Cutting out High-Fructose Corn Syrup--has anyone?

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  • Swiftlet66
    Swiftlet66 Posts: 729 Member
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    I don't buy products with HFCS in it; just read the labels. Since it has been getting a lot of bad rep over the years, there's bound to be one product of the type of food you want without HFCS in it at most grocery stores. That or you can make your own foods from scratch!
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Thanks for the tips Alydar--and for sharing about your experiences with it. I think I'll have to do some very careful label reading from now on, especially since apparently the corn lobby keeps trying to get HFCS approved for using under different names (i.e corn sugar).

    I wish they would do more sodas with the "throwback" real sugar option.

    Yes, definitely pay close attention to labels! However, a little bit of HFCS won't kill you! Remember, everything in moderation.
  • knittnponder
    knittnponder Posts: 1,954 Member
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    I can't eat corn or any product with corn in it so HFCS is out for me. It's a pain in the butt because it is in every stinking thing! I feel better but that's because I can't do corn in general and not specifically related to just HFCS.
  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
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    I havent cut it out.....but I've definitely been limiting my consumption of it....and opting for foods that do not contain it......for example, a post stated it's in ketchup.....I've noticed this....and also noticed some "natural" varieties of ketchup that do not contain it.....yes, they are a couple bucks more.....but as they say, the price you pay to "play"? lol.....and bread.....Nature's Own I've found does not contain it (though I'm sure it contains some other ingredient, that in five years will be "bad" for us.....lol. also noticed ALDI's own L'Oven Fresh Wheat Bread, contains no HFCS.....was surprised by this too....for a generic
  • alydar42
    alydar42 Posts: 9 Member
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    In my case, it could kill me. Had to pull over while driving once and 'nap' (caught the headache and head-bobs coming on for no apparent reason) due to an exposure at a restaurant while traveling. I asked for maple syrup for waffles and they served me the cheap stuff. Hard to tell the difference when it's in a little sauce cup.

    Oh, I don't know if it's still available, but Jones soda uses real sugar -- it more expensive, but good for a 'treat' on a hot summer day. Our local beer distributor carries it -- of all places. I live in "the sticks" -- what can I say? A Trader Joes opened several months ago about 35 miles from home. I'll have to check it out sometime. Thanks to whoever mentioned that!
  • SeattleRaven
    SeattleRaven Posts: 40
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    Alydar, I love Jones Dry soda! It's an occasional treat as a mixer when I want an alcoholic drink.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    So, has anyone noticed any effects from dropping it?

    No health effects (and you shouldn't expect any). But it does make it easier to stay within calorie goals, at least for me.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,502 Member
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    Do you consider stuff like bread, ketchup and tomato soup to be "processed foods"? I think they're pretty basic and natural, but the only way to get them without HFCS apparently is to buy an organic brand.

    Are you serious or is there something wrong with my irony detector?

    Unprocessed food for me is what I'm buying from the fresh meat/fish counter, fruits and vegetables, and staples like dry rice and beans without additives. Kind of unprocessed for me is a tin of tomatoes which contains nothing but tomatoes.

    From a European perspective these are the things most people seem to buy (maybe apart from the UK) for their daily diet. Bread can be a hit or miss, but generally there's not too much weird stuff in it, same with pasta. Cheese and meats for on the bread: not too bad either.

    Though I must admit that during those two business trips to the US and Canada I had a seriously hard time finding fresh, little processed food in supermarkets. Seriously! Cheese that doesn't taste like cheese, sweetish bread with lots of salt (and I bought the one with least sugar), even sweet and rather unmeaty tasting meat for my bread. If ever I should be offered a great job over there I will refuse based on the food alone. I just love my food too much.

    Of course not everything is great. The Nordic country I used to live in for a while had some marvelous chocolatieres, which all advertise their products with things like 'hand-made with the best natural ingredients'. When I asked one of them what kind of sugar they're using they told me it's HFCS! O.o I guess I rather stick to slightly bigger manufacturers which actually do label their products.
  • Kaitou
    Kaitou Posts: 50 Member
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    Do you consider stuff like bread, ketchup and tomato soup to be "processed foods"? I think they're pretty basic and natural, but the only way to get them without HFCS apparently is to buy an organic brand.

    Are you serious or is there something wrong with my irony detector?

    There's no reason to be rude about it, as you noted yourself, food choices are different in the states.
  • cwoyto123
    cwoyto123 Posts: 308
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    Hell no.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    http://uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717

    If you're worried about how it affects your weight, satiety, and health, then you should cut down on all added sugar, not just HFCS. Fruit gets a pass from Dr. Lustig (famous for the above video). But fruit juice is a no according to him.

    Many people think he's an alarmist, but he's a pediatric endocrinologist with credentials in diabetes research reviews (he and another author tied up causation between increased consumption of sugar in populations with increased rates of diabetes in those populations). I'll listen to him before some random internet poster who will come tell you sugar is fine in all forms and quantities. Your opinion may vary. Do your own reading and lecture watching, make up your own mind.


    Alan Aragon debated him.....judge for yourselves....


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/02/19/a-retrospective-of-the-fructose-alarmism-debate/


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    http://uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717

    If you're worried about how it affects your weight, satiety, and health, then you should cut down on all added sugar, not just HFCS. Fruit gets a pass from Dr. Lustig (famous for the above video). But fruit juice is a no according to him.

    Many people think he's an alarmist, but he's a pediatric endocrinologist with credentials in diabetes research reviews (he and another author tied up causation between increased consumption of sugar in populations with increased rates of diabetes in those populations). I'll listen to him before some random internet poster who will come tell you sugar is fine in all forms and quantities. Your opinion may vary. Do your own reading and lecture watching, make up your own mind.


    Alan Aragon debated him.....judge for yourselves....


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/02/19/a-retrospective-of-the-fructose-alarmism-debate/


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

    The man knows his stuff. But he trains elite athletes. Look around you, how many people qualify and therefore probably don't have to worry about excess sugar consumption?
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    Do you consider stuff like bread, ketchup and tomato soup to be "processed foods"? I think they're pretty basic and natural, but the only way to get them without HFCS apparently is to buy an organic brand.

    Are you serious or is there something wrong with my irony detector?

    Unprocessed food for me is what I'm buying from the fresh meat/fish counter, fruits and vegetables, and staples like dry rice and beans without additives. Kind of unprocessed for me is a tin of tomatoes which contains nothing but tomatoes.

    From a European perspective these are the things most people seem to buy (maybe apart from the UK) for their daily diet. Bread can be a hit or miss, but generally there's not too much weird stuff in it, same with pasta. Cheese and meats for on the bread: not too bad either.

    Though I must admit that during those two business trips to the US and Canada I had a seriously hard time finding fresh, little processed food in supermarkets. Seriously! Cheese that doesn't taste like cheese, sweetish bread with lots of salt (and I bought the one with least sugar), even sweet and rather unmeaty tasting meat for my bread. If ever I should be offered a great job over there I will refuse based on the food alone. I just love my food too much.

    Of course not everything is great. The Nordic country I used to live in for a while had some marvelous chocolatieres, which all advertise their products with things like 'hand-made with the best natural ingredients'. When I asked one of them what kind of sugar they're using they told me it's HFCS! O.o I guess I rather stick to slightly bigger manufacturers which actually do label their products.

    If our food tastes nasty to you, maybe the American processed food industry isn't giving us Americans what we want after all. Maybe they're the ones who have shaped what we want and now we don't know any better.
  • servicedograiser
    servicedograiser Posts: 38 Member
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    stopped using high fructose corn syrup 10 years ago...now I can no longer gas out 5 story office buildings!
  • FunkyTobias
    FunkyTobias Posts: 1,776 Member
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    http://uctv.tv/shows/Sugar-The-Bitter-Truth-16717

    If you're worried about how it affects your weight, satiety, and health, then you should cut down on all added sugar, not just HFCS. Fruit gets a pass from Dr. Lustig (famous for the above video). But fruit juice is a no according to him.

    Many people think he's an alarmist, but he's a pediatric endocrinologist with credentials in diabetes research reviews (he and another author tied up causation between increased consumption of sugar in populations with increased rates of diabetes in those populations). I'll listen to him before some random internet poster who will come tell you sugar is fine in all forms and quantities. Your opinion may vary. Do your own reading and lecture watching, make up your own mind.


    Alan Aragon debated him.....judge for yourselves....


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/02/19/a-retrospective-of-the-fructose-alarmism-debate/


    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

    The man knows his stuff. But he trains elite athletes. Look around you, how many people qualify and therefore probably don't have to worry about excess sugar consumption?


    Ad hominem.

    Judge the data and the arguments, not the source. Lustig is a moron, and Aragon ate him for lunch.
  • YamaMaya1
    YamaMaya1 Posts: 49 Member
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    I moved out of America and now have no HFCS in my diet :)
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
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    I didn't try to cut it out… It just happened naturally based on my eating habits. No noticeable effects.

    ^^ This.

    I will also read labels and will not buy anything that has HFCS in it. I also try and keep away from things that have a lot of added sugar as well.

    There are so many things out there that have HFCS and added sugar and it's unnecessary.
  • bugaboo_sue
    bugaboo_sue Posts: 552 Member
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    Do you consider stuff like bread, ketchup and tomato soup to be "processed foods"? I think they're pretty basic and natural, but the only way to get them without HFCS apparently is to buy an organic brand.

    Are you serious or is there something wrong with my irony detector?

    Unprocessed food for me is what I'm buying from the fresh meat/fish counter, fruits and vegetables, and staples like dry rice and beans without additives. Kind of unprocessed for me is a tin of tomatoes which contains nothing but tomatoes.

    From a European perspective these are the things most people seem to buy (maybe apart from the UK) for their daily diet. Bread can be a hit or miss, but generally there's not too much weird stuff in it, same with pasta. Cheese and meats for on the bread: not too bad either.

    Though I must admit that during those two business trips to the US and Canada I had a seriously hard time finding fresh, little processed food in supermarkets. Seriously! Cheese that doesn't taste like cheese, sweetish bread with lots of salt (and I bought the one with least sugar), even sweet and rather unmeaty tasting meat for my bread. If ever I should be offered a great job over there I will refuse based on the food alone. I just love my food too much.

    Of course not everything is great. The Nordic country I used to live in for a while had some marvelous chocolatieres, which all advertise their products with things like 'hand-made with the best natural ingredients'. When I asked one of them what kind of sugar they're using they told me it's HFCS! O.o I guess I rather stick to slightly bigger manufacturers which actually do label their products.

    So you had a hard time finding fresh, little processed foods in our supermarkets? Really? Because the one I go to has a fresh produce department, a meat counter, a deli counter . . . that's pretty fresh right there.

    And you were probably buying the wrong meat for your breads. You should have asked for minimally processed meat. My deli has an awesome line of minimally processed meat. The turkey breast tastes like carved turkey, the ham tastes like a really good quality ham. I also buy real cheese which, surprisingly tastes like cheese (I'm really not quite sure what else cheese could possibly taste like).

    You were obviously shopping wrong because I don't have any problem finding fresh foods and minimally processed items at my local grocery store.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    Yes on avoiding HFCS. I noticed my body had a poor response to HFCS in the 1970s -- long story how. Irregardless, I can't even eat a cracker without reading the box first. Basically, it knocks me out. I remeber snacking on some crackers at work once and getting a horrible case of the head-bobs and falling asleep at my keyboard (aka, QWERTY forehead) as a result. Totally embarrassing.

    One of my most recent accidental exposures happened when my other half picked up a jar of spaghetti sauce that was on sale and didn't read well enough: 'Less than 2% HFCS." Less than 20 minutes after dinner, my energy drained, mild headache formed and I was asleep for 10 hours. I wake up feeling 'hung over' without any alcohol being consumed and it takes about 2 days for my energy levels to return after an 'exposure' to HFCS. Ice cream: easy choice, Ben & Jerry's. Most chain store brands use it in my experience.

    Anyone else ever experience this? No, I am not diabetic. Been tested several times.


    I've had similar responses to sugary drinks. For me, it has happened with the Pepsi throwback as much as HFCS. I think it may be some kind of reactive hypoglycemia. Maybe there's something about HFCS that triggers an excessive insulin response in your body, causing blood sugar levels to drop?

    I've just learned to avoid sugary drinks altogether (I can have orange juice only if it's with a protein-heavy meal, sugared soda and other drinks are generally a complete no-no). It's probably wise for you to avoid the HFCS like you do :flowerforyou:
  • TheHeathBar
    TheHeathBar Posts: 22 Member
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    I cut it with a ton of other things. Most of what I prepare now comes from the Farmer's Market or Community Garden. I make all of my own condiments and they are always better than store brands anyhow!

    For BBQ sauce the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book has a couple of great recipes for BBQ sauce. I personally love the Tangy one that tastes like Arbys sauce. Sometimes I make my own Ketchup as a base and sometimes I cheat and use Simply Heinz Ketchup that is only supposed to contain "simple" ingredients.

    For my taco sauces, pizza sauces, jellys, salsa, etc I usually just look for a copycat of my favorite take out places on google. If they have an ingredient on there that I don't eat I skip it or sub it. Like if something asked for Corn Syrup, I'd probably just use honey. It wouldn't be nearly as sweet, but I don't have a sweet tooth anyway. Someone else might notice, but I don't.

    It sounds like a lot of work, but really most condiments take me like 30-45 minutes. I am the laziest person ever and I wouldn't bother if it wasn't easy. I also was given a breadmaker to make my own bread in. They always have a couple for sale at most thrift stores that I have been to. All you have to do is dump the ingredients in and it will mix and bake it for you. Though I do like to set the dough cycle and dump it into my own bread pan because the bread maker loafs can be kind of fat and short and not ideal for the toaster.

    As for how I feel, I cut out a lot besides HFCS, but I did lose about 7 pounds in 6 weeks without much exercise. I feel more energy too, but I don't know if that is because I cut out HFCS, something else, or I'm just properly fueling my body with real food instead of soda and white bread.

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