Interesting View on HFCS

songbyrdsweet

I saw a really interesting commercial about the dreaded 'high fructose corn syrup' last night. Although I have been watching my food intake for the pat 4 years, I have never taken extreme measures to avoid HFCS. I don't like processed food because it's expensive and generally nutritionally empty (I'm talking the 100 calorie packs, Lean Pockets, etc.), but if I buy a loaf of bread with HFCS I don't symbolically burn it or anything. HFCS just isn't that bad, despite its reputation. It's not a 'harmful chemical,' and although it may cause an insulogenic reaction, it's no more than table sugar, which is the alernative sweetener to HFCS. Why? Because it's just starch. It's made from corn. It's sweetened with fructose--fruit sugar. Corn syrup is made by adding enzymes to the starch to break it down into fructose first, then glucose. So, if you eat corn, and you eat fruit, and you occasionally eat table sugar in some form, you have eaten all constituent parts of HFCS. It's just a cheaper sweetener than table sugar. It's fully digestible, and while it's true that it's not immediately utilized in glycolysis (what our bodies use to create energy from sugars), neither are fruit sugars, milk sugars, or starches.

That said, HFCS is STILL sugar, so if you do consume too much, you'll have the same problems as you would from consuming too much table sugar- insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, etc. But if you see that HFCS is an ingredient in some item, and a comparable item contains sugar instead, there's no reason to pay the extra $1.50 for the product that contains table sugar. They'll do the same thing to your blood sugar.

Just wanted to give some of you one less thing to worry about hehe :bigsmile:


http://www.sweetsurprise.com/hfcsquickfacts.php
^ Corn Grower's website (could be biased in favor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup
^ Wiki (unbiased)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588
^ Mayo Clinic (seems to show both sides)

songbyrdsweet

I saw a really interesting commercial about the dreaded 'high fructose corn syrup' last night. Although I have been watching my food intake for the pat 4 years, I have never taken extreme measures to avoid HFCS. I don't like processed food because it's expensive and generally nutritionally empty (I'm talking the 100 calorie packs, Lean Pockets, etc.), but if I buy a loaf of bread with HFCS I don't symbolically burn it or anything. HFCS just isn't that bad, despite its reputation. It's not a 'harmful chemical,' and although it may cause an insulogenic reaction, it's no more than table sugar, which is the alernative sweetener to HFCS. Why? Because it's just starch. It's made from corn. It's sweetened with fructose--fruit sugar. Corn syrup is made by adding enzymes to the starch to break it down into fructose first, then glucose. So, if you eat corn, and you eat fruit, and you occasionally eat table sugar in some form, you have eaten all constituent parts of HFCS. It's just a cheaper sweetener than table sugar. It's fully digestible, and while it's true that it's not immediately utilized in glycolysis (what our bodies use to create energy from sugars), neither are fruit sugars, milk sugars, or starches.

That said, HFCS is STILL sugar, so if you do consume too much, you'll have the same problems as you would from consuming too much table sugar- insulin resistance, obesity, diabetes, etc. But if you see that HFCS is an ingredient in some item, and a comparable item contains sugar instead, there's no reason to pay the extra $1.50 for the product that contains table sugar. They'll do the same thing to your blood sugar.

Just wanted to give some of you one less thing to worry about hehe :bigsmile:


http://www.sweetsurprise.com/hfcsquickfacts.php
^ Corn Grower's website (could be biased in favor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup
^ Wiki (unbiased)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588
^ Mayo Clinic (seems to show both sides)

songbyrdsweet

And here's the most relevant part of the Wiki on HFCS:

Use as a replacement for sugar
Since its introduction, HFCS has begun to replace sugar in various processed foods in the USA and Canada.[4] The main reasons for this switch are:[5]
• HFCS is somewhat cheaper in the United States due to a combination of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs [6]
• HFCS is easier to blend and transport because it is a liquid.[7]
[edit] Comparison to other sugars
[edit] Cane and beet sugar
Cane sugar and Beet sugar are both relatively pure sucrose. While the glucose and fructose which are the two components of HFCS are monosaccharides, sucrose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose linked together with a relatively weak glycosidic bond. A molecule of sucrose (with a chemical formula of C12H22O11) can be broken down into a molecule of glucose (C6H12O6) plus a molecule of fructose (also C6H12O6 — an isomer of glucose) in a weakly acidic environment[citation needed]. Sucrose is broken down during digestion into fructose and glucose through hydrolysis by the enzyme sucrase, by which the body regulates the rate of sucrose breakdown. Without this regulation mechanism, the body has less control over the rate of sugar absorption into the bloodstream.
The fact that sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose units chemically bonded complicates the comparison between cane sugar and HFCS. Sucrose, glucose and fructose are unique, distinct molecules. Sucrose is broken down into its constituent monosaccharides - namely fructose and glucose - in weakly acidic environments by a process called inversion.[citation needed] This same process occurs in the stomach and in the small intestine during the digestion of sucrose into fructose and glucose.[citation needed] People with sucrase deficiency cannot digest (break down) sucrose, and thus exhibit sucrose intolerance.
Both HFCS and sucrose have approximately 4 kcal per gram of solid if the HFCS is dried; HFCS has approximately 3 kcal per gram in its liquid form [8].
[edit] Honey
Honey is a mixture of different types of sugars, water, and small amounts of other compounds. Honey typically has a fructose/glucose ratio similar to HFCS 55, as well as containing some sucrose and other sugars. Honey, HFCS and sucrose have the same number of calories, having approximately 4 kcal per gram of solid; honey and HFCS both have about 3 kcal per gram in liquid form.[8]
[edit] Production
High-fructose corn syrup is produced by milling corn to produce corn starch, then processing that corn starch to yield corn syrup which is almost entirely glucose, and then adding enzymes which change the glucose into fructose. The resulting syrup (after enzyme conversion) contains approximately 90% fructose and is HFCS 90. To make the other common forms of HFCS (HFCS 55 and HFCS 42) the HFCS 90 is mixed with 100% glucose corn syrup in the appropriate ratios to form the desired HFCS. The enzyme process which changes the 100% glucose corn syrup into HFCS 90 is as follows:
1. Cornstarch is treated with alpha-amylase to produce shorter chains of sugars called oligosaccharides.
2. Glucoamylase breaks the sugar chains down even further to yield the simple sugar glucose.
3. Xylose isomerase (aka glucose isomerase) converts glucose to a mixture of about 42% fructose and 50–52% glucose with some other sugars mixed in.
While inexpensive alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are added directly to the slurry and used only once, the more costly glucose-isomerase is packed into columns and the sugar mixture is then passed over it, allowing it to be used repeatedly until it loses its activity. This 42–43% fructose glucose mixture is then subjected to a liquid chromatography step where the fructose is enriched to approximately 90%. The 90% fructose is then back-blended with 42% fructose to achieve a 55% fructose final product. Most manufacturers use carbon absorption for impurity removal. Numerous filtration, ion-exchange and evaporation steps are also part of the overall process.

I know it's pretty science-y at times, I'm not trying to be facetious, it's just easier to see how comparable table sugar (sucrose) and HFCS are in these terms.

yoginimary

I think part of the point of avoiding HFCS is:
it's in processed foods and other foods that are already bad for you
it has no nutritional value - neither does refined sugar, but true raw sugar has a tiny little bit
it doesn't need to be in food - there is absolutely no reason for pasta sauce, salad dressing, bread, etc to have HFCS or sugar


So, avoid foods with added sugar or HFCS - but chances are, the more refined foods with have HFCS, so avoid them more - IMHO

songbyrdsweet

I think part of the point of avoiding HFCS is:
it's in processed foods and other foods that are already bad for you
it has no nutritional value - neither does refined sugar, but true raw sugar has a tiny little bit
it doesn't need to be in food - there is absolutely no reason for pasta sauce, salad dressing, bread, etc to have HFCS or sugar


So, avoid foods with added sugar or HFCS - but chances are, the more refined foods with have HFCS, so avoid them more - IMHO

Well, without sweetness, the salad dressing, bread, and pasta sauce wouldn't taste as good. When you make that stuff at home, you add sugar. When it's mass-produced, it's made with corn syrup because it's cheaper than sugar. It's not 'added', it's just replaced sugar.

yoginimary

Well, without sweetness, the salad dressing, bread, and pasta sauce wouldn't taste as good. When you make that stuff at home, you add sugar. When it's mass-produced, it's made with corn syrup because it's cheaper than sugar. It's not 'added', it's just replaced sugar.

I disagree. The stuff I buy doesn't have added sugar. Not everything we eat needs to be sweet to taste good. We have to retrain our taste buds to enjoy other flavors other than sweet and salty. Just my opinion though.

luvchi3

Well, without sweetness, the salad dressing, bread, and pasta sauce wouldn't taste as good. When you make that stuff at home, you add sugar. When it's mass-produced, it's made with corn syrup because it's cheaper than sugar. It's not 'added', it's just replaced sugar.

I disagree. The stuff I buy doesn't have added sugar. Not everything we eat needs to be sweet to taste good. We have to retrain our taste buds to enjoy other flavors other than sweet and salty. Just my opinion though.

I agree completely. I purchase organic peanut butter that the only ingredient is organic dry roasted blanched peanuts and its delicious it tastes exactly like peanut butter should taste, like peanuts, not like creamy sugar peanut paste

songbyrdsweet

Well, without sweetness, the salad dressing, bread, and pasta sauce wouldn't taste as good. When you make that stuff at home, you add sugar. When it's mass-produced, it's made with corn syrup because it's cheaper than sugar. It's not 'added', it's just replaced sugar.

I disagree. The stuff I buy doesn't have added sugar. Not everything we eat needs to be sweet to taste good. We have to retrain our taste buds to enjoy other flavors other than sweet and salty. Just my opinion though.

I agree completely. I purchase organic peanut butter that the only ingredient is organic dry roasted blanched peanuts and its delicious it tastes exactly like peanut butter should taste, like peanuts, not like creamy sugar peanut paste

I agree too, we don't *need* sugar...but I haven't seen many recipes that don't use it. My family has always used a little sugar in our pasta sauce, homemade bread recipes I've seen use it, and as far as dressings, I really have no idea, because I hate anything beside oil and vinegar. Sugar isn't added to make it sweet (sweet marinara? ewkies), it is just a seasoning like salt that enhances certain flavors. I don't like Jif either, but that's because it's too sweet, and it'd be that way whether they added sugar or HFCS, it's just that the latter is cheaper.

My opinion isn't that we should seek out foods with HFCS and eat them, it's that if you are looking at two products, like bread for instance--which is fairly heavily processed unless you knead the dough yourself--there's no basis in saying "Well this one has sugar instead of HFCS so it must be healthier," and then spending an extra couple dollars on it.

This happened in the 90's with food dye, and now it's happening again with HFCS and artificial sweeteners. Yellow #5 used to cause decreased sperm motility, and now HFCS causes diabetes and aspartame causes Gulf War Syndrome. When you look at the science rather than the tabloids, it becomes fairly obvious what makes sense and what doesn't.

LovelyLady1977

Interesting indeed. Just goes to show that for every article about something being bad, there's one that says just the opposite (i.e. carbs, fat, sugar). It's getting so bad that we don't know who or what to believe nowadays. I remember reading the other day that tilapia was not good for you :noway: :noway: I've learned to take most of these articles with a grain of salt. Moderation is the key to everything.