High Fructose Corn Syrup

I absolutely believe that HFCS is one of the primary culprits in making us a fat nation...and you're right, it is virtually everywhere! I always check labels to keep my consumption of it at a bare minimum.

I always say that HFCS is the devil! I don't drink soft drinks or buy bread with that ingredient. It is difficult to avoid because it is in everything! Even things you wouldn't consider, like crackers.

I don't know much about HFCS, but I think it can't be good for you. If you want an easy and good tasting bread recipe, try this one:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

It has water, flour, salt and yeast in it. That's it. You make a batch of dough, let it rise for a few hours, and then stick it in the fridge. When you want some more bread, pull out some of the dough (the recipe makes enough for 8 loaves), let it rise for 20-40 minutes, and then bake it. It really is that easy. It's cheap, too. Pennies compared to dollars. I have used that dough for pizzas, sandwich rolls, pitas, naan, sweet treats--I love it. I don't buy bread anymore unless we are planning on having hot dogs. (We have hot dogs so rarely and the bun is kind of part of the experience.)

You can also make your own yogurt. You start it with a store bought pot of active culture yogurt, mix it in some hot milk--keep it warm overnight by wrapping it with towels and in the morning put it in the fridge. Voila! Homemade yogurt. Or, if you want a fool proof and easier method you can just buy an easiyo to keep it warm in overnight. Add some fat-free powdered milk and you've got a much higher nutritive content and much healthier yogurt. Save a bit of that batch to use as starter for the next one and you'll never feel bad about all those little wasted plastic pots again!

I don't know much about HFCS, but I think it can't be good for you. If you want an easy and good tasting bread recipe, try this one:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

It has water, flour, salt and yeast in it. That's it. You make a batch of dough, let it rise for a few hours, and then stick it in the fridge. When you want some more bread, pull out some of the dough (the recipe makes enough for 8 loaves), let it rise for 20-40 minutes, and then bake it. It really is that easy. It's cheap, too. Pennies compared to dollars. I have used that dough for pizzas, sandwich rolls, pitas, naan, sweet treats--I love it. I don't buy bread anymore unless we are planning on having hot dogs. (We have hot dogs so rarely and the bun is kind of part of the experience.)

You can also make your own yogurt. You start it with a store bought pot of active culture yogurt, mix it in some hot milk--keep it warm overnight by wrapping it with towels and in the morning put it in the fridge. Voila! Homemade yogurt. Or, if you want a fool proof and easier method you can just buy an easiyo to keep it warm in overnight. Add some fat-free powdered milk and you've got a much higher nutritive content and much healthier yogurt. Save a bit of that batch to use as starter for the next one and you'll never feel bad about all those little wasted plastic pots again!

Awesome!!! thank you for sharing!!

They say it's okay in "Moderation", but how much is moderate when it's in everything

Exactly! Those commercials infuriate me because they ALWAYS show the conversation taking place with an obvious source of sweetness - the fruit drink, the popsicle. And they act like we're SO stupid while neglecting to mention that it's also in bread, ketchup, salad dressing and just about every other processed food there is!

How many of you believe that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has a role to play in the weight problem in the US? The US consumes more HFCS per capita than any other nation. The introduction of it in a widespread capacity didn't start until the late 1970's when there were tariffs and quotas imposed on sugar by the US government. Food manufacturers started looking for a cheaper alternative to sugar and found HFCS.

As I've started this weight loss journey and have started to really take a good, hard look at food labels, I'm finding HFCS in all kinds of things that I thought were good for me - like Yoplait yogurt and whole wheat bread. I can deal with it in things that I eat infrequently, but not in something that is a part of my daily diet and I certainly don't want my kids eating it. I'm switching exclusively to Greek yogurt, and reading labels much more closely.

correlation =/= causation, overall increased caloric consumption plus people becoming more sedentary over time = rise in obesity

...

This, this, this! Thank You!

HFCS is sugar. Sure, it's a more calorie-dense sugar per volume, but one calorie of HFCS is the same as one calorie of sucrose, dextrose, glucose, maltodextrin, or flipping starch for that matter. Four calories per gram.

The subtle biochemical differences having to do with the way it's digested don't matter unless you overeat it. It is EASIER to overeat it if you're not paying attention, but that has nothing to do with the chemistry of the compound.

The American obesity problem is 100% attributable, I believe, to the increase in portion size. I work for a Japanese company and visiting Japanese are always stunned by the size of "normal" meals we're served here. Conversely, I've seen the much more appropriate size meals that are served in Japan on my trips there. What was a medium or large when I worked at McD's in the late 80's is now a small. Olive Garden routinely serves 2/3 lbs of pasta - for 1600-2000 Calories - on a single plate.

The problem is not that a Coke has HFCS, it's that it's become normal to drink 32 oz (388 Cal!) of it with every meal.

How many of you believe that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has a role to play in the weight problem in the US? The US consumes more HFCS per capita than any other nation. The introduction of it in a widespread capacity didn't start until the late 1970's when there were tariffs and quotas imposed on sugar by the US government. Food manufacturers started looking for a cheaper alternative to sugar and found HFCS.

As I've started this weight loss journey and have started to really take a good, hard look at food labels, I'm finding HFCS in all kinds of things that I thought were good for me - like Yoplait yogurt and whole wheat bread. I can deal with it in things that I eat infrequently, but not in something that is a part of my daily diet and I certainly don't want my kids eating it. I'm switching exclusively to Greek yogurt, and reading labels much more closely.

correlation =/= causation, overall increased caloric consumption plus people becoming more sedentary over time = rise in obesity

...

This, this, this! Thank You!

HFCS is sugar. Sure, it's a more calorie-dense sugar per volume, but one calorie of HFCS is the same as one calorie of sucrose, dextrose, glucose, maltodextrin, or flipping starch for that matter. Four calories per gram.

The subtle biochemical differences having to do with the way it's digested don't matter unless you overeat it. It is EASIER to overeat it if you're not paying attention, but that has nothing to do with the chemistry of the compound.

that may be, however, MALTODEXTRIN, ACESULFAME (Acesulfame Potassium and Acesulfame K) & SUCRALOSE are DANGEROUS.
We should be a little bit more concerned with the things we put into our bodies.
We're trying to be healthy, right? So why are we poisoning ourselves? Or better yet,
why do we sit by and watch our government ALLOW these toxins and dangerous ingredients to
be put into our food?
I find it funny that even some companies that make healthier food (Weight Watchers for example)
use Sucralose.
But High Fructose Corn Syrup is sugar?? NO it is not. If it's chemically altered--therefore it is no longer sugar--not purely.

"The Princeton researchers had been studying not only side effects of high fructose corn syrup, but how your body reacts when it's ingested. They discovered that rats which had access to high fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to basic table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same."

Sources:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/food-science/princeton-proves-high-fructose-corn-syrup-woes-once-for-all-112003
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/acesulfame-potassium-dangers.html
http://www.vegan-nutritionista.com/sucralose.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/maltodextrin-dangers.html

Not sure how we got on the subject of the artificial sweeteners, but maltodextrin is NOT an artificial sweetener.

Simple sugars have up to 3 glucose, maltose, or fructose molecules stuck together. Starches have hundreds of those three building blocks. Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide somewhere in between them - say 50 or 100 simple sugars connected together (there's a range). But the important part is that the ONLY thing in there is natural sugars. No alcohols, no chlorinated anything, just sugar.

The most common way it is made industrially IS in fact by acidifying corn starch, but it exists naturally - though you will read statements that say it doesn't because it is uncommon. I can make you maltodextrin (along with a mix of other sugars) on the stovetop in an hour using nothing hot water and malted barley or wheat. I suppose you could say that's "man made" but we've been doing it for 6000 years. Anyway the seeds are doing it themselves as part of their germination, we just don't usually eat them at that stage.

George, I hate to see happen to you what's going to happen to you in this thread. Always remember that sweet reason and logic will always lose to "what everybody knows" ... and that there's very little a modern American hates to do as much as he/she hates to think.

By the way, I like your ticker. Dammit, where's Peyton???