Does high fructose corn syrup have a different glycemic index from crystalline fructose from corn?

Question

This is an important question when cooking/baking for a diabetic. I'm looking for anyone who can provide scientific data, reasons, etc.

I was looking to use fructose from fruit, but now all I can find in the stores is fructose from corn.

I've seen plenty about the glycemic effect of high fructose corn syrup (not good for diabetics) and about the glycemic effect of crystalline fructose from fruit (good for diabetics).

But, I can't seem to find anything specific about the glycemic effect of crystalline fructose from corn.

Does anyone have any data or references?

I'm really just looking for a scientific or authoritative source on the glycemic index for crystalline fructose made from corn.

Thanks to Peachy for the first answers. Apologies for not being clearer about my question.

Answer 1

To answer your question specifically, I think fructose is fructose no matter where it comes from. So, the answer would be 19. As long as it is pure fructose, the GI should be the same.

This is one of the best questions I've ever seen on Answers and has caused me to use a good portion of my Christmas day researching. Diabetics must learn that there are many different types of sugar each having their own affect on our systems.

Okay, you really got me started. This just in... HFCS's glycemic index varies according to what type it is. There are two major types of HFCS's... 42 and 55. This has to do with the fructose to glucose ratio. 42 is 42% fructose to 58% glucose. 55 is 55% fructose to 45% glucose. Since fructose has a glycemic index of 19 and glucose is 100, you just have to do some math to get your answer. Table sugar, 50/50 fructose to glucose, has a GI of 65, so HFCS 55 will be proportionately lower while HFCS 42 will be proportionately higher. I'm no math whiz, so I figure it's going to be closer to 50 for HFCS 55 and probably 70, or so, for HFCS 42. I invite some math experts to assist. Either way, you can't beat natural foods for high nutrition to carb ratio as per Dr. Furhman's recommendations.

I just found this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&uid=2695593&cmd=showdetailview&indexed=google
I interpret that to indicate that HFCS is somewhere between 57% and 75% of pure glucose (100).

It should be noted that most of my reading indicates that HFCS is not as much of a bad guy as a lot of people think. It's not that it has bad qualities per se, it's mostly the fact that the average American consumes a whopping 60 POUNDS of HFCS a year. Incredible... no wonder obesity and type 2 diabetes are beyond epidemic proportions.

This is a very pertinent question for this category. Fructose (from fruits) is much easier for a diabetic to deal with. Since including fruits (bananas, apples, apricots, etc) to my diet, my blood glucose has gone DOWN, not up as expected. I quit taking the Metformin on the 13th and I've posted the results here: http://www.geocities.com/seabulls69/DailyLog.html

Answer 2

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RE:
Does high fructose corn syrup have a different glycemic index from crystalline fructose from corn?
This is an important question when cooking/baking for a diabetic. I'm looking for anyone who can provide scientific data, reasons, etc.

I was looking to use fructose from fruit, but now all I can find in the stores is fructose from corn.

Answer 3

it is chemically altered corn syrup, it is indeed metabolized the same way cane sugar is in the body. The problem with it is that it is in EVERYTHING, there is no way to "eat it in moderation". Go thru the grocery sometime and read the ingredient labels, you will find high fructose corn syrup in almost 90% of all products that are made. Look at ketchup, look at bread, look at crackers look at prepared foods of any kind, they ALL have the high fructose corn syrup in it. Unless you never eat any refined foods at all, you can't get away from the stuff, and THAT is what is causing the obesity and diabetes in this country.

Answer 4

Better re-read your question and answers... you got Mr. Peachy really fired up. Not many have succeeded in doing that. He's usually more laid back.

It's a pretty good answer. I doubt I could do much better.