When did all this start about HFCS?

lessertess

It seems like every few months there some food or food process or food additive that is being blamed for everything from cancer to skin allergies. Some of it true, some of it strikes me as being alarmist and a way to manipulate the public. (but that's another topic)

I've never heard a word about High Fructose Corn Syrup until recently. To my knowledge, calorie for calorie, it's no worse for you than sugar. Not to say that sugar is all that good for you.....but I don't intend for this thread to be a debate about the merits or danger....I'll do that research on my own.

I would love to know what started the recent pandemonium about it? Over the last few weeks there's been a lot of posts, where I'd never seen or heard anything about it before. I've also noticed that there is now a number of commercials that are being aired to defend High Fructose Corn Syrup....So what started all of this and when did it start?

lessertess

It seems like every few months there some food or food process or food additive that is being blamed for everything from cancer to skin allergies. Some of it true, some of it strikes me as being alarmist and a way to manipulate the public. (but that's another topic)

I've never heard a word about High Fructose Corn Syrup until recently. To my knowledge, calorie for calorie, it's no worse for you than sugar. Not to say that sugar is all that good for you.....but I don't intend for this thread to be a debate about the merits or danger....I'll do that research on my own.

I would love to know what started the recent pandemonium about it? Over the last few weeks there's been a lot of posts, where I'd never seen or heard anything about it before. I've also noticed that there is now a number of commercials that are being aired to defend High Fructose Corn Syrup....So what started all of this and when did it start?

Eve23

I am not sure about other people. But I do know for my family we don't buy things with it in it. We are highly sensitive to corn products and have avoided it for many years. I think the truth of it is for some people they are not aware of their food sensitivities until they cause a big problem.

onwardfatgirl

I don't really know when the hoopla started regarding it - I started avoiding it about 2 years ago when I started to REALLY break down food labels. If I didn't know what something was, I didn't want to eat it. I started googling ingredients. I also started avoiding sugars due to insulin resistance, but at the same time, I was on the fence with artificial sweetners. Aspartame tends to give me headaches whereas Splenda, though it is made from real sugar, seems too good to be true. The calorie count of Splenda is actually bologna - it has calories in it, so if you're baking a cake with Splenda, it's not like it's zero calories total. I decided to stick with raw sugar in moderation, agave nectar and Stevia. I just started to think- I wouldn't pour corn syrup in my coffee, so why should I have it in my breads, crackers, juices, etc? My personal opinion is that it is not natural and I do my best to avoid it.

Ezzie

I became aware of the pervasiveness of it when my allergist said I MIGHT be allergic to corn and try cutting all corn from my diet for a couple of weeks....HAH! really difficult as I'm would guess Eve can tell you. Even some medications (pills) contain cornstarch as a filler. Thankfully I don't appear to be sensitive to corn {whew!}. For some I think it starts as a wake up call to just how MANY products have some form of sugar in them...as well as salt.

Think back a few years, (well more than a few...) when salt became the big item of the time...now you have more choices of low and no salt, so maybe this will give us, one more awareness, and two more products without HFCS.

I know Jamerz the Coke (CocaCola, for those who read coke as any fizzy drink, as opposed to soda, or pop, but that's a whole new thread the stuff made in Mexico. It tastes like Coke used to when we were kids....because it's made with.....drum roll....real cane sugar!! ( He's :brokenheart: when our local Mexican market closes for the winter....poor baby)

songbyrdsweet

It seems like every few months there some food or food process or food additive that is being blamed for everything from cancer to skin allergies. Some of it true, some of it strikes me as being alarmist and a way to manipulate the public. (but that's another topic)

I've never heard a word about High Fructose Corn Syrup until recently. To my knowledge, calorie for calorie, it's no worse for you than sugar. Not to say that sugar is all that good for you.....but I don't intend for this thread to be a debate about the merits or danger....I'll do that research on my own.

I would love to know what started the recent pandemonium about it? Over the last few weeks there's been a lot of posts, where I'd never seen or heard anything about it before. I've also noticed that there is now a number of commercials that are being aired to defend High Fructose Corn Syrup....So what started all of this and when did it start?

I actually made a couple posts on this a while back, but not many people posted in them. I share your opinion that most of this stuff is alarmist and banks on the fact that not many people take the time to research saccharides (except me, because I'm a big dorky doofus. :bigsmile: )The commercials didn't seem widely accepted.

Sometimes I think it's the name. High fructose corn syrup...it sounds foreign if you aren't familiar with labeling or the actual names for sugars. Would you eat Crystalline Beet Glucose? What about table sugar? It's the same thing, just that one has a different name.

There's nothing unnatural about corn syrup. It's starch in liquid form...fructose and glucose, the same thing that's in table sugar. If you eat corn, you eat corn syrup.

cherapple

I definitely notice that, personally, my appetite increases when I eat HFCS. Those days end up being my "bad" days when I eat everything in sight, and especially more sweets. The best way for me to either lose or maintain weight is to avoid refined sugars.

hnlymark

Actually, unless I am much mistaken, the recent comercials in defense of HFCS are what sparked the recent debates in MFP. I can't recall when I first heard about it, but its been a year or two. I guess honesty and openess are the issue. I don't think anyone debates whether HFCS is worse than sugar. The point is, people aren't afraid of HFCS because of its name. For years and years people consumed it in massive quantities not really understanding what it was. Its all about education. If you are drinking a six pack of Cokes a day and think there's nothing unhealthy about that because you don't understand what's in there, you are being misled. If you KNOW its pure sugar and drink it anyway, that's on you.

elliott062907

Hummm, this has my interests up now. I am going to google it and ask my naturalist in NC. He will give the 411......



here's one web site I found and was recommended I read, but I would still rather ask person to person that is more qualified then me....



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

lotusfromthemud

Dr. Oz condemned it pretty harshly on Oprah. . .and that can make anything mainstream.

I agree that you should avoid it, but don't think it's any worse than sugar...and I try to avoid both.:flowerforyou:

jules1984

Well I think you just need to be careful to separate the fads from the facts. I try not to get sucked into high carb, low carb, non-fat, non-trans fat, no sugar, no fake-sugar fads if I can avoid them. The thing is, some of these have merit. Trans fat really is terrible for you unless you consume it in VERY low quantities which most of us don't. HCFS is one of those things that it slight moderation wouldn't be that bad - except people aren't consuming it moderately. Its in everything and most people are consuming a lot of it. In those quantities - it is that bad. Basically it doesn't tell your body that you've consumed the calories it contains - no satisfaction means you eat more.

This is a great post on it by Jennygetsfit
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23733-what-is-this-mysterious-hfcs

To answer your real question, keep in mind this: Scientific studies take YEARS AND YEARS to complete and then get the attention of the media.

An ingredient becomes more prominent in products everywhere.
Someone somewhere sees a link between that ingredient and health risks.
They go through long processes to get grants and funding.
The work out a scientific process to study this possible link.
Carry out the tests and experiment.
Do stats and draw conclusions.
Publish the study.

Years later the mainstream media notices and frenzies around it.

It doesn't mean its untrue - the media just makes it a fad.

arewethereyet

the first I heard of it was on a show called You On A Diet.

it brought my attn to HFCS and Hydrongenated Oil.

I avoid the latter and dont even think about HFCS.

I was surprised it is main ingredient in my coffee creamer tho!:huh:

yoginimary

"You on a Diet" is Doctor Oz, for those that don't know.

The reason I do not eat anything with HFCS - if it's in there, chances are the food is not good for you anyway and is over processed. It's in a lot, I mean A LOT of things - that it doesn't need to be. Calorie for calorie, it's probably equal with sugar for "bad for you" - both are processed, very processed. Based on this alone, I steer towards honey or agave if I need something sweetened.

I think when HFCS became pervasive in our society (thank you corn subsidies and sugar tariffs), it became a cheap addition to food. Once it's everywhere, the amount we intake goes high enough to tick people off. I think if it was limited to soda and ding dongs, this issue would be non-existent.

lessertess

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the info. I'd be willing to bet that, if Oprah and You on a Diet were talking about it, it brought the topic to popular attention. I wondered why there was such a surge in the topic lately.

I did some research and don't think it's any worse than sugar. I do try to avoid sugar and I'll try to avoid it when possible but don't plan to make it a big issue in my diet as I don't have any food allergies or poor reactions to it. It does seem that it is in a lot of processed foods but my primary deciding factor in food choices is calories and sodium (high blood pressure).

hnlymark

I guess it seems like I am harping on this, and I probably am. Anyway, look, to make out that HFCS isn't all that bad and certainly not worse than sugar is a diservice to the people on here trying to get healthy. If calories are all that count, we could eat all the twinkies we wished and simply stay within our calories and all would be hunky dory. If you believe that you are WAY off track and in for a harsh time. If you wish to eat healthy you will stay away from sugar AND HFCS as much as possible. There are plenty of posts which explain the science behind this belief, but its really just that simple and all the arguments about how HFCS "isn't the bad guy" simply confuse the issue. There, I feel much better.

elliott062907

What I try to do is avoid artificial flavoring. Especially with fruit and veggies.
What I don't get is, if you have fruit juice and it is natural, why strip it down and add a product made from corn??

OH well, everyone here has some insightful info!!!

psyknife

The biggest problem with HFCS is the amounts that we consume. Have you read ingredients labels... seriously, it's in almost EVERYTHING (unless you get all natural or organic products)... it's in your sodas, your juices, your breads, your crackers, your cereals, your sweets, your frozen dinners...

The fact is, MODERATION doesn't really exist with HFCS unless you really pay attention and TRY to moderate it. The same thing goes with too much sugar.

The problem with HFCS is that it is sweet, sweeter than sugar... therefore it makes your cravings for sugar WORSE, therefore you consume more sugar. It spikes the insulin levels as sugar does, and an extra gets stored as fat.

So, if your goal is to cut sugars down, cut fat down, and drop those cravings... you'd be doing yourself a big favor by cutting out HFCS at least 85% of the time.

cherapple

HFCS is metabolized by the body differently than regular sugar is. It is so highly refined and processed that, according to one website:

"When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full."

It is cheap and has a long shelf life, which is why food manufacturers like it. They began widespread use of it in the 1980s, and since then obesity rates have skyrocketed.

That's the story of the "alarmists," anyway. I personally think it makes a lot of sense.