Is HFCS any worse than table sugar?

[Taverner]

Sure, we know its worse for you than some sugars, like honey and agave syrup.

But is it worse for you than cane sugar?

If so, how and why/

[TZ]

1. disputed by some...but my opinion is no.

As a biologist, sugars are structurally so similar that I'm inclined to think so. Its possible I suppose but I haven't seen anything that makes me think so. Its kind of like trying to prove that one Amino Acid is better or worse for you than any other. Sure they have different effects, but all are needed for different types of protein synthesis.

On edit: the only reason why it gets so villified so much is its in EVERYTHING. And consuming large amounts of sugar whether its cane sugar of HFCS is equally bad.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[ThomCat]

37. What do you think about the study of mercury contamination

being widespread in HFCS because of the method of producing it. :(

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/26/AR2009012601831.html

I agree with you, that if it was pure, all things being equal it is just another sugar. It is too unrefined, and that can't be good. But that just means it is just like any other overly refined sugar.

The issues seem to be that it is everywhere in large amounts, and that it isn't tested and regulated for purity.

[GoCubsGo]

2. In the grand scheme of things, probably not.

They are all empty calories. And, cane sugar, is still a refined sugar, and the refining process isn't any better than that of HFCS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane.

[guitar man]

3. It is for my daughter

I don't know why, but she has an extreme intolerance to it. If she gets enough of it her bowels will stop up and she will curl up in a ball on the floor :(

[Taverner]

4. Interesting...do artificial sweeteners do anything to her?

[guitar man]

11. no

She can drink diet drinks and use artificial sweeteners with no problem, it's just HFCS that binds her up something terrible. She damn near died before the doc figured out what it was

[SacredCow]

6. That's gotta be rough....

HFCS is in damn near EVERYTHING.

[guitar man]

12. yeah it is

It is expensive to buy food for her, anything I find that doesn't have it is usually pretty pricey :(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. at some point americans will realize that being at the forefront of a food evolution

isnt all its cracked up to be

food is not a simple question of biology and chemisty. its also rooted in evolution. viewing it as a chemistry experiment with human bodies isnt the best idea & scientists who pretend it is, are generally not very well informed. The breast milk vs real milk fiasco of 2 decade ago is a very good example of this.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

14. + 1 n/t

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

16. I don't know

but what I do know is that I've been living in Germany for 7 years and HFCS was not an additive in foods here until about 2 years ago. The number of morbidly obese people has shot through the roof. We are talking Gilbert Grape mother's level of obesity, especially in women. German women tend to be very slender so this new trend is very visible. I don't generally buy foods with HFCS in the ingredients.

[quakerboy]

29. They do?

News to me and my very German family. Big News. I will have to tell all the Schmidts that they tend to be very slender.

[EndersDame]

7. I think the worst thing about it is that HFCS is in everything

It is almost impossible just to have a small amount of it. You wouldnt want to consume the same large quantities of table sugar as well

[lukasahero]

8. This is my thought as well

It's the insidiousness of it that makes it a problem. And the fact that most people think if it's not sugar, then it's ok. But it is in just about everything - even food that is marketed as 'healthy'.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. The main problem with HFCS is that it is so refined that there is nothing for the body to break down

Which is why it is so easily absorbed into the blood stream, spiking blood sugar (which could lead to diabetes over time) and eventually storing itself in fat cells. Hence the exponential increase in both obesity and diabetes in the US since HFCS was introduced into the food supply in the 80's.

With cane sugar, at least there is something left for the body to process. Raw sugar even more so, or fructose in it's natural state such as honey, maple, or agave syrup.

And then there's the chemical process itself which makes HFCS. And the fact that it's made from GMO corn.

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html

[lukasahero]

10. Great info

thanks!

[TZ]

15. Could you give me a scientific link for this please

It is not ringing true to me sciencewise. I tend not to trust articles on the internet from non-scientific sources.

[1gobluedem]

17. Here's one

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090325091811.htm

[TZ]

19. Here's my critique of this

This is talking about EXCESSIVE consumption of fructose. It in no way is saying that in moderate quantities fructose is digested any differently than any other sugar. Perhaps in higher quantity fructose does have some effect.
Also please note this study:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070711001442.htm
I don't think there is clear evidence either way for HFCS being worse than Cane Sugar.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

20. If it is in almost every food item you buy

from lunch meat to frozen fish, to salad dressings and taco seasoning, all things one would not expect to contain sugar, then the average consumer does have a higher intake quantity of HFCS no?

I have found two lunch meats out of at least 40 in my grocery store that do not contain HFCS. It is in yogurt, bread, almost all fruit drinks, any processed food you can think of like soups, frozen pizzas, etc.

I think the average consumer is getting more than excessive amounts.

[Kali]

21. "it's in everything"

maybe. Of course that "everything" being highly processed crap anyway - stay away from it all. It may be the HFCS or it may be some other aspect of the processing - the bottom line is that garbage isn't food, it's "product" lab-designed to taste good, not BE good.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

24. And how many working parents do you know that

make dinner from scratch every night? After a full day at work and commuting your kids all over the place, do you feel like making everything from scratch? I'm lucky that I set my own hours and make my own menu every night but some mom or dad from Idaho, working 8 hour shifts is tired at night and HFCS is probably in more than one ingredient in what they make for dinner.

[Kali]

26. oh, I know

but still, you can throw a healthy cheap meal together pretty fast if you do any cooking at all beyond warming frozen or powdered/bottled junk - "sauces" being some of the worst offenders. One can make pretty tasty sauces while pasta/rice/potatoes cook.

Crock pots and stir fry - not much work at all.

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

27. Unfortunately

many working parents do not have the energy to do even these simple things. I remember my younger sister, a single mother, would buy pre-fabricated meals for her and her daughter. They wouldn't know how to cook a meal if it bit them on the ass. She worked 40 + hours a week and took care of a small child.

She lived in a hovel without a place for a crock pot. Studio apartment with a hot plate and a microwave oven. No room for a walk either.

[quakerboy]

30. Try to find bacon that wasnt cured in sugar.

I dare ya.

[Capn Sunshine]

31. mmmmmm bacon

[quakerboy]

32. yup

But its all sugary. What is with that? If there is anything that should automatically be sugar free, its bacon.

[derby378]

34. Very succinct and to the point. Thanks!

I'm trying to eliminate HFCS from my diet, but it's not easy. Still, I buy only organic ketchup, drink only diet sodas or sodas sweetened with sucrose, try to avoid breads containing HFCS, etc.

[ThomCat]

35. And the recent report of traces of mercury in most HFCS

because of the way it is produced. :(

If HFCS was uncontaminated and was eaten only occasionally in small amounts then it would be harmless. It would be just another sugar.

But in large amounts, and for the reason you gave, and because of possible contaminants, and probably other reasons too, it just isn't safe.

[derby378]

36. Very succinct and to the point. Thanks!

I'm trying to eliminate HFCS from my diet, but it's not easy. Still, I buy only organic ketchup, drink only diet sodas or sodas sweetened with sucrose, try to avoid breads containing HFCS, etc.

[JoDog]

18. It's my understanding

that the body doesn't recognize it as sugar. So instead of being digested like sugar is, it goes to the liver, taxing that organ. It then goes right into the blood stream, spiking the blood sugar level.

[Spider Jerusalem]

22. Not really, no

I'm in the UK, where HFCS is practically unknown. Sweets, soft drinks, and so on all have sugar (beet sugar, almost invariably, not cane sugar, since sugar cane does not grow in this climate but sugar beets do), and Britain has levels of obesity and type II diabetes that are not far behind those in the US. A lot of people seem ready to blame the sharp increase in both of these on the rise in use of HFCS as a sweetener in the US, dating to c. the mid-1980's; what most people fail to take into account are other factors that led to more sedentary and less active lifestyles starting at a fairly early age for most people. Along with the increased use of HFCS instead of sugar, the mid-1980's and onward also saw: widespread and affordable cable television, home video players, microwave ovens...things that promote a) more sedentary lifestyles, sat on your fat arse in front of the television whenever you're not at work, and b) consumption of ever-more processed, high-fat microwaveable food because it's 'convenient' and easier than actually cooking. The widespread availability and affordability of personal computers, the Internet, home gaming systems, etc from the 1990's on don't much help matters, either. As always, correlation is not causation.

[gmoney]

23. I've heard that humans aren't designed to process so much corn, directly or indirectly

for us non-vegetarians, the shift of livestock diets to feed corn from other foods has changed the nature of beef, pork, chicken, etc. so it's also not as digestible by humans.

No link. Just hearsay, or heresy.

[Chan790]

25. I happen to think so...

but it's purely anecdotal. Some doctor wrote a book about 5-10 years ago in which he compared the obesity rates of Western nations where it was consumed in high quantities versus those where it is consumed in much lower quantities and discovered that though he could not put a finger on why, those nations (France and Sweden) where the diet was very high in fat with a low usage of HFCS and/or artificial sweeteners compared to sugar had comparatively low obesity rates where those nations where HFCS and artificial sweetener use were both higher than average and diets contained more foods that were "lower-fat" or "reduced fat" (Mostly the US, also Canada and UK) had some of the highest obesity rates. Again he said he could not determine a reason for it. If it works though, why not emulate it. If I recall correctly, he was trying to push it as the antithesis of fad diets.

I don't eat reduced-fat foods, artificial sweeteners, margarine or HFCS and eat a diet higher in sugar and fat (butter, mostly) than most people. In one year I've lost nearly 100lbs, lowered my cholesterol and BP and retreated from the brink of diabetes...so it works for me. Admittedly this all might also have a lot to do with no longer working at Starbucks so it's not exactly a scientifically-valid control-study.

[nickinSTL]

28. don't know...

maybe it's just that there are caloric sweeteners - whether HFCS or other sugars - in EVERYTHING.

On the other hand...I've always struggled with my weight. I've also always consumed full-calorie soda (can't have aspartame, the artificial sweetener in most diet drinks, for medical reasons).

Three years ago, I stopped drinking soda with HFCS and was drinking soda and sports drinks sweetened with sucralose. Got my weight down to its lowest since I reached my adult height.

Coincidence?

After some medical problems leading me to putting on WAY too much weight, I'm back to where I was before I got my weight really down...and I'm working on cutting down (and probably eventually out completely) HFCS soda. We'll see how it works this time.

[Orrex]

33. HFCS caused the wreck of the Andrea Doria

And was directly responsible for the 1962 collapse of the coal mine at Cementon, PA.