FitSugar

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Makes You Stupid, Omega-3s Make You Smart

Leta Shy — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:56:36 PDT

As if you needed another reminder to stop eating processed foods: a new study has found that foods high in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) can make you stupid. But there's good news, too: eating foods high in omega-3s can help combat loss of brain function.

The study looked at different groups of rats that had been trained on a maze. After a few days on the maze, some of the rats were fed an HFCS-sweetened solution as their drinking water for six weeks, with some also receiving a diet high in omega-3s. After the diet, the rats were tested on how well they could recall the maze. The researchers found that the rats who ate the omega-3 diet were faster at completing the maze than the other rats, whether or not they were also given HFCS. Not only that, but the rats given the HFCS and not omega-3s were the slowest at completing the maze, and their brains showed a decline in activity and memory function.

This latest lab study is yet more evidence that processed foods can mess with our minds (other studies, for example, have linked fast food to depression) and that a diet high in omega-3s can help protect your brain from aging and mental decline. Ready to swap that fast-food burger for a mind-sharpening meal instead? Here's a list of vegan sources of omega-3s and five staples of the omega-3-rich Mediterranean diet.

A Glass of Juice or Soda a Day Can Lead to Gout, Study Says

Leta Shy — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 03:47:00 PST

Ah, high fructose corn syrup. The highly debated sweetener in many processed foods and drinks, recently the subject of a marketing campaign and name change, is again in the news, and it's not good for its image makeover. An extensive 22-year study released this month that followed almost 80,000 women has found that drinking non-diet sodas regularly, leads to an increase in the risk for gout.

Gout, a painful form of arthritis, is caused by high levels of uric acid in the blood. While some foods can trigger a gout attack, the illness is not the "rich man's disease" (caused by a meat- and alcohol-heavy diet) that it was previously believed to be. But this new study does show that diet does play a part, and regularly drinking beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup is a major cause - and so are fruit juices like orange juice, since they are high in fructose as well. To find out how much drinking one regular soda or two glasses of orange juice a day increases your risk of developing gout, read more.

Yummy Links: From School Lunches to HFCS

YumSugar — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:30:08 PDT

When it comes to school lunches, America is the third world. - Bittman
Paul Liebrandt believes he's too young for 3 Michelin Stars. - Feast
The Italian secret for the best eggs ever. - The Atlantic
Tips for making perfect savory souffles. - Serious Eats
Meet Tasteologie, a new food porn website from NOTCOT. - The Kitchn
How to avoid diluted iced coffee. - Chow
Do you cook with jewelry on? - The Epi-Log
Everything you need to know about the different types of whiskey. - SFoodie
The legend that is Todd English. - Eater NY
What exactly is high fructose corn syrup? - Eatocracy

Why Do Some Sodas Contain Corn Syrup but Others Sugar?

YumSugar — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 11:55:25 PDT

YumSugar Community member 21inSF recently wrote in with a burning question: why do sodas in Europe contain sugar, she asked, while in the US, they're made with high fructose corn syrup? To find out the answer, read more.

The New Look and Taste of Heinz

YumSugar — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:00:15 PST

For the first time in 40 years, Heinz has redesigned its ketchup packet - and made it healthier to boot.

This morning, the company revealed a larger, more versatile condiment packet, which ketchup lovers can either tear off to squeeze like a traditional packet or peel off to dip. It holds three times as much as the old packet. The packaging innovation will be in most quick-service restaurants by the end of this year.

The company also introduced Simply Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a version made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The ketchup will be released in March, and by Summer, the entire core Heinz ketchup line will reduce sodium by 15 percent, making Heinz the lowest-sodium national ketchup.

I know this is ridiculous, but I consider this a Heinz breakthrough. I can't wait to tear open a packet that's big enough for more than three fries! Hopefully, the news will quiet ardent protest groups on Facebook, like Make Ketchup Packets Bigger and Abolish Ketchup Packets. Are you as excited as I am for this groundbreaking move?

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High-Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to High Blood Pressure

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST

No matter how much the Corn Refiners Association tries to convince us that high-fructose corn syrup is healthy, I'm not buying it. Now I have another reason to avoid it: new findings have linked high-fructose corn syrup to high blood pressure, aka hypertension.

In the past 20 years alone, Americans have increased fructose intake by 30 percent, and that increase tracks closely to the rise in obesity. But it may also be contributing to high blood pressure. A team of doctors at the University of Colorado Denver studied more than 4,500 adults with no prior history of hypertension and tracked their fructose intake with a dietary survey. The results are pretty persuasive, so read all about it.

Fittingly Mad: "Natural" Foods That Really Aren't

FitSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:30:00 PDT

Starting this month, Pepsi is rolling out a new drink called Pepsi Natural that's made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. The soda company is touting the drink's "all-natural ingredients," including natural caramel and kola nut extract; the glass bottles will even be stocked in natural foods aisles.

Despite the ads from the Corn Refiners Association trying to position HFCS as a "sweet surprise," the New York Times reports that more and more brands are using real sugar as a selling point. Other examples include Pizza's Hut's The Natural pizza, with a crust made with honey, and Healthy Choice All Natural frozen entrees. Both claim to be free of preservatives, but how do we really know what "all natural" means? (Not to mention, it makes me wonder how unnatural Pizza Hut and Pepsi's other products must be.) For my two cents,

In this photo I found on Keacher.com of Pepsi Natural's ingredient list, it appears that the soda also contains "caramel color" and "natural flavor," two vague terms that I'd bet aren't natural at all, and whether it's made from sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, soda still isn't good for you. In the NYT story, Pat Crawford of UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health, points out that it used to be sugar that was demonized:

Even though overall consumption of caloric sweeteners is starting to drop, Dr. Crawford says an empty calorie is still an empty calorie. And it does not matter whether people think sugar is somehow "retro," a word used to promote new, sugar-based versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew called Throwback.

"If people really want to go back to where we were, that means not putting sugar in everything," she said. "It means keeping it to desserts."

Well said, good doctor. Now that I'm done with my rant, tell me: What do you think of these new natural products?

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High-Fructose Corn Syrup vs. Sugar

FitSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:00:00 PST

You've probably seen those commercials boasting that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) isn't as bad for you as you think, since it's made from all-natural corn. It's misleading though because just like refined white sugar, HFCS is a highly processed sweetener. Both sugar and HFCS provide zero nutrition and loads of empty calories.

Check out the chart below to see how the two compare.

	Calories	Carbs (g)	Sugars (g)
1 tbsp. white sugar	46	12	12
1 tbsp. high-fructose corn syrup	53	14.4	5

To find out if one is healthier than the other

HFCS is more processed and it's cheaper than sugar so it's added to more foods. The campaign that's in favor of HFCS says it's OK to eat in moderation, but since it's found in so many foods, it's tough to avoid. HFCS also affects the hunger hormone in your body known as leptin, which creates an increase in your appetite and causes people who eat foods with HFCS to overeat. So the concept of self-control is thrown out the window.

The bottom line is that your body processes both sugar and HFCS in the same way, and eating either can lead to obesity and diabetes. That means neither is healthier than the other. That's not to say you should ban all foods from your diet that contain sugar or HFCS, but try to eat less than 40 to 45 grams of added sugar a day. Read labels and look for the names sugar, HFCS, as well as this list of sugars.

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More on High Fructose Corn Syrup

FitSugar — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT

The ads promoting high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that are airing on TV irritate me to no end and I know they bother a few of you as well. The controversy surrounding the ad campaign, which is estimated to cost around $20 to $30 million, continues to grow. The basic premise of the ads is that HFCS is natural since it is made from corn (they don't mention how processed the syrup truly is) and that it is just like sugar. The ads aim to make you feel like a paranoid health freak for avoiding the corn sweetener, but CBS News decided to do a little research of their own on the scientific research behind the ads. What they found is unsurprising and not so sweet.

Six studies are cited on Sweet Surprise ads sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association. Three of the studies were funded by companies involved in the industry: Pepsi Co., the American Beverage Association, and a food, chemical and drug company lobbying group. Two of the studies were never published, so the funding is not public record. The last study was funded by a Dutch company with ties to the sugar industry. Children’s Hospital Boston researched the conclusions of nutrition studies and found that the outcomes of these studies were four to eight times more likely to be favorable towards that funding company. It seems that scientific conclusion can unfortunately be bought and sold.

To see a few facts about HFCS from independent research, just

The Center for Science in the Public Interest funded a four-year study on soft drink consumption. Soft drinks are how the majority of Americans consume ~~mainline~~ HFCS. Soda, it turns out, contributes to the rise in obesity due to the large amount of non-nutritious calories in the beverage. Other studies have indicated that appetite, which decreases after eating, actually decreases less when drinking fructose sweetened beverages, which leads to eating more.

The ultimate take home message, is not the debate that HFCS is just like sugar, but that we should all avoid consuming large quantities of empty calories.

For a little more science on the subject check out this video spoof of the pro HFCS popsicle ad.

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The Skinny On: High Fructose Corn Syrup

FitSugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:30:00 PDT

When I started reading food labels, way back when, I must admit that I thought high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was made out of fruit, because of the "fructose," as well as corn. Now that I have been schooled over the years, I know that this sweetener is made from cornstarch that goes through a serious amount of processing.

The Corn Refiners Association has started the sweet surprise ad campaign to try to reclaim consumers' hearts and dollars. Corn and all its permutations have been getting a bad rap of late, from sources like the documentary King Corn and Michael Pollan's treatise on eating In Defense of Food. The parallel growth of HFCS consumption and the obesity epidemic is the stuff from which seemingly correct, but nevertheless faulty armchair science is formed. Recent studies have found that HFCS as an ingredient isn't solely to blame for the obesity epidemic, since the human body processes HFCS and sugar in the same way and that they have the same caloric load.

To see how high fructose corn syrup differs from sugar, just

The truth is though that HFCS is not chemically the same as sugar. Sugar is sucrose and HFCS is made from glucose and fructose, but not a single molecule of sucrose. Fructose turns into fat in the liver, which is not healthy because it is not broken down earlier in the digestion process. Fructose has a negative impact on insulin and the hunger hormone leptin creating increased appetite. Even though HFCS is made from cornstarch degraded into glucose by using chemicals or enzymes degraded, then altered again with enzymes to convert fractions of glucose into fructose, it can still be labeled natural according to the FDA. This is as long as no synthetic fixing agents touch the sweet syrup in the manufacturing process.

The truth is that even after all that ecologically devastating processing, HFCS is cheaper to produce than sugar. In fact, the average American consumes 78 pounds of it a year and 500 of it calories a day. Cheap processed ingredients make inexpensive processed foods, and because they are cheap, widely available, with long shelf lives, more and more processed food is eaten. Leading to overeating foods that don't offer much nutritionally.

Once again, moderation is the key when it comes to any sweetener, processed or natural. Just like they say in those sweet surprise ads. If you need some corn in your life, why not just eat straight off the cob?

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