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Title: What's So Bad About High-Fructose Corn Syrup?
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URL Source: http://health.wealthwire.com/news/diet-nutrition/187
Published: Sep 29, 2012
Author: Allison Crawford
Post Date: 2012-09-29 03:18:51 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 291
Comments: 19
High-fructose corn syrup has a bad reputation. So bad, in fact, that the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) launched an entire television ad campaign just to try to convince you that it was actually not that bad: You probably saw this commercial as well as several others promising you you're in for a “sweet surprise” once you “get the facts” about HFCS. But you don't need to look any further than the comments on the video's youtube page to see how it was received by the public. So why all the hype around HFCS? What does science really say about how it compares with other sweeteners and with sugar? According to Mayo Clinic nutritionist, Jennifer K. Nelson, the reason high-fructose corn syrup is so notorious among the sweeteners is because it is the most common added sweetener in processed foods and beverages. But studies on possible negative health effects have yielded mixed results. In one such study conducted by researchers at Princeton University, results showed that rats given high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than rats which were given table sugar (sucrose). “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese – every single one,” said Professor Bart Hoebel, “even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight.” The study goes on to explain the difference between HFCS and sucrose, stating that while both contain both fructose and glucose, HFCS contains a slightly higher ratio of fructose to glucose, hence the name high-fructose corn syrup. The researchers behind the study believe that the high obesity rate among the rats given HFCS is related to the fact that the excess fructose is being metabolized to produce fat, while glucose is being processed for energy or stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. However, many experts agree that all full calorie sweeteners, including sucrose and HFCS, affect the body in the same way. Dr. Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the UNC School of Public Health, explains that high-fructose corn syrup has a trivial amount more fructose than other sweeteners, but that all sugars contain about half fructose, and it's the properties of fructose which have an effect on our body. The problem today, explains Dr. Popkin, is that sugar is often hidden in foods because it has so many different names which can be listed as separate ingredients. This can be deceiving because even if the total of sugar is the most prominent ingredient in a food item, it may be listed under several different names such as cane sugar, corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, and many, many more. But whether or not high-fructose corn syrup deserves its bad reputation, high amounts of any full calorie sweetener are detrimental to your health and have been linked to obesity as well as other health concerns. If you really want to be safe, you should avoid high amounts all types of added sugar, including HFCS.
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Nothing. Sugar is sugar.
That's what I used to think, right up until it nearly killed me. Read the entire article in the link above, it goes into a little more detail of the Princeton study. HFCS also contains high amounts of mercury. Now, mercury IS mercury, it's nothing but bad for your health. HFCS is dangerous and its manufacture should be outlawed. Cane & beet sugar are not nearly so dangerous. The only sweetener I use now is pure stevia, a natural plant extract and a protein, not a carbohydrate. Does the corn manufacture the mercury???? Recently I read an study that concluded sugar was sugar but they did not mention mercury.
No, the mercury is introduced during the manufacture of HFCS. I know what source you're talking about. It's BigAg propaganda. The 2010 Princeton study was conclusive. The improvements I've made in my own health and blood chemistry also supports it. The changes have been remarkable. My doctor couldn't believe it. He said, "Whatever it is you're doing, you've found a cure for your problems." When he was trying to enter the new data into my medical record, the computer kept stopping him wih a warning that the new data was too far different from the previous numbers. OK, so man introduces it. Manufacturers will do anything to make an extra buck. Bottom line is KING.
In about 1980 HFCS was introduced into our food system. It was massively adopted by the food processors because it was much cheaper than regular sugars and they knew that humans LOVE sugery foods. In about 1985 child obesity rates started their rise and follows HFCS rise in our food system. I was unaware of the mercury issue, but if you are a chemist you can follow the process of creating HFCS - it is very complicated and resembles making a difficult chemical. Natural it is not. I like it in my 7-11 Mt Dew Big Gulps. HFCS has trace amounts of mercury that nearly all food items contain.
God is always good!
Yummy.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
The presence of mercury in high fructose corn syrup was documented by researchers at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and published in Environmental Health. In some cases, the level of mercury was high enough that a woman eating an average amount of HFCS as represented in the American diet could ingest more than five times the maximum recommended upper limit of mercury. Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032948_high_fructose_corn_syrup_glutaraldehyde.html#ixzz27sPRM848 Look, I understand that HFCS isn't the healthiest thing for a person to eat or drink, but this info above put out by natural news is nothing more than a scare tactic, it is BS. God is always good!
You'll be sorry. I know I was. I would've never guessed you could do so much damage to your body wtth a food product. I will concede that mercury in hfcs isn't the big problem with it. The real problem with it is how it's processed by your body due to the nature of the free sugars in it. If you have to use sugar, sucrose (cane or beet sugar) is far, far less detrimental to your health.
Stevia is the best. I think I can get it in the local Wal-Mart, but not sure. I do not eat bread with high fructose corn syrup. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
It is hugely in breads. The only bread that you will encounter that doesn't have it in it will say so on the label. You have to be careful with stevia. Most of it I find locally is only about 12% stevia and the remainder dextrose (an isomer of glucose-bad). I get Now Better Stevia from Amazon. It's 100% stevia. A pound is about 50 bucks, but it's equal to about 20 pounds of sugar. A teaspoon is the equivalent of over a cup of sugar. The pound jar says it has 10,088 servings. You can also get stevia in liquid or pill form (SteviaTabs). That is the kind of bread I get at Wal-Mart. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
I've heard of this. I believe you can get it at a certain health food store on 32nd St. & Connecticut in Joplin, MO. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
Good info. I think the best natural sweetener around is raw honey. Raw honey has large amounts of fructose and dextrose, and maybe a few others. Long time since I've studied this. I was a beekeeper in Illinois for many years. I still have a bottle of raw honey on the small refridgerator in my apartment. "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
What's So Bad About High-Fructose Corn Syrup?
#2. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
In one such study conducted by researchers at Princeton University, results showed that rats given high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than rats which were given table sugar (sucrose). “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese – every single one,” said Professor Bart Hoebel, “even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight.”
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#3. To: Cynicom (#1)
Sugar is sugar.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#4. To: Esso (#3)
#5. To: Cynicom (#4)
Does the corn manufacture the mercury????
Recently I read an study that concluded sugar was sugar...
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#6. To: Esso (#5)
No, the mercury is introduced during the manufacture of HFCS.
#7. To: Cynicom (#1)
"Satan / Cheney in "08" 
#8. To: Esso (#5)
#9. To: RickyJ (#8)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#10. To: Esso (#9)
#11. To: Esso (#9)
#12. To: tom007 (#7)
In about 1980 HFCS was introduced into our food system.
I like it in my 7-11 Mt Dew Big Gulps.
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#13. To: RickyJ (#11)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#14. To: Esso, Cynicom (#3)
The only sweetener I use now is pure stevia,
#15. To: BTP Holdings (#14)
I do not eat bread with high fructose corn syrup.
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
#16. To: BTP Holdings (#14)
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#17. To: tom007 (#15)
The only bread that you will encounter that doesn't have it in it will say so on the label.
#18. To: Esso (#16)
(Edited)
You can also get stevia in liquid or pill form
#19. To: Esso (#2)
In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.
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