High-fructose corn syrup

GI(Glucose = 100)

56^*56^*

Single test — one published study, not a pooled mean.

Energy(kcal/100g)

281 kcal281 kcal

Carbs(g/100g)

76 g76 g

Sugars(g/100g)

75.6 g75.6 g

Functional benefits

No cited minerals or other functional notes on file yet.

Cited minerals can add up to +2 on Best sweetener for everyday health — see Methods.

Risks & side effects

• High fructose load

  caution

  Hepatic / free-sugars framing (WHO). Low GI is not a hepatic free pass. Composition and use-level matter. Not a treatment claim. Scored through the fructose term on every list; above 50% free fructose, every list caps the score at 30, and Weight goals keeps it at or below table sugar (Diabetic-friendly leaves these rows out).

  WHO — Guideline: sugars intake for adults and children (2015)

• Visceral fat gain vs glucose (10-week trial)

  caution

  J Clin Invest 2009 randomized trial, 32 overweight or obese adults, 25% of energy as fructose or glucose drinks for 10 weeks: same weight gain, but visceral fat rose only on fructose. Compares fructose with glucose, not with table sugar: sucrose drinks also raised visceral fat over 6 months (Am J Clin Nutr 2012), and swapping fructose for other carbohydrate at equal calories did not change weight (Ann Intern Med 2012 meta-analysis). Scored: on Weight goals a row above 50% free fructose stays at or below table sugar and ranks after it — our editorial reading, since it replaces sucrose's glucose half with fructose.

  Stanhope et al. — Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans (J Clin Invest) (2009)

• Faster AGE formation (in vitro)

  caution

  Fructose often ~7.5–10× more reactive than glucose in non-enzymatic glycation assays of model proteins — not “10× AGEs in blood.” Plasma fructose is normally far lower than glucose; in-vivo vascular AGE evidence is incomplete (Schalkwijk). Not scored separately — the fructose term already covers high-fructose rows.

  Aragno & Mastrocola — Dietary sugars and endogenous AGE formation (Nutrients) (2017)

Not medical advice. Published recipe penalties (if any) are on Methods — not a clinical severity scale.

Notes

• Low GI measures blood-glucose rise after a load — not liver fructose handling or glycation chemistry. Pure fructose and high-fructose syrups can still sit under free-sugars / hepatic-load framing, and in-vitro fructation runs faster than glucation, even when the GI cell looks green.

  Editorial table note. Not a diagnosis or treatment claim. Everyday recipe applies a published high-fructose penalty (−0.30).

  WHO — Guideline: sugars intake for adults and children (2015)

• Wright 2014 measured GI 56 for an HFCS control. Brand-Miller (GI News 2010) noted manufacturers had not published graded HFCS-42 vs HFCS-55 assays; blogs quoting 58–73 by grade are estimates, not this cell.

  Composition (42 vs 55) still shifts expected GI.

  GI News / Brand-Miller — HFCS GI not published by manufacturers (University of Sydney) (2010)

Notes explain what the open axis or risk labels alone can miss — not medical advice.