A new study has found that adults who consumed high fructose corn syrup for two weeks as 25% of their daily calorie requirement had increased blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis (UCD; USA) compared the effects of consuming glucose, fructose, or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) at 25% of their energy requirements on risk factors for cardiovascular disease, Study participants included 48 adults who resided at the UCD clinical research center for 3.5 days of baseline testing, consuming usual ad libitum diets along with three servings per day of glucose, fructose, or HFCS-sweetened beverages representing 55% complex carbohydrates for 12 outpatient days. The main outcome measures included 24-hour thyroglobulin (TG), fasting plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and apolipoprotein B (apoB) 64 concentrations.

The results showed that within two weeks, study participants consuming fructose or HFCS, but not glucose, exhibited increased concentrations of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein-B--a protein, which can lead to plaques that cause vascular disease. The differential effects of fructose and HFCS compared to the complex carbohydrate on the 24-hour TG profile were most marked in the late evening, approximately 4 and 6 hours after dinner. The study was published early online on July 28, 2011, in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

“While there is evidence that people who consume sugar are more likely to have heart disease or diabetes, it is controversial as to whether high sugar diets may actually promote these diseases, and dietary guidelines are conflicting,” said senior author Kimber Stanhope, PhD, of the department of molecular biosciences. “Several factors associated with an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease were increased in individuals consuming 25% of their calories as fructose or high fructose corn syrup, but consumption of glucose did not have this effect.”

HFCS comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness. HFCS has become very common in processed foods and beverages, including breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunchmeats, yogurts, soups, and condiments. In the US, HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced sucrose (table sugar) in the food industry. Factors for this include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar, subsidies of US corn, and an import tariff on foreign sugar--all of which combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS less costly for many sweetener applications.

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