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Sweeter than Sweet
Juicy Juice has a commercial warning about it, and it is an ingredient in almost any food that is sweet or browned. But what is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)? A more important question to ask is: is it harmful?
HFCS has been a part of the food market since the early 1980's after the Japanese perfected the processing of this syrup. When it first appeared on the scene, controversy surrounded this sugar substitute, and now, the controversy has returned. HFCS is a sweetener made from corn and then processed with various enzymes to increase the sugar content to 55-90% fructose. It has been used in the food industry because it is cheaper than sugar (from sugar cane and beets), easier to blend because it is a liquid, has a longer shelf life, and prevents freezer burn. The bad reputation of HFCS is not because of these uses but because of the problems from the high fructose percentage. It should also be noted that the use of HFCS goes hand in hand with the high population of obese individuals in the US. HFCS may or may not have caused this increase in obesity; the numbers are, however, suspicious.

Table sugar is sucrose, which is a blend of glucose and fructose although it should not necessarily be thought of as 50% glucose, 50% fructose since sucrose is a different molecule entirely than glucose and fructose alone. Supporters of HFCS protest that the sweetener is only 5% more fructose than regular sugar so it should not have any detrimental effects that are unlike sugar. However, HFCS can have up to 90% fructose content.
So what's the big deal with fructose? Although fructose is a part of sucrose and is naturally broken down in the body, it is processed and acts differently than glucose, the other component of sucrose. Fructose must be metabolized in the liver to be converted to glucose; unlike glucose (which is metabolized in every cell of the body). If the amount of fructose increases, the liver works harder to process it all. Livers of research animals that were given high fructose diets looked similar to the livers of alcoholics - fatty and cirrhotic. The damaged livers, in turn, output more fat than needs be into the bloodstream, increasing the level of triglycerides in the blood. Triglycerides are fats that can increase body fat (obesity) and a thickness of the blood, which can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Because fructose is processed in the liver and only glucose is used by the cells, fructose

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