High-Fructose Corn Syrup: the Devil's Sweetener

[drscott]

I rant a lot about this topic. To buy farm votes, Congress not only subsidizes ethanol (made from corn) for gasohol -- at a cost in energy and soil damage higher than the energy content of the resulting ethanol -- but Congress blocks import of sugar to make certain sugar farmers rich. In turn, the price umbrella created a huge market for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), a sweetening additive which in the last few decades has been used as a substitute for sugar in most processed foods, from soft drinks to supposedly healthy yogurts to baked goods and jams.

Here's the recent paper which suggests a direct link. Here's a news article on the recent research showing a doubling of diabetes risk in women who drink at least one soft drink a day.

If you want a single group to blame for American obesity, blame Congress.

If you want to lose weight, seek out whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and drink either water or diet sodas. Fruit juices in moderation are okay, but beware: most of what is sold as fruit juice has added HFCS. Read labels very closely.

Comments

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was very noticeable. When Coke was an elixir you got at the drugstore from a soda jerk, it was served in small, very sweet quantities, complete with cherry syrup or other mixins. It was no threat to anyone's diet because you didn't drink liters of it a day. Now you can rot your teeth and get fat on Big Gulps that don't taste anything like as good; not an improvement. Another example of trading quantity for aesthetic satisfaction, to the detriment of your health.

As for artificial sweeteners, sucralose aka "Splenda" is pretty decent.