High Fructose Corn Syrup
An excellent explanation I found at Low Carb
Luxury
A Look at High Fructose Corn Syrup
As I walk down the aisles of my health food stores, I naturally
look to the products that seem least likely to contain any form
of sugar. Obviously. I'm a low-carber. But to those that don't
avoid the carbs and look simply to "something more natural" (a
phrase I hear bandied about in my local venues quite a bit), the
substitution of what they see as "better than sugar" is actually
shocking.
Don't believe it? Look for yourself. Go to any health food
store or that "section" of your grocery, and start reading labels.
You'll see a huge number of products that have substituted "raw"
sugar (just as unhealthy) and even worse, high fructose corn syrup.
And that, is the reason for this column. I have mentioned in the
past my strict avoidance of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), but
I am told I have not really expounded on the reasons why. So here
we go. . .
If you consider fructose a safe, natural sugar, think again. You've
been had by one of the biggest nutritional bait-and-switch ploys
in years.
First, you should know, that while most people associate the word
"fructose" with "fruit sugar", more than 95% of fructose in America
comes from cheaply processed corn and not fruit at all. HFCS is
sort of like "fructose-plus". More concentrated, more dangerous.
And a MUCH higher profit margin for food makers.
You see, there's been a quiet revolution going on in America since
1970: The gradual replacement of cane & beet sugar by corn syrups.
And little wonder. Corn syrup, particularly high fructose corn
syrup (HFCS), is cheap to produce, sweet to the tongue, and easy
to store safely. According to the USDA, the average American
consumed 1/2 pound of high fructose corn syrup in 1970. By the
mid-1990s, that figure has jumped to 55.3 pounds of HFCS per person.
And just because you stay away from soda and sweets doesn't count
you out as a corn syrup consumer: HFCS finds its way into
everything from sauces to bacon to beer. And, despite the FDA's
assurances to the contrary, a growing number of researchers are
beginning to think HFCS is a constant dietary companion we'd be
better off without.
The truth is that fructose and HFCS, as large-scale commercial
sweeteners, didn't exist 20 years ago. Now, they're almost as
common as sucrose-plain old white sugar. HFCS is routinely added
to processed foods and beverages including Coca-Cola, Snapple,
and many health food products.
The trouble may lie with the particular form fructose assumes in
corn syrup. While naturally occurring sugars, as well as the sucrose
we spoon into our coffee, contain fructose bound to other sugars,
high-fructose corn syrup contains a good deal of "free" or unbound
fructose. And it may be this free fructose that interferes with the
heart's use of key minerals, like magnesium, copper and chromium.
In fact, a trail of medical studies dating back a quarter of a
century doesn't paint a terribly sweet picture for fructose. High
fructose consumption has been fingered as a causative factor in
heart disease. It raises blood levels of cholesterol and another
type of fat, triglyceride. It makes blood cells more prone to
clotting, and it may also accelerate the aging process.
The problem comes with the sheer quantity of "hidden" fructose
being consumed through the HFCS and sucrose in processed foods. For
example, conventional and "new age" soft drinks almost universally
contain 11 percent HFCS by weight-2.2 pounds per case.
Fructose and other sugars contribute to heart disease in yet another
way. Dietary sugars increase what doctors call "spontaneous platelet
aggregation", an unnatural tendency toward blood clotting. But
according to a study published in the Aug. 1, 1990, Thrombosis
Research, fructose promotes abnormal clotting much more than does
any other common sugar does.
Isn't it interesting that the FDA has basically allowed fructose and
HFCS based products to enter the market without any rigorous testing
of it. The passage:
"Fructose is part of the sucrose sugar. Sucrose is affirmed as GRAS
(generally regarded as safe)," explained Judy Folke, a spokesperson at
the FDA's Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Press Office in Washington,
D.C. "Fructose is not GRAS, but it was treated under prior sanction
because it had been used for so many years."
I see... so it's in the food supply without being classified as
"Generally Regarded as Safe" because no one has challenged it over
the years... Wow, I feel better now.
-- Lora
www.lowcarb luxury.com
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