Comments on: High Fructose Corn Syrup — The Debate Goes On

By: Alejandro

Alejandro

I stay completely away from processed foods now, and for the main reason that a lot of the ingredients are corn derived products. Last year I was diagnosed with a food born allergy. When I had an allergy test done, I found out that I am allergic to corn. Now when I go grocery shopping, I spend a lot of time reading labels looking for the obvious and not so obvious corn products, like dextrose and maltodextrin.

By: Michelle

Michelle

Does anyone remember a “butter” commercial from the 70′s – “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” Well, I tend to think of it more and more often with all of the new things they want to sell us. I’m currently reading a book on food allergies and it says our government doesn’t make companies prove it is safe for consumption and only reacts when it’s proven, after time. to harm us. I think I’ll stick to Grandma’s old recipes with REAL food ingredients.

By: Fred S.

Fred S.

I agree with you Shirley about high fructose corn syrup. I think it is something to avoid for several reasons. One of them is the “gmo factor” — I want to be able to make my own choice about eating gmo food and I don’t like having it hidden in the food through ingredients like hfcs. Another reason is the “allergy factor” — as far as I know sugar is not a significant allergen, but corn is one of the “big 8″ and now thanks to hfcs it is being added to many many foods the same way soybean and wheat are.

By: Philippa

Philippa

“high fructose corn syrup is no more unhealthy than cane sugar if it is eaten in moderation.” I’m more inclined to think that the AMA isn’t wrong with this statement – most of us are far too addicted to sugary foods to be sufficiently concerned about the dangers of sugar in the diet – whether it’s from cane or any other source. While there is a chemical difference between the fructose & sucrose content of various sweeteners, the real problem is that people are eating sweetened foods WAY too often.

By: Beth

Beth

The most convincing argument I’ve heard for avoiding HFCS is that it is not processed by the body in the same way that regular sugar is. The body cannot process it – which means that the Serotonin/Tryptophan magic that brings you happy juice is skipped and the sugar is converted directly into fat. So not only does it make fat without the opportunity of processing, but it deprives the body of important brain chemicals.

By: Dionne Obeso

Dionne Obeso

I just discovered your website, and am enjoying the blog very much. This post in particular caught my eye because when the ads started airing when I was away at a conference, and had access to a TV (we don’t watch at home). The ads made me physically sick to my stomach because of the misinformation that they are spreading.

When I stopped eating high fructose corn syrup, without any other changes to by diet, I dropped 20 pounds of excess weight and felt better than ever. I still buy some processed foods, like pasta sauces, but I always read the label and make choices based on what has the most natural ingredient list without HFCS in it. Nothing good can come from having that much chemical sweetener in my body.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl

Your comment “…. if high fructose corn syrup is no more unhealthy than sugar… would anyone choose to eat an equal amount of sugar?” is what really resonates with me. I don’t know enough about the rest of the chemical makeup or processes to be able to respond intelligently, but I would not put that much sugar in anything. And so often it is one of the main ingredients, if not *the* main ingredient – blek.

I’ve been noting the Cargill ads on NPR, too – amazing how they believe they can market *anything* to us and we’ll just accept it. Unfortunately, it’s often true.

By: Karen

Karen

When I pointed the ads out to my husband, it became clear that he was unaware of any concerns about HFCS! As with anything, there can be differing points of view, but he didn’t even know that some people are concerned about it. I was shocked!

By: Jo

I have always had problems with my stomach and FINALLY after seeing a specialist and getting tested I found out that I am Fructose Intollerant. I cannot have ANYTHING that has HFCS in it. My 1st 2weeks I was trying to read labels and realizing that pretty much everything in our house I could not eat. HFCS a ‘natural’ sweetner, whatever! They told me it was because of that stuff that I can’t digest any kind of sugar…not even fruit and some vegies.

By: Marigene

Marigene

I try to make everything from scratch so that I know what we are eating, plus most of the time it is cheaper.