High Fructose Corn Syrup | Is it really bad?
You’ve seen the commercials–one tells you that high fructose corn syrup is the devil, while the other tells you that it’s just…corn. Like most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. However, I have been wondering about it lately.
HFCS: So, what’s the real story?
High fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, is the commercial version of corn syrup–broken down through a chemical process to make the sugar substitute known as fructose. It becomes “high” fructose when the ratio of fructose outweighs glucose. (Are you still with me?)
Anyway, the concern comes because HFCS is being found in a large amount of prepackaged foods and drinks often thought to be unhealthy. eHow.com reports, “The United States Department of Agriculture found that approximately 39 percent of the nutritive sweeteners consumed in the United States came in the form of high fructose corn syrup.”
HFCS is found in some of our favorite snack foods like sodas, cookies, canned fruit and yes, even yogurt and breakfast cereals. This has been a concern for the nutrition industry as the obesity rate in the United States continues to rise. Some believe that our bodies react differently to high fructose corn syrup than regular sugar (or sucrose), causing more weight gain.
And, according to a study at Princeton University, our bodies do act differently, believing that “not all sugars are created equally.”
In the study, lab rats gained more weight when fed high fructose corn syrup than sugar.
Princeton’s psychology professor Bart Hoebel reported, “Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests. When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”
Because many studies have been inconclusive, other experts disagree.
In a New York Times article, Marion Nestle, a professor in New York University’s department of nutrition, stated, “Americans consume too much of all types of sugar, but that there is no meaningful biochemical difference between table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.”
Sugar: So what should you do?
In a Mayo Clinic article, the American Heart Association stated that “most American women should consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar, and that even less is better. That’s about 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men.”
As a side note: In late 2010, the Corn Refiners Association “began petitioning the United States Food and Drug Administration to start calling the ingredient ‘corn sugar,’ arguing that a name change is the only way to clear up consumer confusion about the product.”
Telling?
Image: Kevin Connors
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Great review of the sugar situation.
The reason high fructose corn syrup is has such a “bad” reputation is due to the corn refiners’ arrogance and insistence that high fructose corn syrup should be the only sweetener used–giving Americans little choice. It has been added to everything, and until its takeover was questioned, would have continued to be added to food–possibly even injected into fruit and vegetables :)
Corn farming is highly subsidized, and has caused concern due to environmental damage. Also, HFCS is synthesized largely from genetically altered corn, and unbound sugar in HFCS form is not present in nature–a totally Frankencorn sugar from Frankencorn.
Do you think that Audrae Erickson and fellow corn refiners and lobbyists really drink that artificial red drink from their commercials–or do they just expect their fellow Americans to do so?
Thanks WritRams for keeping the situation before the public.
Two things we tend to consume in my house quite a bit are ketchup (I’ve got kids, what do you want?) and bread.
Realizing that whole wheat bread contained HFCS (to promote “even browning of the crust”) really got me thinking about the stuff. Seeing it in so many products, including ketchup, got me thinking. I only buy the truly ‘natural’ bread now–bread that doesn’t include corn syrup (all bread needs sugar in it, just a touch, as it feeds the yeast in the rising process), and Hunts ketchup (the only major brand that is HFCS free).
I read labels much more than I used to–and I’m trying to make more of my own food from basic ingredients. It’s actually cheaper (though takes a smidge more time). I’ve even made my own ketchup–it’s surprisingly easy.
The “corn sugar” thing, really pisses me off. It’s a chemically changed product–this is sugar made in a LABORATORY. Implying that it’s natural is the height of big-business arrogance, and their assumption that the average Joe (or Joanne) won’t realize that it’s actually HFCS. Grr.
Don’t my hub started on it either. If it were up to him, we’d eat an entirely “Paleo” diet.
I would be curious to see research as to the epidemic of obesity in our country and the adding of HFCS to our foods. I would almost bet that the HFCS came just shortly before the number of obese increased drastically. It is a processed product that is NOT good for us.