Sugar Is Preferable to Corn Syrup

A new study at Princeton University explored the relationship between high-fructose corn syrup and weight gain in lab animals, and found that corn syrup causes far more weight gain than regular table sugar.

High-fructose corn syrup is found in a "wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise."

Psychology Professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction said that "when rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board." 

Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup led to belly fat increases with a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides in lab animals in one six month experiment.

The second experiment showed that high-fructose led to greater weight gain than table sugar in lab animals. Animals gained a whopping 48 percent in total weight if they had access to high-fructose corn syrup.

This work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States. Abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides are risk factors for metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes.

These results published March 18, 2010 are now online in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior.