Friday, December 12, 2008

High-Fructose corn syrup

When Mom was here, she was wondering about HFCS. I wasn't able to answer all the questions, so I've been looking it up.

Here's some links I found and a few quotes that I thought might answer some of her questions. ;)

"There is a correlation between the rise of obesity in the U.S. and the use of HFCS for sweetening beverages and foods. While HFCS is not toxic, it is the bodies' reaction to this particular sugar that raises questions of its safety. HFCS is not recognized by the body in the same way natural fruit and cane sugars are recognized; triggering an enzyme that gives the feeling of "fullness". As a result, a person can consume a much larger amount of calories without satisfaction. Obesity Rates have increased in the United States (the world's largest consumer of HFCS) since the introduction of this sweetener. Critics of HFCS point out the direct correlation between percentages of increased usage of HFCS in foods and obesity rates in the United States over three decades."

"HFCS has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking, all of which take place in one of 16 chemical plants located in the Corn Belt. Yet in spite of all the special enzymes required, HFCS is actually cheaper than sugar. It is also very easy to transport--it's just piped into tanker trucks. This translates into lower costs and higher profits for food producers."

"Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy--that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/highfructose.html

So there you have it. If you care to read it. :)

HFCS is everywhere. Not just soda and juice, but also Ketchup, cereal's, Jams, bread, etc.

If people had a minute, I'm wondering if you'd go through your kitchens and find how many things you had that has HFCS in it, and let me know. It'd be intresting.
Then again, I wouldn't be suprised if some people hardly had any, especially those that make alot of their own stuff.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

There are tons of things that have this stuff in it. I try to avoid it as much as possible, or at least not buy stuff so much that has it as first or 2nd ingredient! Hard to completely avoid it tho. Like jam - which I don't make. At least we don't drink pop around this house - that saves a lot! Pop is loaded with HFCS. No wonder people are fat, if they're eating lots of empty sugary calories like that.

Jeanette said...

I am soooooo glad that there are others out there who get how bad our nations food supply has become.

We have been HFCS free for 4 years. You will not find it anywhere in our household. Yes, it is a little bit more expensive but I do believe that my family's health is worth it!

You can find HFCS in everything, Bread, croutons, peanut butter, Jelly, salad dressings, candies, sodas, juice, salsas, ect.ect....
It is in EVERYTHING!

It really makes me sick to see that 99% of all food products marketed to kids are full of things that dyes and HFCS.

I give my kids suckers as a reward for things there is a great company that makes them organic, dye free, HFCS free, well basically CRAP free. They are; www.yummyearth.com

Dalayna said...

Jeanette, that is SO awsome!!
That's my goal. Maybe that will be my new years resolution.

Heather said...

I like to buy Mexican pop, because it's made with sugar and not HFCS. I have a jar of Mom's homemade salsa in my fridge, and I need to get some more of her peach jam. I don't always take time to read labels in the store, but I want to start doing that more.

Of the things currently in my kitchen that belong to me (I have 3 roommates), the following have HFCS:
Mountain Dew
grape jam
apple butter
cold cereal
Ritz crackers
Oreos
Campbells tomato soup
bread

Lynisha Weeda said...

I've been wondering how HFCS compared to Sucrose - so this was a great article! I'll have to go check my cupboards now!

Lynisha Weeda said...

So other than the salad dressings in my fridge, the only things I have in my house that include HFCS are Mrs. Butterworths Syrup and Tomato Soup! (and the Pepsi I'm hiding... shhhh!)
I'm impressed, because I don't usually read labels - not even the cereal that's in my cupboard (Fruit loops, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios and Honey bunches of oats) has HFCS in it!

theo and sarah said...

hi from a luker - i'm Helen's SIL. We like to eat healthy, but I'm not a label reader. This post might make me become one though! I found - ketchup, rasp jam, tomato soup (& I thought that was healthy!), bread (out of homemade), bbq sauce, hershey's syrup, caramel topping, & miracle whip. Thanks for the education.

Anonymous said...

http://www.hfcsfacts.com/ its really no worse than sugar... its all about quntity