A Question: Is Honey and or Corn Syrup Health-Protective or Detrimental?

 

 

A question was received from Dr Jasmine Keys here:

Dr Lim

I read with great interest your article expertly written highlighting the reasons why sugar is sweet, but deadly.

The Reason Why White Table Sugar and Fructose in Fruits are Bad for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health?

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-reason-why-white-table-sugar-and.html

I have always advised my patients in the UK to avoid sugars. In turn they asked me what about honey and corn syrup other than artificial sweeteners. I have never been able to answer their question as I am only a doctor not as qualified as yourselves doubled-up as a food scientist and a nutritionist.

May I suggest you enlighten me, or rather all of us, how these different sugars impact our health.

Thanking you in anticipation

Jasmine Keys

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Thank you for your question, Dr Jasmine Keys.

Here are some possible answers:  

Honey:

The carbohydrate components of honey contain various types of mono and disaccharides. The average concentration of sugars in honey is fructose (38.38%), sucrose (30.31), and other reducing sugars (1.31, and 76.65).  

Various types of honey have different types of honey sugars, but the ratio of fructose and glucose remains the same at 1.23 according to White et al., 1996.

As far as I know, there are more than 22 other sugars found in honey in which dextrose and laevulose are major ones. Ten disaccharides have been identified in honey by food chemical analysts.

They include maltose, sucrose, maltulose, turanose, isomaltose, laminaribiose, nigerose, kojibiose, gentiobiose and B-trehalose.

Besides, some trisaccharides are also found in honey such as maltotriose, erlose, melezitose, centose 3-α5 Isomaltosylglucose, l-kestose, isomaltotriose, panose, psopanose and theanderose. However, these sugars are present in very small quantities.

I am aware that many, including health-oriented clinicians, have asserted that honey is natural sugar made by bees from the nectar of flowers and is good for health as it has been consumed by all civilizations. Nonetheless, it's important to suggest that the health benefits of honey can vary based on factors such as its source, processing, and individual health conditions.  

Here are some health claims:

Honey has been consumed for its potential health benefits for centuries as it contains various compounds that may contribute to its positive effects. Some technical reasons and studies on the potential health benefits of honey include:

Antioxidant Properties:

• Honey contains antioxidants such as flavonoids and polyphenols. These compounds can help neutralize free radicals in the body, reducing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is linked to various chronic diseases, including heart disease and cancer.
•  "Antioxidant and Radical Scavenging Activities of Honey Samples from Different Floral Sources" have been shown that honey possesses significant antioxidant activity (Journal of Medicinal Food, 2009).

Anti-Inflammatory Effects:

• Honey has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory properties. This may help to counteract inflammatory responses in the body.
• "Anti-inflammatory effects of natural honey on bovine thrombin-induced oxidative burst in phagocytes” demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects of honey (Pharmacognosy Magazine 2011)

Wound Healing:

• Honey has been used topically for wound healing since ancient times till today due to its antimicrobial properties and ability to create a favourable environment for tissue regeneration.  "Honey: a potent agent for wound healing?" discussed the potential of honey in wound healing." (Journal of Wound Care, 2002)

Cough and Sore Throat Relief:

• Honey has been shown to be effective in relieving cough and soothing sore throats, making it a common home remedy.
•  "Honey for acute cough in children" suggested that honey may be a preferable treatment for cough symptoms (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2014)
• However, honey has its potential health drawbacks here:

High Sugar Content:

• Honey is high in natural sugars, primarily fructose and glucose. Excessive consumption of honey can contribute to calorie intake and may impact blood sugar levels besides what I have already written earlier.
• Individuals with diabetes should be cautious and monitor their honey intake.

Infant Botulism:

• It may not be advisable to give honey to infants under one year of age due to the risk of infant botulism, a rare but serious condition caused by bacterial spores commonly found in honey.

Allergies:

• Some individuals may be allergy sensitive to honey, leading to allergic reactions. It's necessary to be cautious if an individual has known allergies to bee products.

In short, honey may offer potential health benefits, but should be consumed in moderation, and individuals with specific health conditions.

Moreover, the source and quality of honey can influence its nutritional profile and potential benefits.

Top of Form

Corn Syrup:

As far as corn syrup is concerned, just like honey and many other types of sugars other than glucose, fructose and sucrose that are also present. Some uses of corn syrup include:

Its use by the food industry that produces it from the starch of corn or maize. This syrup contains varying amounts of sugars, mainly glucose, maltose, and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade.

Here are some properties about corn syrup:

Food manufacturers use corn syrup in foods to soften their texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavour.

There are different types of corn syrup, including light corn syrup and dark corn syrup. Light corn syrup is clear and sweet, while dark corn syrup has a darker colour and a stronger flavour due to the addition of molasses.

Corn syrup is commonly used in the food industry as a sweetener and thickening agent. It is used in a variety of products, including candies, baked goods, beverages, and processed foods.

Technically, corn syrup is not the same as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is manufactured from corn syrup by converting a large proportion of its glucose into fructose using the enzyme D-xylose isomerase, thus producing a sweeter substance.

In more general term, glucose syrup is often used synonymously with corn syrup mostly made from corn starch, but as far as I know, it can also be made from wheat, tapioca and potatoes and other sources because from the chemical point of view, glucose syrup is any liquid starch hydrolysate of mono-, di-, and higher-saccharides irrespective of the original source it was derived. 

Corn syrup is a sweet syrup made from the starch of corn. It goes through a process called hydrolysis, where enzymes are used to break down the starch into simpler sugars. The primary component of corn syrup is glucose, but it may also contain other sugars like maltose and higher sugars.

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS): This is a type of corn syrup that has undergone further processing to convert some of the glucose into fructose. HFCS is widely used in the food and beverage industry as a sweetener.
2. Sweetening Power: Corn syrup is not as sweet as sucrose (table sugar), but it still offers sweetness to food products. It is often used to prevent the crystallization of sugar in certain recipes.
3. Texture and Moisture: In addition to sweetness, corn syrup is prized for its ability to add moisture and maintain a smooth texture in various food products, such as candies and frostings.

 Even though corn syrup is a common ingredient in processed foods, there has been some controversy and discussion regarding the effects of high fructose in corn syrup as with any sweetening agents and its potential association with various health issues. A moderate intake of corn syrup may be safe, and we need to be mindful of overall sugar intake in one's diet.

Having said some of these from the food chemists’ point of view, we need to pass this on to the expertise of nutritionists to showcase studies on how these other sugars impact health.

I shall leave this to my expert colleagues and counterparts as I have limited knowledge on other sugars besides what I have written. I have also limited knowledge on millions of other unknown phytochemicals present in foods, especially from plant-based foods. See article on:

Reasons Why Health and Nutrition Supplementations Are Harmful for Health:

https://scientificlogic.blogspot.com/2023/12/reasons-why-health-and-nutrition.html

Incidentally, I have a better understanding in pharmacology detailing the specific actions of drugs and how they work on the body and how they counteract the chemical pathology than on nutrition – foods that nourishes the body to maintain health and vitality despite being more a nutritionist at postgraduate level than a pharmacologist with some understanding on pharmacology and medicine at undergraduate level.

This is also partly because nutrition is such a complex subject unlike medicine or pharmacology where we design drugs out of our existing knowledge on the chemical pathology of disease.

There are hundreds of drugs already approved for various uses, and new drugs are being developed and introduced regularly even though the total number of known drugs can change as new medications are discovered, approved, or withdrawn from the market. Many of these drugs we are still unsure how they act on the body and their side effects where we still need to report their adverse reactions in post market pharmacovigilance.

Despite the substantial amounts of drugs in use, their mode of action, namely, their effects on the body and on the body’s chemical pathology, their absorption, retention time, metabolism, and excretion (pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetics) being well studied before approval and marketing, drugs like food may be adversely indicated.

The number of drugs in use presently can be obtained from databases such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs) database, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database, or other authoritative sources in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.

Unfortunately, we do not have a similar database for sugars as far as I know, nor do we have a database on all other natural compounds present in foods. This greatly limits our ability to understand these natural food components.

This said, many sugars, like phytochemicals and naturally occurring medicines in their millions if not in tens of millions occurring naturally in most plant-based foods, and their impact on health and disease offer us tremendous potential for further studies.

Unfortunately, drug manufacturers have no interest in sugars or most naturally occurring medicines because they cannot be patented for monetary gains unless they synthesize them in isolation from the rest of the other biosimilar components also present.  

Sugars and food components challenge the best minds of nutritionists and food scientists even to understand a small proportion of them, and their impact on health and disease outcome.

Summary: 

In summary, to answer Dr Jasmine Keys' question, I have little access to literature where other rarer sugars present in honey or in corn syrup have been studied to further support beliefs that honey or corn syrup is health benificial. 

 On the contrary, we know honey consists of fructose (38.38%) and sucrose (30.31 %), both sugars are detrimental to health like cane sugar (sucrose) a disaccharide when hydrolysed, yields the needed glucose, and unsafe fructose, both are reducing sugars.

We have little or no evidence if other reducing sugars in honey or in corn syrup such as maltose is detrimental or health-protective, although we know that maltose is a disaccharide sugar composed of two glucose molecules linked together. When maltose undergoes hydrolysis, it is broken down into its constituent glucose molecules just like in starches.

Even lactose, a reducing sugar found in milk much needed in babies may show injurious effects in adults who are milk intolerant.  

Lactose intolerance in adults arises when the body has difficulty digesting lactose present in milk and dairy products due to a deficiency of an enzyme called lactase that breaks down lactose into simpler sugars (glucose and galactose) that can be easily absorbed by the body.

Lactase is produced in the small intestine, and its production tends to decrease with age in many individuals probably due to lack of use in adults who stopped drinking milk unlike infants who produce sufficient lactase to digest breast milk.  This decline can lead to lactose intolerance in adulthood.

When an adult with lactose intolerance consumes milk or dairy products, the undigested lactose reaches the colon, where it can be fermented by bacteria. This fermentation process produces gas and can lead to symptoms such as bloating, gas, diarrhoea, and abdominal discomfort.

While honey may have health-giving benefits if taken in small quantities, it may also adversely affect health in large quantities due to the presence of fructose or fruit sugar and also sucrose almost in equal amounts, between 30 - 38 %.

Fructose found in honey is metabolized differently from other sugars like glucose. While glucose is directly taken up by most cells in the body and used for energy, fructose is primarily metabolized in the liver.

In the liver, fructose is converted into glucose, stored as glycogen, or used to produce triglycerides.

Excessive consumption of fructose from sucrose in cane sugar or in honey (sucrose = glucose + fructose) or in the form of added sugars such as in high-fructose corn syrup, has been associated with various health issues, including insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome.

Moderate consumption of naturally occurring fructose in whole fruits is generally considered part of a healthy diet because it comes with fibre, vitamins, and other beneficial compounds. However, added sugars in processed foods and beverages, as excessive intake can have negative health effects.

Complex carbohydrates, such as starches, also ultimately yield glucose upon digestion. Starches are polysaccharides composed of many glucose units linked together. Digestive enzymes break down starches into individual glucose molecules during the digestive process, and these complex carbohydrates are not found in honey or corn syrup but are found in whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables. 

Thank you for your question, Dr Jasmine Keys. I hope I have answered.

Kind regards

Lim ju boo