Experts warn: Corn syrup causes many diseases

Many packaged products such as chocolate, cookie or soda, fruit juice include corn syrup from corn. Experts state that corn syrup is much more harmful than simple sugar from sugar beets. Pointing out that corn syrup inhibits feeling of satiety, Quality Life Specialist Haluk Saçaklı said: “Fructose in corn starch is addictive and does not give a feeling of satiety. Besides it creates creates more eating sensation with negative effects on the brain.”

Corn syrup is much preferred in the food sector than simple sugar from sugar beet because corn syrup cost-efficient rather than natural sugar. a small amount of sweetener can sweeten more products because of its high sweetener potential and it extends the shelf life of the product.

Stating that fructose in corn syrup causes many diseases, Istanbul Gelisim University Assist. Prof. Dr. Haluk Saçaklı said: “Calories from glucose and fructose are more dangerous than calories from starch and glucose, such as potatoes and bread. Starch is biodegraded and turned into glucose, and then glucose is turned into fructose in corn syrup. Corn syrup consists of 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose. However, for example, the simpler sugar from sugar beet has fructose and glucose percentages are 50. Fructose is a stronger sweetener than glucose.”

Stating that corn syrup causes insulin resistance, obesity, vascular diseases and diabetes, Assist. Prof. Dr. Saçaklı said: “Insulin resistance also causes tumors to grow because cancer cells use sugar as energy source. There is no need for insulin to metabolize the fructose that reaches the liver. Moreover, it quickly turns into triglyceride and it turns into stored fat. Fructose is the substance that turns into oil in fastest way among all sweeteners.”

Stating that the damage of refined sugar in the body is a bit less than the corn syrup one, Assist. Prof. Dr. Saçaklı warned: “We need to know that we should be content with the sugar we naturally take from vegetables and fruits that we call simple sugar. When we cannot help ourselves to eat dessert, we should prefer those made with sugar obtained from sugar beet. We should carefully read the biscuit packages and do not consume any kind of substance ending with ‘OZ’.”