High fructose corn syrup, the current target of much criticism regarding its effects on your health, is going extinct. But don’t start celebrating just yet…
All About High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
HFCS is a cheaper sugar than sucrose, made from corn rather than cane or beets. The higher concentration of fructose may result in a lower glycemic index, but the fructose goes straight to your liver to be metabolized as though it were a poison, causing chronically elevated insulin levels leading to fat accumulation and such diseases of civilization as diabetes and heart disease.
Whew.
People have been realizing more and more the detrimental health effects of HFCS, and have been going old-school, snapping up all the products that advertise themselves as being sweetened by sucrose rather than HFCS (you see all those “throwback” sodas that have been popping up?)
So what’s The Corn Refiner’s Association (the company that produces HFCS) to do? Why, lobby the government to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar,” of course! In a couple years’ time, there will likely be nary a label with HFCS in the ingredients ever again.
Don’t let yourself be hoodwinked.
Sugar, Sugar Everywhere
The search for a healthy sweetener is like the search for The Fountain of Youth. From aspartame to sucralose, stevia to agave nectar, people really, REALLY want to get their sweet on without compromising their health. And the backlash against HFCS has led a lot of people to put regular ol’ sugar in the “health food” category.
This is a mistake.
Maple sugar, honey, and cane sugar may have more nutrients than more processed sugars, but they are still sugars. A blast of fructose to your liver to create insulin resistance and a little glucose to send your blood sugars skyrocketing.
Cultures that don’t eat sugar – in any form – all have several things in common. They don’t get fat, they don’t get cavities (despite never brushing their teeth), they live long lives, and they never succumb to diseases of civilization such as diabetes and heart disease. Switching from HFCS to sucrose isn’t going to help you be more like them.
The Solution
I grew up on a diet of pure garbage. From the time I was born until my mid-teens, my diet consisted of nearly 100% processed junk food, loaded with tons of sugars. As a result, I was “skinny fat,” had lots of cavities, and had a stomachache about 300 days out of the year.
When I started learning how to cook and switched over to a diet of whole, fresh, and unprocessed foods, all these problems disappeared.
We as consumers are right to stop buying products sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, but simply changing the name will make no difference. Even switching to so-called “healthy” sweeteners isn’t going to help. The best course of action is to wean ourselves off of sugar. Trust me, you’ll lose your taste for it. I can’t even drink or eat most of the sweetened stuff I used to love anymore – it just tastes way too sweet.
Your Health Is In Your Hands
Amidst all the hubbub surrounding the “evil food companies forcing us to eat unhealthy food,” it’s important to note that we as consumers have the power to change the food production system based simply on what we buy and what we don’t buy.
If consumers want, say, low-calorie / low-fat / low-cholesterol food, by golly some smart entrepreneurial folks are gonna take advantage of it and flood the market with products loudly proclaiming their conformance to these characteristics. After all, businesses only succeed if they can sell enough of their product to people in order to stay afloat.
Don’t be fooled by “corn sugar” when it starts appearing on your labels. Instead, work on weaning yourself off most sugar. It makes keeping the fat off far easier than trying to keep track of each and every calorie that goes in and out of your body.
I'm a science geek, food lover, and wannabe surfer.
{ 8 comments }
Darrin,
I’ve been consciously trying to avoid foods with HFCS for a while now and it’s not easy. That stuff really is everywhere. However, you will naturally avoid it if you eat a diet of whole, unprocessed foods like you recommend. I’ll admit I do take Stevia as a sugar replacement for my tea, but this is the only time I ever have it, so I’m pretty sure this is the least of my worries.
Alykhan
Good advice. I have recently become more aware of all the sugar in my diet from a variety of sources. What is really frightening is trying to find foods that doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup. It’s in everything!
Sugar and any of its forms is the one ingredient to avoid or at least minimise if you want to keep unwanted fat off your body.
And yeah corn in all its forms is in so many foods or the animals we eat are feed it in their diet its incredible
Raymond
Very interesting read. I try to avoid sugar during the week but can’t completely give it up. I’ll unfortunately admit that I’m an addict and need my fix every once in a while, so I allow myself some freedom on the weekends. It’s been a good balance for now, but next time I ramp up my exercise and diet, weekend sugar is the first thing to go.
Good stuff, man. I’ve always found that munching on a handful of berries when I’m really craving something sugary helps ward off the craving and keeps calories much lower. You’re absolutely right about weening ourselves off of sugar.
-Drew
@Alykhan:
Sounds like a good idea to me. The problem with some sweeteners is that people tend to overuse them because they think they are a healthy option. I use some honey, maple syrup, and molasses in my food, but since it is in a small amount (like you use), it is nothing to get too fussy about.
@Tom:
Yeah, HFCS really is everywhere. As much as I like to help guys get healthy meals without much effort into their lives, there really is no way to get around this other than switching to a diet of mostly whole, unprocessed, and fresh food. Fortunately, it is FAR easier than most guys realize.
@Raymond:
As much as I hate to single out particular foods, sugar definitely is something to avoid as much as possible. I don’t know about over there in Australia, but here EVERYTHING is over-sweetened.
@Dave:
As you know, I am a big fan of cheat days as well. Feeling deprived is no way to go through life, balance is key. A bit of sugar here and there won’t do ya no harm, but as others have noted, HFCS is absolutely everywhere.
@Drew:
Berries are probably the best way to go when you get a sugar jones. One of the “original superfoods,” they’ll fill you up and provide lots of vitamins without overloading your system like other sweet stuff. One more reason why I’m happy to no longer be a low-carber!
Darrin,
I worked for Walt Disney World FLorida back in 2008 for around 6 months. At the time I wasn’t quite as healthy as I am now (though still miles ahead of 90% of the population). What staggered me was the sheer number of foods in the states that had hfcs. In comparison I think the UK has very little (though still a lot more than it should). I mean even the bread over there tasted more like a slice of cake than it did bread.
I really don’t eat any foods likely to contain the “new” “improved” CS, though thanks for the heads up.
Steve
I totally agree Darrin.
I used to eat a ton of sugar growing up and always had headaches and felt ill a lot of the time. But like you I started to learn about food and cooking and all those problems went away. Luckily in we didn’t have HFCS in Ireland when I was growing up, or many other sweeteners other than can sugar, but over the years as Ireland has become more Americanized these sweeteners have started to crop up.
In Europe they call HFCS glucose-fructose syrup, and it is in almost everything now! Which makes no sense as American started using HFCS because corn was cheap and beet was expensive, but in Europe beet is relatively cheap.
I personally avoid sweet things, but I do use xylitol. Mostly for the health benefits rather than the sweetness though.
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