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High Fructose Corn Syrup

Trekker4747

Trekker4747

Boldly going...
Premium Member
A few years back someone (or many persons) took action against Oreo cookies, and other products, because of their use of Partially Hydrogenated Oil in place of butter or other fats in baked goods. These so-called "trans fats" were criticized for being unnatural and thus metabolized differently by our bodies leading to more cases of obesity and other health problems. The result is today we have a lot less "Tans-Fats" in our foods becuase alternatives were found.

Many products sold in the US that should have sugar in them actually have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, a manufactured "sugar" that is metabolized differently by our bodies and, well, doesn't taste as good as sugar.

So, how about it? Let's ban HFCS!
 
Exercise and consume a diet of 2000-2600 calories that's balanced, and the HFCS impact is virtually non-existent.

Our evolution has not yet quite caught up to tolerating the amount of daily sugar intake we are averaging.
 
^ This is true, but HFCS is also a problem because North Americans ingest a disturbingly large amount of corn products across the board. It's not a good idea to be eating so much of the same thing.

HFCS could also be argued to be contributing to the obesity problem.
 
we've been consuming sugar for tens of thousands of years. We've been consuming chemically refined and altered pseudo sugar (HFCS) for decades and is believed to be the leading cause of hyperactivity, ADHD, diabetes among other maladies.
 
That may be true also. I only say "may" because I haven't read up on it personally.
 
jkladis said:
Exercise and consume a diet of 2000-2600 calories that's balanced, and the HFCS impact is virtually non-existent.

Our evolution has not yet quite caught up to tolerating the amount of daily sugar intake we are averaging.
Click to expand...

True, but our bodies know sugar, and can handle excesses in other ways.
HFCS is a compound of super concentrated corn sugars, who knows what that's doing to the body.

Philo said:
^ This is true, but HFCS is also a problem because North Americans ingest a disturbingly large amount of corn products across the board. It's not a good idea to be eating so much of the same thing.

HFCS could also be argued to be contributing to the obesity problem.
Click to expand...

I believe it is a part of the obesity problem. It's in almost anything caramel colored, it's in sodas, candy, juice drinks, baked goods, etc.

Rÿcher said:
we've been consuming sugar for tens of thousands of years. We've been consuming chemically refined and altered pseudo sugar (HFCS) for decades and is believed to be the leading cause of hyperactivity, ADHD, diabetes among other maladies.
Click to expand...

What I find odd is that the American Diabetic Association says no to a sugar cane Dr. Pepper, but a HFCS/Nutrasweet drink is somehow okay? I don't think they're looking closely at any of this. I think in their desire to present "diabetic safe" alternatives, they're smudging the line a little bit.


J.
 
Scrooge4747 said:
A few years back someone (or many persons) took action against Oreo cookies, and other products, because of their use of Partially Hydrogenated Oil in place of butter or other fats in baked goods. These so-called "trans fats" were criticized for being unnatural and thus metabolized differently by our bodies leading to more cases of obesity and other health problems. The result is today we have a lot less "Tans-Fats" in our foods becuase alternatives were found.
Click to expand...
It's the same people who spoke out about saturated fats and said we should use trans fats instead.

Moderation is the key. A bag of oreos is not going to kill anyone. But these groups have to have something to keep themselves going. :rolleyes:

Many products sold in the US that should have sugar in them actually have High Fructose Corn Syrup in them, a manufactured "sugar" that is metabolized differently by our bodies and, well, doesn't taste as good as sugar.
Click to expand...
There was a morning show that had a specialist on who had a table full of food including veggies and fruits. There was only one 'product' that didn't have corn syrup in it. I think it was the banana. I wish I could remember which show it was because it was an eyeopener.

As for sweeteners, I'll go with real sugar instead of any of the fake stuff. But I rarely ever use it or I'd switch to stevia.

Diabetics need to be careful of no-sugar candies. Many use alcohol instead which changes into sugar in the blood stream.
 
I like how "sugar" is in quotes.

Sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose, but both of them are found naturally as well. HFCS differs from sucrose because the glucose and fructose aren't linked together, but all of 'em are sugars. Chemically, HFCS is very simliar to honey.

Certainly over consumption of HFCS is bad; the same can be said for over consumption of any type of sugar. I think the over reliance on HFCS isn't so great, but that comes about largely due to the corn subsidies in the US as well as import tax on sugar which makes HFCS cheaper. You don't have to ban HFCS to get more sugar variety in products... just do some political manuvering to stop putting down the competition.
 
I would not go so far as to disregard the hazards of corn syrup. I try to erase it from my existence.

I am simply in the camp that believes its abuse is the overwhelming contribution to the problem.

We should not completely concentrate on coincidence vs. causality. They may be inseparable since there are physical and psychological addictions to eating.
 
The thing is, if HFCS was banned that doesn't fix the over consumption problem.... instead you just have people ingesting too much sucrose which is nearly as bad. Eliminating unneeded sugar, in any form, from one's diet is of course a good thing but I don't feel that it's the reliance on HFCS that's the problem; rather it's the fact that our society as a whole isn't very good at self regulating what they eat.

I'm certainly not very good at it, that's for sure! ;)
 
It shouldn't be banned, persay, but the subsidies and tariffs that keep it in constant use should be eliminated. The corn growers could be making food and/or ethanol instead of making fake sugar.
The problem right now is, almost every cheap food and drink that is made in the States has the stuff in it, so poor/low income people are getting enormous amounts of it in whatever they eat.
Plus, there's been enough studies to show that something's up with it and it doesn't need to be so prevalent. I'm just sick of having to get my Coke from other countries. :p
 
Yesterday at work I was out of cream, and I saw a packet of "artificial creamer" where the main ingredient was HFCS.

Oh well.

I read a book once in Borders (or glanced at a book) that described how the ingredients in a Twinky are made.

That was scary.
 
You'll Shoot Your Eye Out said:
Grintch said:
Moderation is the key. A bag of oreos is not going to kill anyone.
Click to expand...

But a bag a day might.
Click to expand...

It's not about "killing anyone". Indeed that would be bad business, and these are Ferengi after all. It's about hooking the masses on sugar. With diabetics, that mechanism is broken and it can kill them. But non-diabetics should be concerned. Ingest a bunch of sugar, or HFCS, and your pancreas releases a crapload of insulin. This begins the blood-sugar roller coaster that most of the West is on, without knowing it.
As an experiment, and because I've been sick and otherwise concerned about my health, I tried a low sugar approach for a few days. It was amazing
1) how little food it took to give me strong energy for most of the day. 2 eggs, yogurt and berries, a bannana, and 2 apples. Water and chai tea. 6 hours solid, no hunger, no energy lag.
2) and how even that energy was. It nearly felt like an altered state: a natural state we rarely even get to experience.

I've since fallen off that bus somewhat. I can't be eating eggs like that, though 1-2/day is ok for most people. But I am convinced that high amounts of sugar is essentially a drug. Look at how much is in "kid" cereal. It's like 4 tablespoons per serving, and of course servings are very small.

Parents have long known this, but these Ferengi are aggressive. They've pushed soda machines into schools, and rely on ignorance to maximize their profits. People know better, though. Intuition is not dead. It just doesn't tend to weather a storm very well.
 
jkladis said:
Exercise and consume a diet of 2000-2600 calories that's balanced, and the HFCS impact is virtually non-existent.

Our evolution has not yet quite caught up to tolerating the amount of daily sugar intake we are averaging.
Click to expand...

The Amish have been studied because they have a high fat (lard) and high sugar diet, yet almost zero heart disease and obesity rates. Why? All of the manual labor they perform.
 
jkladis said:
Exercise and consume a diet of 2000-2600 calories that's balanced, and the HFCS impact is virtually non-existent.
Click to expand...


Unless you're allergic to it like I am. It breaks my arms and back out to the point where I'm embarrassed to wear short sleeves anymore. Being careful about what I eat has helped (cutting out sodas alone made a remarkable difference), but take a look at nutrition labels sometime...it's in things I wouldn't have even considered!
 
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