High Fructose Corn Syrup

I'm sure most of you have heard of high fructose corn syrup, which is used in some countries, such as the United States, as a sweetener. You see, in the United States, corn is subsidized, making the price artificially low, while imported sugar is very expensive (due to governmental meddling), leaving high fructose corn syrup the cheaper alternative. However, high fructose corn syrup is very bad for you, worse than regular sugar, which is composed mostly of sucrose. And high fructose corn syrup is found in almost all processed foods. I like to eat honey wheat bread, which you could assume is sweetened with honey, but the other day I looked at the ingredient list. High fructose corn syrup was at the top. Honey was at the bottom. The sweetener is much harder on the body than regular sugar. My mother recently found out that she is fructose intolerant, a result of too many years of eating too much fructose from high fructose corn syrup. Now she can't even eat tomatoes, which are high in fructose. We had always known that high fructose corn syrup is bad in the way that normal sugar is bad, but we had no idea that you could become fructose intolerant from eating too much. You could say that my mother's diet is healthier now that most of the processed foods have been removed, but so have peanut butter, apples and a lot of other fruits she used to enjoy. Because most bread is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup now, the only bread she eat from our supermarket is rye bread. The true extend of the effects of high fructose corn syrup in foods has been pushed under the table too long. People complain that using corn as a biofuel takes away food for people to eat, but the truth is that most of this food is for cattle and high fructose corn syrup. Corn is also used a lot in dog food, even though corn is bad for dogs and is a common pet allergy. The government needs to quit artificially changes the prices of food products. Maybe then our food (for ourselves and our pets) will be healthier. I'm sorry if I rambled a bit in this post. Trying to plan meals on a budget with no fructose in them has left me cranky.


Also note that food sweetened with high fructose corn syrup doesn't taste as good as those sweetened with table sugar. Just try drinking coke made with corn syrup and coke made with cane sugar.

 

yeah, i try to stay away from any kind of synthetic -tose sweetner...

 

High fructose corn syrup is found in just about everything these days and is one of the worst things you can put into your body. I believe this to be one of the primary reasons for the obesity and diabetes epidemics. Many of the artificial sweetners, such as aspartame, are even worse.

 

I can't even find a loaf of bread without each slice having 4 grams of sugar. Eating a sandwich is like eating a candy bar.

Pretty much all food products nowadays are loaded with processed sugars. I don't understand why nothing is done about this.

 

Dude, I have a hard time believing you can't find a good "Pane Toscano" or something in the Bronx. Check out some Italian bakery's. However, Breads without fat or sugar go stale quickly.

I've been bitching about corn syrup for years.
The problem is, with invert sugars like corn syrup, you get a longer shelf life in many products. Cane sugar tends to crystallize over time in soda, for instance. The process is much more delayed with corn syrup.

 

I agree, there is way too much sugar (all types) in processed foods.
Its not that hard to avoid though, cook your own food from scratch, put the ingredients that you want in.

 

Bakery's around me add corn syrup to their breads... I just want food readily available that doesn't have globs of processed sugar in them.

It's almost impossible for me to find wholesome foods around me. The wholesome foods that I DO find are very expensive and I can't really afford it and the same goes for many other people, so we are basically stuck with foods that are saturated with junk.

It's almost a type of prison.

4 grams of sugar here, 4 grams there, once you get done eating your three meals you will have consumed about 40 grams of sugar... it all adds up.

 

That's very true. Aspartame turns into Formaldehyde (deadly) and acetone (used as nail polish remover) and wood alchohol (I think) in your body. It causes massive cancer in laboratory rats and many, many other problems - even mental problems! I avoid that at all costs. I didn't know that fructose was so bad for you and it's too bad it's basically impossible to avoid.

 

We started making our own bread because of all the high fruitose corn syrup in store-bought breads. We cut out most sodas too. The Dr. Pepper with cane sugar is pretty good but I sure wish Pepsi-Co would start making a cane sugar version of Mountain Dew!

 

I used to make my own hearth breads at home,
but I gave it up when this cool bakery "Le Petite Otre" came to my town.
They make the most wonderful crusty loaves! Campagna baggette's, Pane Toscano, Sourdough...made with only flour, water, a little salt, and "Biga" or yeast leavening, baked in a traditional brick oven.

I have also made my own soda with evaporated cane juice and Kola nut extract. It was delicious, but a little too much caffiene lol!

 

It's catch-22. On one hand, people obviously don't want an unhealthy amount of high-calorie no-nutrient sugar in their diet. But if companies put in a sane amount, nobody buys their products.

The real trick is to eat less processed foods.

 

From what I have read, sugar although not particularly nutritious is relatively benign compared with HFCS because sugar can be digested throughout the whole digestive system whereas HFCS can only be digested through the liver and subsequently puts the liver into overdrive.

It might sound counter-intuitive but pure fruit juices are not healthy for the same reason the HFCS is not healthy. There is nothing wrong with eating a bit of fruit but experiment for yourself how many oranges it takes to even make cupful of juice.The human body is simply not designed that level of fructose.

 

I try to cut down on processed foods and sugar, but I'd rather have real sugar than that artificial sweetener crap with the aspartamine.

 

I've had soda from Whole Foods, made with cane sugar. It's excellent.

 

I've lived with diabetics and had to deal with their diets for 30 years now. I've learned everything in moderation.

You have to admit the industry hired some savy advertizers. And everything they say is true.

 

The primary reason (next to automobile dependence) why our country is so damn overweight.

 

Keep in mind that white sugar is also highly processed, and has addictive qualities. There is no reason for sugar to be white except for aesthetic purposes. Buy brown sugar or evaporated cane juice.

 

Go fresh and natural like me. Drink only water or 100% juice. Eat only meat fruits and vegetables. I make an exception for tortillas and tortilla chips because you can make some damn good mexican food with just veggies and meat.

but I don't eat anything processed. they just pack it full of salt, preservatives, fat, and god knows what else.

 

See my previous post.

 

Well I drink almost all water or unsweetened tea, if i drink juice it's just a sip or two for the taste. I'm not like drinking glasses of it all day.