Oct 01 2008
High Fructose Corn Syrup is Satan
There’s been this big hullabaloo about the corn refiners association commercials talking about how high fructose corn syrup has been demonized in the media.
I take their side. I think there are very little ingredients that are harmful to any healthy person in small dosages. Also, those HFCS maniacs are freaking crazy. Have you ever met one of these people? They go on and on about how unhealthy it is and then they act like sugar is healthier.
HFCS is highly processed, but how do you think sugar gets to your plate? Have you ever seen sugar cane? Do you think it falls out of the plant onto your plate like an apple?
Then these people start acting like they’re fucking food chemists and going on and on about fructose versus glucose, when they can’t even draw a molecule of the sugars they’re discussing.
Finally, they think the government should be involved in warning us about HFCS and banning its use, for no good reason except they think life would be perfect that way. They complain about how impossible it is to find food that doesn’t contain HFCS. And when they say that, I cackle.
It’s not impossible. Make your own damn food. The only HFCS I get is if I go out to eat, and possibly in the bread Michael and I have. Stick to whole grains, produce and whatever protein you choose and, surprisingly, it’s hard to find HFCS.
Unless you’re a raw-foodist, your food has probably been processed. It’s okay. Yes, food changes as it’s processed, but those can be good changes. I process my food every night when I cook it, denaturing proteins and burning off water and sugar. It happens. If HFCS bothers you, it’s entirely within your power to stop eating it. and if you just want to whine, I’m going to buzz you out after a few minutes unless you’re an eminent scientist, because I’ve heard it all before.
Incidentally, our bread is sold to yuppies with nothing better to worry about, and is therefore free of HFCS.
I am one of those anti-hfcs people. The problem with processing things so much, is that our brains can’t recognize what it is.
It becomes too easy to overeat when the brain doesn’t tell you you are full.
I recently read that hfcs has a lot of omega-6 fatty acids. We already eat far too many of those and the ratio with the omega-3 fatty acids is out of whack for most people.
Also, sugar and honey taste better.
It annoys me that the food manufacturers use hfcs and still charge too much for these processed foods.
I’d like to see less of it on the market and I do hunt for bread and crackers without it.
It just boils down to everything in moderation and eating less processed junk.
I don’t believe there have been enough studies done on high fructose corn syrup to point to any real conclusion on the topic. What I know is this:
When we talk about sugar, we’re talking about sucrose, fructose and glucose most commonly. Sucrose is a combination of fructose and glucose. The human body has the easiest time processing glucose, fructose needs extra steps to break down in our body.
There are several different formulas for High Fructose Corn Syrup, containing different ratios of fructose to glucose, so different formulas would put different strain on your body. Most commonly used is the 55/45 blend (55% fructose, 45% glucose).
I think, with regard to omega-6 fatty acids, you’re thinking of corn oil, which *is* high in omega-6 fatty acids. This is a byproduct of the process which produces hfcs, but hfcs itself contains no fats.
My problem with high fructose corn syrup, personally, is that it goes hand in hand with corn syrup (which is 100% fructose) and plenty of sucrose as well (generally speaking). Eating that much sugar in anything often enough will make you fat.
If we want to discuss labeling more appropriately for the consumer (which I am in favor of) or how tariffs on sugar make the price of corn syrup artificially lower in this country (which I disagree with, for a multitude of reasons), then I have plenty negative to say about hfcs - or, rather, the culture that produced hfcs. Healthwise, I think it’s too soon to say much about hfcs. Instead, I think we all should focus on taking in less sugar and fat calories.