TY - JOUR AU - DeChristopher, Luanne R. AU - Auerbach, Brandon J. AU - Tucker, Katherine L. PY - 2020 DA - 2020/12/08 TI - High fructose corn syrup, excess-free-fructose, and risk of coronary heart disease among African Americans– the Jackson Heart Study JO - BMC Nutrition SP - 70 VL - 6 IS - 1 AB - Researchers have sought to explain the black-white coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality disparity that increased from near parity to ~ 30% between 1980 and 2010. Contributing factors include cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment disparities attributable to disparities in insurance coverage. Recent research suggests that dietary/environmental factors may be contributors to the disparity. Unabsorbed/luminal fructose alters gut bacterial load, composition and diversity. There is evidence that such microbiome disruptions promote hypertension and atherosclerosis. The heart-gut axis may, in part, explain the black-white CHD disparity, as fructose malabsorption prevalence is higher among African Americans. Between 1980 and 2010, consumption of excess-free-fructose–the fructose type that triggers malabsorption-exceeded dosages associated with fructose malabsorption (~ 5 g–10 g), as extrapolated from food availability data before subjective, retroactively-applied loss adjustments. This occurred due to an industrial preference shift from sucrose to high-fructose-corn-syrup (HFCS) that began ~ 1980. During this period, HFCS became the main sweetener in US soda. Importantly, there has been more fructose in HFCS than thought, as the fructose-to-glucose ratio in popular sodas (1.9-to-1 and 1.5-to-1) has exceeded generally-recognized-as-safe levels (1.2-to-1). Most natural foods contain a ~ 1-to-1 ratio. In one recent study, ≥5 times/wk. consumers of HFCS sweetened soda/fruit drinks/and apple juice-high excess-free-fructose beverages–were more likely to have CHD, than seldom/never consumers. SN - 2055-0928 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40795-020-00396-x DO - 10.1186/s40795-020-00396-x ID - DeChristopher2020 ER -