High Fructose Corn Syrup IS Bad!
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has been getting a lot of press lately.
It’s getting more and more negative attention in health-conscious circles, and more and more “fighting back” from the usual suspects (manufacturers that make it, use it, etc.). Yes, the Corn Refiners Association is running two television spots, and has a whole website up about the benign and wonderful HFCS.
From my (admittedly brief) survey, some of the causes for concern that are frequently raised are:
- Extra high levels of fructose, which are bad for diabetics, and may even contribute to causing diabetes.
- Made from corn with is typically geneticaly modified.
- Two of the enzymes used to create it (yeah, it’s a big chemical process), are genetically modified.
- Increasing concern about corn farming in general – economically, environmentally, etc.
- It is simply so processed (see above), when many of us are trying to eat more naturally
- Perhaps least-scientific but most-cited: It’s a weird, toxic thing that makes kids act crazy!
- At least one study found that there was Mercury in nearly half of the HFCS samples tested! (cited in the Washington Post).
For some in-depth reading on some of these, check out The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and The Murky World of High-Fructose Corn Syrup at the Weston A. Price Foundation website.
We have had a few instances lately when it was crystal clear that HFCS was the culprit in some troublesome issues. We’re going to keep a food log and track more cloesly what other relationships there may be, even though we’re working hard to eliminate it from our diet.
- Wolf gets his ulcer-like stomach pains after drinking YooHoo, which is very high in HFCS.
- Jewel gets stomachaches on a semi-regular basis right after eating… and we are noticing a connection to the amount of HFCS consumed.
- Jewel becomes a totally zoned-out zombie if she eats a high HFCS “treat” after dinner or at any other vulnerable time.
As one article pointed out, it’s hard to even gauge how much we’re getting, since it’s SO prevalent:
- Ketchup, for goodness’ sake!
- Cheerios are fine, it’s mostly those highly-sugared cereals that we don’t eat anyway that have it. but my Frosted Mini-Wheats do, too!
- Obviously cookies and candy bars mostly use it… but so do “health food” protein bars and granola bars.
We are striving to eat more foods in as close to their natural state as possible, cook more, etc., so that should go a long way…
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(fried hot dogs! Mmmm)
May 8th, 2009 at 11:07 am
My wife has been working to purge it from our system and see how it all falls out.
So far we’re doing pretty well [smile].
~Luke
Luke Holzmann’s last blog post.."compensation at least a midget while"
May 8th, 2009 at 11:47 am
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been the subject of a lot of attention and misinformation in the past few years.
Both HFCS and sugar contain the same simple sugars (glucose and fructose), they both have the same number of calories, and your body metabolizes them the same way.
The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”
There has been significant confusion about just how much high fructose corn syrup is contained in everyday foods. It is true that this highly versatile ingredient performs numerous functions besides sweetening that make it useful in many food preparations. But it does so in most cases using very small amounts. How small? You would need to eat 87 bowls of cereal in a single day to reach the recommended daily allowance of added sugars from high fructose corn syrup. For bread, they would need to eat 39 slices.
NBC Nightly News recently did a report about the misperceptions on HFCS http://bit.ly/m1YHT
3rd party testing also shows that there is no quantifiable levels of mercury found in HFCS http://duketox.mc.duke.edu/HFCS%20test%20results4.doc)
Thanks for your consideration.
Mark on behalf of the Corn Refiner’s Association
May 8th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Thanks for stopping by, Mark on behalf of the Corn Refiner’s Association.
Readers, I will post my response to this as a new post. Stay tuned.
May 14th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Tiffany,
We don’t know each other, but I stumbled on your blog over a year ago form another homeschool blog. Anyways, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but someone who reads your blog is having a bit of fun at your expense…
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/05/05/medieval-times/#comments
Just thought you’d like to know.
Sincerely,
Rachel
June 28th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
[...] felt very important when I discovered a comment on my previous High Fructose Corn Syrup post from none other than a representative of the Corn Refiners Association! High fructose corn [...]