Archive for the "corn syrup" Tag

High Fructose Corn Syrup Part 3 Metabolism

Posted on October 31, 2011 8:17 AM by Dr. Jo in Sweeteners | 0 Comments

Let’s continue to explore the effects of high fructose corn syrup on the body by gaining an understanding of how the body metabolizes it and compare fructose metabolism with sucrose (table sugar) metabolism.

From a chemical standpoint high fructose corn syrup and sucrose are remarkably the same, each containing approximately 50% glucose and 50% fructose.

However there is a difference. To metabolize sucrose our bodies have to secrete an enzyme called sucrase that breaks the bond between the glucose and fructose before these individual molecules can be metabolized.

In high fructose corn syrup the glucose and fructose are … Read the rest

High Fructose Corn Syrup Part 2 Manufacturing HFCS

Posted on October 22, 2011 5:47 PM by Dr. Jo in Sweeteners | 0 Comments

To better understand the effects of high fructose corn syrup on our bodies let’s take a look at how a whole food like corn becomes corn syrup.

Manufacturers developed the process for making corn syrup back in the 1960s. Basically soaking the corn kernels in warm water with sulfur dioxide softens them facilitating the process of separating the starch, hull, protein and oil. After removing the oil the resultant cornstarch is washed.

Cornstarch contains amylose which is simply a long chain of glucose molecules. By adding an enzyme called amylase these long chains are broken into glucose molecules. This process … Read the rest