Just how risky is a sweet tooth? While we have been warned not to overdose on sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, we are usually assured that they are identical in their physiological effects.
Now a study shows that is not true for female mice, though we don’t know whether the findings apply to humans.
Mice were given diets to which either corn syrup or table sugar had been added to provide 25 percent of calories. The female mice given corn syrup were almost twice as likely to die during the study as those given sugar; in addition, they produced fewer offspring.
Since so many processed foods contain high-fructose corn syrup, the advice to women might be to limit their use of processed foods until we know more about potential health risks for people. In general, following a diet with more unprocessed foods is considered a healthful approach.
