High fructose corn syrup and metabolic syndrome
What it found
In people and in lab experiments, eating high fructose corn syrup is linked step by step to obesity and to the other problems that make up metabolic syndrome.
Some of these changes appeared in experiments even when body weight did not rise.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Damage without weight gain
In lab experiments, eating high fructose corn syrup seemed to cause some of the changes seen in metabolic syndrome even without a rise in body weight.
Studies in people and animals
Trends track with fructose
Trends in all of these changes are tied to the amount of fructose in the diet and to the arrival of high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in soft drinks and other foods.
Link to obesity
Evidence from lab experiments and from people suggests a step-by-step link between eating high fructose corn syrup, obesity, and the other harmful processes.
More than obesity
The metabolic harm tied to high fructose corn syrup is probably not limited to the pathways that run through obesity.
Other findings
Main sources of sugar
Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are now the main sources of added sugars in Americans' diets.
What metabolic syndrome is
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of common conditions. These include belly obesity linked to too much deep belly fat, fatty liver, insulin resistance, high insulin levels, unhealthy blood fats, and high blood pressure.
What the authors conclude
“Metabolic damage associated with HFCS probably is not limited to obesity-pathway mechanisms.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the metabolic damage linked to high fructose corn syrup probably is not limited to obesity-pathway mechanisms.
How it was done
Obesity and related diseases are a growing health concern in the United States and around the world. Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are now the main sources of added sugars in Americans' diets.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This paper pulls together other studies. It cannot prove that high fructose corn syrup itself causes metabolic syndrome or high blood pressure in people.
- Much of the evidence comes from lab experiments, which cannot show what happens in people.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Ponce School of Medicine, USA
The paper
- Title
- The role of high-fructose corn syrup in metabolic syndrome and hypertension
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Ferder L, Ferder MD, Inserra F (2010). The role of high-fructose corn syrup in metabolic syndrome and hypertension. Current hypertension reports. doi:10.1007/s11906-010-0097-3PubMed 20424937DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error