I'm noticing a spat of commercials recently touting the harmless nature of high fructose sweeteners in foods. Take, for example, the commercial above. A children's party and one of the moms is filling a glass with some type of bright red slop to give to the little darlings. The other mom expresses concern but can't seem to come up with a reason other than she had heard that high fructose syrup isn't all that wholesome. The other mother counters that the high fructose is just like sugar, it's all natural because it comes from corn, it's perfectly okay in moderation, and surely the benevolent corn industry wouldn't sell something that would be bad for the kiddies. The needlessly worrying mom realizes she was mistaken about her preconceptions of corn syrup and, I suppose, gives a brimming glass of goodness to her own overweight kid that comes waddling overWhat utter bullshit!
First of all, high fructose corn syrup isn't the Karo syrup that grandma used to bake pecan pies. This stuff is the result of a lot of manufacturing and is about as "natural" as a styrofoam cup. Your body doesn't treat it like sugar, which is metabolized by the cells in your body, high fructose sweetener is metabolized by the liver...which can cause all kinds of nasty things. This stuff came out in the late 70's and we saw the beginnings of skyrocketing levels of obesity and diabetes at the same time. Just a whacky coincidence, I know.
As for use in moderation...well...that's pretty much impossible these days if you buy your food at a grocery. See, high fructose corn syrup is CHEAP and it is in everything...and I mean every processed food you buy. That cup of punch the lady is pouring has about 7 teaspoons of the stuff. A slice of bread is loaded with the crap. Think you're staying on your diet by eating low fat foods? Guess again. They are crammed with more sweetener that you can find at any desert bar. We literally eat pounds of this sweetener every day. Saying that this stuff isn't any more harmful than sugar is like saying that Winston is no more harmful than Salem. Sugar is not good for you in great amounts. High fructose corn syrup is not good for you in great amounts. The food manufacturing business guarantees that you will will receive insanely high amounts of high fructose with nearly everything you eat.
The corn industry....and it is an industry, not farmer Brown growing a few acres of corn and taters for the local market....is selling us a bill of goods. They don't give a rat's ass about your health, or your kids, or the fact that you're getting fat as a hog and might die thirty years before you should. It's about money.
Do I have an answer?
Hell no. Short of growing my own food, I don't know how to get around not eating stuff with high fructose sweeteners. Maybe if more people demanded less in the foods there would be a market for foods without the sweeteners.
I kinda think that's why the corn industry has started spending millions on these ads....to convince you that you have nothing to worry about.
3 comments:
I totally agree with you Jay. That crap is in everything we eat. The answer: eat fruits and vegetables, chicken, fish, and read the labels before you buy something. You will be amazed at all the shit they put in our food.
I have seen those commercials. They seem to make sense, HFCS is a good thing, just do it in moderation. That sounds good BUT, if people actually start looking at lables and see that HFCS is in almost everything we eat, how can we do moderation?
I agree with Hawaika, just start checking labels and find alternatives.
T
Hawaika...It seems I spend most of my time in the grocery reading labels these days. Feels like I'm back in organic chem class.
Terry...Yeah, that's the thing. Most every food is good for you; even alcohol is beneficial in modest amounts. But since HFCS is loaded in so many things, it's like you're binging on the stuff every day.
Post a Comment