EN GARDE, high fructose corn-syrup junkies! Your soda is trouble.
:( No, this is not an entry on how to make a sub-nuclear pipe bomb out of a 2-Liter Splenda-fied bottle of Diet Coke, 2oz. Ammonia, #0000 Steel Wool, and a pack of Mentos.
(try BoingBoing for that)
Researcher Extraordinaire, Dr. Chi Tang Ho and his associates at Rutgers Food Science Department have tested several carbonated sodas.
All of them containing that longtime HT “Agent Smith”-equivalent: High-Fructose Corn Syrup. “-That soda sweet enough for you, Misster Annderson???” ::cracks own neck::
Found in these drinks were quite elevated levels of undesirable reactive compounds. These chemicals, called Reactive Carbonyls, (no relation to Once Sweet, Gone Bad) are believed to damage tissues and have an association with diabetes.
It is not just the HFCS alone, but the products it forms when interacting with the carbonation in sodas.
Unlike table sugar, the molecules in HFCS become “Unbound” after interacting with Carbonic Acid, almost like a Sugar-based version of a Free-Radical.
Dr. Ho’s team found that:
1 12oz. can of average soda with HFCS has 5 times the Reactive Carbonyls found in the bloodstream of an average Adult Diabetic.
*They also noted that the levels of these compounds in non-carbonated drinks that still had HFCS, were significantly lower than in sodas with the same sweetener.
Photo Credits:
“Soda Bubbles 2”, by Andy Heyward
“fat man”, by Heriberto Herrera
Links:
• Source: ACS-New evidence points to increased diabetes risk
• More Coverage: Dr. Ho’s Presentation Brief-ACS Meeting 234 | Dr. Ho, Rutgers Food Sci. | (Not THAT Dr. Ho)
• Source Study: FoodChemistry-Reactive dicarbonyl compounds and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furfural in carbonated beverages containing high fructose corn syrup
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