Corn Syrup Sweeteners and Sugar Substitutes

Submitted by Loring A. Windblad on February 23, 2010

Corn Syrup Sweeteners And Sugar Substitutes

Sugar is a part of our every day diet but there are quite a few disadvantages of consuming excessive sugar as it is the root cause for diabetes. Hence it is advised that you substitute sugar with other available ingredients. High fructose corn syrup is one such ingredient that has replaced pure sugar as the main food in cakes, cookies, mixes, sauces, breakfast cereal and commercial baked goods.

Most people believe that corn syrup is a better alternative to avoid the health issues caused by consumption of sugar. However, corn syrup and sugar are practically the same and both are equally bad if consumed in excessive quantities and neither of these two sweeteners has any significant nutritive value.

Corn syrup is made up of glucose and is sweeter than the regular white sugar. On the other hand, normal sugar is pure sucrose that contains loose bonding of fructose and glucose.

Glucose syrup is the general term that is used synonymously with corn syrup as the former is primarily made of corn starch.

In the United States, glucose syrup was the primary corn sweetener before the expansion of High-fructose corn syrup production (HFCS). Both sugar and corn syrup contain fructose, excessive intake of which is not good for the overall health of the individual. Fructose is the type of sugar found in fruits and is therefore often called fruit sugar.

This type of sugar is not easily absorbed by the digestive system but when it is combined with glucose, the absorption is significantly higher. High fructose corn syrup is extracted from corn plants and contains nearly equal amounts of fructose and glucose. Fructose is associated with a number of negative health effects especially when combined with glucose. Your body needs glucose for energy.

Although, the liver can convert fructose into energy as well it is not able to metabolize fructose in the exact same way as glucose. An excessive intake of fructose causes the liver to convert it into fat faster and produces extra triglycerides which cause insulin resistance and it is the insulin resistance that causes type II diabetes.

The reason why sugar has been substituted by corn syrup is primarily because it is cheaper compared to sugar. Also the taxes that the government implies on import of sugar are not feasible for most of the people and hence corn syrup gets the limelight. In case you are fond of sweets, you can indulge in fruits that have a high nutritional value. Fruits that are rich in fiber are considered to be particularly healthy.