At the 2006 Experimental Biology Conference in San Francisco in early April, researchers from Rhode Island University, Kingston, and the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, Celebration, FL, presented their results from a recent study that demonstrated how the body reacts to high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) vs. sucrose. The primary goal of this study was to examine effects of HFCS--which contains approximately equal ratios of fructose and glucose, like sugar--and sucrose on test subjects. The researchers noted that most other studies had focused on pure fructose, not HCFS--the most-common form of fructose consumed. Previous studies have connected fructose with obesity, partially due to its inability to mediate leptin stimulation and ghrelin suppression.
Kathleen J. Melanson, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Rhode Island University, and her fellow researchers studied the effects of HFCS and sucrose on a test group of 30 lean women on two separate days. On the first day, the women consumed beverages sweetened with either HFCS or sucrose while following an isocaloric diet. On the second day, the women also consumed either beverage, but diet was not regulated--but it did not include any energy or macronutrient increases compared to the day-one diet.
Through analysis of blood samples, the researchers found that the women reacted in a similar manner on both days to both HFCS and sucrose. Metabolic reactions were similar in regard to fasting values of plasma glucose, insulin, leptin and ghrelin, and the body's caloric-control mechanisms. However, the researchers noted that more studies should determine if the results will remain similar for obese individuals and men. Research support for this study was provided by the American Beverage Institute and the Corn Refiners Association, both based in Washington, D.C.
In a separate study, Martine Perrigue et al., University of Washington, Seattle, studied satiety effects of consuming isoenergetic beverages sweetened with HFCS, sucrose or aspartame; 1% milk; and a no-beverage control. Previous reports have claimed that the body does not detect liquid sugar, possibly suggesting a psychological link between soft-drink consumption and obesity. The researchers sought to determine whether beverages sweetened with HFCS affected satiety differently than those sweetened with sucrose. The results of this study were also communicated at the recent Experimental Biology conference.
The study involved 37 men and women between the ages of 20 and 30. The subjects consumed the different drinks 10 minutes after eating a breakfast. Subjects then communicated their subjective estimations of hunger, fullness, desire to eat, thirst and nausea at set intervals.
Results showed that all four of the beverages equally suppressed hunger compared to the control; no differences surfaced among subjects who drank beverages sweetened with HFCS, sucrose or aspartame, or the 1% milk. The researchers also noted that caloric intakes at lunch were all lower for subjects who drank one of the beverages. Numbers for the no-beverage control differed significantly from those related to the consumption of some sort of beverage, regardless of the sweetener employed.
