HFCS vs. Sucrose -- an observation

[jim_p]

I don't know if I've just made a discovery, or if this is already old hat, but I have to share an observation I made today.

I was in the supermarket walking through the Passover aisle, and I walked by the Kosher-For-Passover Coca-Cola. This stuff is said to be much-sought-after by non-Jewish Coke fans because it's made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. Curious, I grabbed a bottle, along with a bottle of regular non-diet Coke.

I got home and did a little taste test. First, when I poured them out, the kosher Coke seemed to hold its "head" much longer.

Then the taste. First the regular Coke. Okay, it's just like every Coke I've had for the past several years. Now the Kosher Coke. Hmmm... the overall flavor components are the same, but the main difference I felt was a more "syrupy" mouth-feel, like the sucrose version had more "body" than the HFCS version.

"You know", I said to myself, "I'd probably feel satiated sooner with the real-sugar Coke".

Penny. Drop.

In the long-running debate over sugar versus HFCS, have any researchers pursued THIS angle? I've heard much debate about how HFCS may or may not be treated differently by the body than sugar, but has anyone done any research as to whether it affects how MUCH we eat? THIS might explain a possible link between HFCS and obesity rates, especially given that you pretty much can't swing your arms in the supermarket without hitting something made with HFCS...

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Back when I was still drinking sugared sodas, yeah, I did notice that if I drank soda with real sugar in it, I hit the satiety point sooner than I did when drinking soda with HFCS. I think it's not a coincidence that the explosion in "single-serving" soda containers (from 12oz cans to 16 and then 20 oz bottles) started around the time HFCS replaced sugar in soft drinks.

I also suspect that satiety plays a role in why people don't get thin eating "low-fat" foods. Fat triggers the feeling of satiety. Without fat in your food, you don't feel full--so you eat your way to the bottom of the bag of SnackWells rather than just having two or three cookies.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Be sure to read labels! They're putting fake sugar in a lot of things, and not even telling you except in the ingredient list. Do you believe that Hall's Cough Drops contain Sucralose? But store-brand cough drops still have sugar, so I don't buy Hall's anymore.

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

Yes, the "feeling full" concept is fairly well-known. There are even theories as to why this would be so:

If you are a creature who could starve in the winter, and fruits show up in the autumn, it would increase your survival rates if you could pig out on as much fruit as you could literally stomach. So the fructoses don't trigger your brain to say "done now". But this is okay, as fruits only show up sporadically, in the autumn.

It would only be a problem if you were consuming fructose every day of the year...

sorta

[cthulhia]

the fructose in whole fruit is delivered with enough fiber that you're physically too full to really gorge on the sugars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
"Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods."

that video is over an hour long, but it explains the science of how glucose & fructose are metabolised, which includes how fructose doesn't trigger the fullness response.
(yeah, this guy isn't entirely impartial, but, the evidence really mounts in his favor.)

[lothie.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is one of the many arguments against HCFS.

[awfief.livejournal.com]

FWIW when I was shopping for stuff, I saw that Pepsi has returned "classic Pepsi" to the shelves, including the classic label (so it's easy to spot, a mostly white label!) -- and it's made with sugar.