High Fructose Corn Syrur: A Therapeutic Analysis

HFCS, aka high fructose corn syrup, poses as either the savior or the destroyer here and it’s because of it’s properties. High debates have been buzzing in the air for a while to whether or not HFCS should be either banned from our food supplies or leave it and just keep it. Well, where does HFCS come from anyway? HFCS originally comes from corn starch. When starch is broken down into its individual pieces (molecules), the result becomes corn syrup glucose (that’s 100% glucose). From there, HFCS are produced by adding enzymes to corn syrup in order to convert some glucose into another fructose (FDA, 2014). “The most common forms of HFCS contain either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose,” according to the FDA. This means that HFCS comes in two kids of compositions: HFCS 42 and HFCS 55. HFCS 42 is usually used in processed foods, cereals, baked goods, etc. While HFCS 55 is mainly used in soft drinks such as: Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc. …show more content…
The only differences between HFCS and sucrose is that HFCS contains water and sucrose has a chemical bond that joins the two sugars together while HFCS doesn’t. HFCS 42 contains 42% fructose and 58% glucose, HFCS 55 contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose, and regular table sugar contains 50% fructose and 50% glucose. Sadly, due to their similar structures, many agree that whatever kind of sugar people consume, the body cannot distinguish the difference between them. Thus, the body metabolizes any of them the same way as it would when it just recognizes sugar (Jim Laidler, M.D.,