Sugar is a pretty hot buzzword in the nutrition world, thanks in part to newer studies showing how detrimental a high-sugar diet can be to your health.
Eating too much sugar can lead to health issues like dental caries (cavities), weight gain, and even heart disease – but are all sugars created equally? Is one “better” for you than the other?
High-fructose corn syrup and sugar (table sugar) are among the most popular sweeteners for commercial and home use – but how do they stack up against each other? We compare high-fructose corn syrup vs sugar in this article!
What is high-fructose corn syrup?
Corn syrup is a thick, viscous liquid made by breaking down corn starch with an enzyme to convert it into sugar. Regular corn syrup (like the kind you can buy at the grocery store in light and dark varieties) is essentially pure glucose, the same type of sugar that’s in your bloodstream.
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) undergoes another process that converts some of the glucose molecules in corn syrup to fructose, another type of simple sugar. Fructose is sweeter than glucose, which is one of the reasons food manufacturers prefer to use HFCS – they can use less of it, and, like corn syrup, it’s cheaper to use than regular sugar.
According to the United States Food and Drug Administration, HFCS contains either 42% or 55% fructose, with the rest of it consisting of glucose and water.
What is sugar?
As you’ve probably noticed, there are approximately a million different types of sugar (okay, maybe not that many, but you get the idea!). The broader term “sugar” refers to all of the different types of sugar molecules, both monosaccharides (single sugars like glucose) and disaccharides (linked sugars like sucrose – we’ll get to that next).
For the purpose of this article, we’ll be talking about sugar in terms of “regular” sugar, or table sugar. Table sugar is called sucrose, and is a disaccharide (two sugar molecules linked together) made up of fructose and glucose.
Table sugar is made from cane sugar and sugar beets and is a fine white crystalline structure. (Raw sugar, or turbinado, is a slightly different type of sugar and is brown in color and isn’t the same as table sugar.)
High-fructose corn syrup vs sugar – benefits & uses
High-fructose corn syrup is primarily used by food manufacturers to sweeten processed foods. Some of the benefits and uses of high-fructose corn syrup are:
- Cost: HFCS is less expensive to use compared to regular sugar (thanks in part to the subsidization of corn in the United States)
- Promotes freshness and moisture: HFCS adds more moisture compared to table sugar.
- Smooth texture: corn syrup (and HFCS) is preferred for sweet confections that rely on a smooth texture, such as gummy candies, jellies, and pies like pecan pie. Using crystalline sugar like table sugar can cause the texture to be grainy, which is why corn syrup is preferred.
Unlike high-fructose corn syrup, regular sugar is the most commonly used type of sugar in most households across the United States. Table sugar is most commonly used for:
- Baking: table sugar is a common ingredient for baked goods like cookies, muffins, and cakes.
- Sweetening beverages: table sugar dissolves easily in liquids, making it a popular sweetener for coffee, tea, and other beverages.
High-fructose corn syrup vs. sugar – is one healthier?
There has been a lot of debate as to whether regular sugar is better for you than high-fructose corn syrup.
Calorie-wise, HFCS and sugar are the same. However, high-fructose corn syrup has a higher glycemic index (70-80 range, depending on the amount of fructose) compared to table sugar’s glycemic index of 65. That means that it will raise your blood sugar more quickly than table sugar – but they’re both considered high glycemic index.
According to a study, the only difference between high-fructose corn syrup and sugar is that HFCS is associated with higher levels of a marker of inflammation compared to table sugar. Other measures of metabolic and anthropometric (measurements and proportions of the human body, including body fat) parameters are similar.
The bottom line is that both regular sugar and high-fructose corn syrup can be equally harmful to your health if you regularly consume them in large amounts. Treating regular sugar as a “healthier” option than high-fructose corn syrup could prove detrimental since it’s still sugar and metabolized in the same way.
FAQs:
High-fructose corn syrup is sweeter than sugar and cheaper to use, which are some of the main reasons it’s used instead of sugar in processed food. High-fructose corn syrup also helps processed foods retain moisture and extends their shelf life more than regular sugar.
Like table sugar, honey is made of fructose and glucose and has a slightly lower glycemic index than sugar (58 vs. 65, respectively).
Honey also has more natural vitamins and minerals, but both should be limited because they are considered added sugars, which can be detrimental to your health when consumed in large amounts.
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