her practice, said that it was "stupid" to infect yourself with a live virus. Makes sense to me.

The most important thing is to DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Ask lots of questions. For instance a "standard" vaccination in this state is for a variant of Hepatitis (C? A? I don't remember). After asking a whole lot of questions on it, Mrs WBill and I determined that the primary transmission vectors were IV drug use and unprotected sex. Since WBill Jr. is pre-school, and unlikely to engage in either of these, we decided to pass. He can make that decision for himself when he turns 18.

[wolfcreek]

They weren’t giving Pertussis (whooping cough) shots around here until a recent outbreak. Now the docs are recommanding these for newborn families.

I have a concern about the pharma companies *encouraging* doctors to push their products, tested or otherwise. I see way too many sales people coming and going.

[netmilsmom]

I’m not a fad follower, I dated a diabetic.
Look it up or remain ignorant.

[Othniel]

There's a Mexican market near my workplace. It carries Pepsi and Coke from Mexico that is made with SUGAR and not the HFCS. It tastes way better than the US-made stuff. I won't touch US-made Pepsi or Coke anymore. They taste too...industrial. My drink of choice? Virgil's root beer, made with real sugar and all kinds of other yummy things.

BTW, I heard somewhere that HFCS contains an enzyme that disables the part of the brain that communicates with your stomach, so that when your stomach says, "I'm full," your brain doesn't hear it. Could be why people can knock off a whole gallon of ice cream in one sitting.

[Mase]

In Nakamura's study, 24 rats were fed either a 63 percent glucose or fructose diet four hours a day for two weeks; at the end of this period, half the animals fasted for 24 hours before the scientists performed a gene expression analysis; the other half were examined at the end of a four-hour feeding.

I am continuously amazed at what passes for research these days. Talk about achieving a desired outcome. How these guys get away with feeding lab animals quantities of substances that have no relationship to real world human consumption, and then making suggestions about how that might impact humans, is a mystery. If you derived 63% of your total calories from fructose do you think you'd remain healthy for long?

This kind of thing may be good for creating alarm and generating grant money but I fail to see what kind of value it provides for those who are truly interested in the correlation between increased fructose consumption and all the maladies suggested.

[Mase]

Sugar and HFCS react differently in the Liver. HFCS strains the Liver much worse than Cane Sugar.

How is that possible when both products are comprised of the same two chemicals? Is fructose and glucose from hydrolyzed sucrose chemically different from glucose and fructose in HFCS?

[JavaJumpy]

Trader Joe’s organic yogurt only uses sugar, FWIW. It’s really good!

[GSWarrior]

Toffee chex? I like the sound of that.

[SamAdams76]

Stonyfield and Brown Cow (owned by Stonyfield) are both excellent yogurts without HFCS. I prefer the whole milk variety with the cream layer on top.

With respect to food in general, I try to stick to whole foods that humans have consumed for thousands of years. Our bodies are well adapted to those foods. All these processed and "invented" foods, our bodies have not adapted to handle yet.

Fortunately beer and wine have been around for a while!

[mad_as_he$$]

Coke bottled in Mexico has sugar. So much better.

[exDemMom]

I know it wasn’t, that’s what I was pointing out. All that study did was look at consumption of processed foods that happen to contain HCFS and find a correlation with obesity.

Correlation is not causation.

Furthermore, from what I can see, there isn’t even an attempt to differentiate the quantity of HCFS consumed versus the other ingredients.

I strictly get my scientific information from journals (I can’t stand the sloppy quality of scientific reporting), but even in peer-reviewed journals, you can find countless examples of correlations being presented as causations.

[grey_whiskers]

"I think this is an awfully immoral job of ours. I do, really. Think how we spoil the digestions of the public."

"Ah, yes, but think how earnestly we strive to put them right again. We undermine 'em with one hand and build 'em up with the other. The vitamins we destroy in the canning, we restore in Revito, the roughage we remove from Peabody's Piper Parritch we make u into a package and market as Bunbury's Breakfast Bran; the stomachs we ruin with Pompayne, we re-line with Peplets to aid digestion. And by forcing the d--n-fool public to pay twice over - once to have its food emasculated and once to have the vitality put back again, we keep the wheels of commerce turning and give employment to thousands - including you and me."

--Dorothy L. Sayers, Murder Must Advertise

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

You might enjoy this related vanity:Confessions of a Crunchy Con II, or, I Left My Heart in Cans of Crisco

Cheers!

[exDemMom]

They weren’t giving Pertussis (whooping cough) shots around here until a recent outbreak. Now the docs are recommanding these for newborn families.

During my annual exam the other day, my provider suggesting getting the tetanus vaccine a few years early, because it also contains the pertussis vaccine. Apparently, as you age, you lose your immunity from the childhood shots. More people are getting pertussis now.

[beaversmom]

Thanks for the info. :) I’ll look for it.

[Springman]

I’ll buy Mrs. Springman some Mexican Pop,(Soda) from a local store. She loves it.