This article appeared today on MSN:
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a manmade sweetener that’s found in a wide range of processed foods, from ketchup and cereals to crackers and salad dressings. It also sweetens just about all of the (regular) soda Americans drink. HFCS used in foods is between 50 to 55 percent fructose—so chemically, it’s virtually identical to table sugar (sucrose), which is 50 percent fructose. Metabolic studies suggest our bodies break down and use HFCS and sucrose the same way.
Yet, after HFCS began to be widely introduced into the food supply 30-odd years ago, obesity rates skyrocketed. And because the sweetener is so ubiquitous, many blame HFCS for playing a major role in our national obesity epidemic. As a result, some shoppers equate HFCS with "toxic waste" when they see it on a food label. But when it comes right down to it, a sugar is a sugar is a sugar. A can of soda contains around nine teaspoons of sugar in the form of HFCS—but, from a biochemical standpoint, drinking that soda is no worse for you than sipping home-brewed iced tea that you’ve doctored with nine teaspoons of table sugar or an equivalent amount of honey.
Even Barry Popkin, Ph.D., a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who previously suggested, in an influential 2004 paper, a possible HFCS-obesity link, stresses that the real obesity problem doesn’t lie just with HFCS. Rather, it’s the fact that sugars from all sources have become so prevalent in our food supply, especially in our beverages. He scoffs at the "natural" sweeteners sometimes added to upscale processed foods like organic crackers and salad dressings. "They all have the same caloric effects as sugar," he explains. "I don’t care whether something contains concentrated fruit juice, brown sugar, honey or HFCS. The only better sweetener option is ‘none of the above.’"
At EatingWell, it’s our philosophy to keep any sweeteners we use in our recipes to a minimum—and likewise, to limit processed foods with added sugars of any type, including HFCS. We recommend you do the same.
I have been on and off the Macrobiotic diet for the last 8 months, I say "on and off" because I was in an accident and subsequent to that, I had to train excruciatingly hard for a relatively challenging endurance bike ride. That said, I for the most part, have been trying to follow macrobiotic principles and hope to one day be fully on the diet. Way of life approach is how I look at it. Before this, however and even at present - I have always been a reader of food labels. Whenever friends or random strangers ask me for diet, nutrition and fitness tips - the first thing I tell them to do is read food labels.
I am constantly amazed by the number of people who have zero idea of what they are putting into their bodies. We all know what brand jeans we are wearing, the type of fuel we want to put into our cars, but no idea what we are eating. Yes, I know, it's called a "donut." But do you know what's in it - they aren't all the same, some are better than others, and I guarantee that the more attention you pay to the ingredients in your food (and how many calories exist in the junk), the more swayed you'll be to reach for the good, or more natural stuff.
This brings me to the HFCS thing. Yes HFCS is in everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Go to Safeway, pick up anything by Oscar Meyer (yes the meat), and you'll see it on the label. Pick up your cereal, your soda, your fruit juice, your chocolate bar, your non-diet sweetened iced tea, and you'll see it (heck, even in your Vlassic dill pickles). Go to Mexico or Thailand and the ingredient you'll see is sugar - and oddly, they don't put that in the meat in those countries (I'll give Dr. Popkin that).
The problem is two-fold. Over consumption of sugars has been linked to adverse health effects, and most of these effects are similar for HFCS and sucrose. There is a striking correlation between the rise of obesity in the US and the use of HFCS for sweetening beverages and foods, but it is not clear whether this is coincidence or a causal relationship. Some critics of HFCS do not claim that it is any worse than similar quantities of sucrose would be, but rather focus on its prominent role in the over consumption through over consumption due to its low cost.
The preference for high-fructose corn syrup over cane sugar amongst the vast majority of American food and beverage manufacturers is largely due to U.S. import quotas and tariffs on sugar. These tariffs significantly increase the domestic U.S. price for sugar, forcing Americans to pay more than twice the world price for sugar, making high-fructose corn syrup an attractive substitute in U.S. markets. For instance, soft drink makers like Coca-Cola use sugar internationally but use high-fructose corn syrup in their U.S. products.
Since 1980, the sugar program has cost consumers and taxpayers the equivalent of more than $3 million for each American sugar grower. Some people win the lottery; other people grow sugar. Congressmen justify the sugar program as protecting Americans from the "roller-coaster of international sugar prices," as Rep. Byron Dorgan (D.-N.D.) declared. Unfortunately, Congress protects consumers from the roller-coaster by pegging American sugar prices on a level with the Goodyear blimp floating far above the amusement park. U.S. sugar prices have been as high as or higher than world prices for 54 of the last 55 years.
Sugar sold for 21 cents a pound in the United States when the world sugar price was less than 3 cents a pound. Each 1-cent increase in the price of sugar adds between $250 million and $300 million to consumers' food bills. A Commerce Department study estimated that the sugar program was costing American consumers more than $3 billion a year.
So - how does the US consumer pay for this subsidy? By getting HFCS in their food and burgeoning bellies as a result of their diets. Read the food labels. There is no reason to A) be a victim to this lobby and B) eat this crap. Whole Foods has plenty of stuff without it, heck even Canterbury Chocolate is made with real sugar - if you just read the labels.
If you're feeling feisty here's something else to avoid: Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. Trans fats are partially hydrogenated oils that were developed as a healthier, cheaper, and longer-lasting alternative to fully saturated solid fats like lard. "Healthier" no longer applies, as recent studies show that these artificially hydrogenated fats are more harmful than their saturated cousins. These fats are found in natural sources, but most of our intake comes from man-made sources – partially hydrogenated oils that remain essentially hidden from view unless we pay close attention. Recommend reading the articles available at the links here: http://www.treelight.com/health/nutrition/PartiallyHydrogenatedOils.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat. The good news is that the consumer lobby grew large enough for the producers to eventually start withdrawing it from major products - but it's still a major ingredient in likely 75% of what you are purchasing at your local grocery store (even the stuff you think is healthy).
I would not be surprised if HFCS eventually goes this route as far as regulation, also developed as a cheaper, and longer-lasting alternative to sugar. But, it's a corn syrup that has undergone an enzymatic process in order to increase its fructose content and then mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose) to reach its final form. Where can I find this in nature? And tell me, how is this good for me when American producers use it, unregulated, and shove it down my throat? Change starts with YOU!
