In all honesty, I hadn’t heard the buzz about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) until I took part in the Mamavation campaign. Through that campaign I heard how evil HFCS was and that it should be avoided because it is a major cause of weight gain. I am not one to jump in with both feet without doing my own research but I did work to remove all beverages from my diet that included HFCS, it was too inconvenient to eliminate all the foods too.
While I was doing my research I saw the new television ad by the Corn Refiners Association which state that HFCS isn’t any worse than other sugars…hmmm. More food for thought.
Then earlier this month I attended a webinar put on by the Corn Refiners Association and hosted by Amy Bair of Resourceful Mommy Media. The attendees were all mom bloggers who were interested in the topic. The panel that spoke to us was made up of doctors and dietitians. We were shown molecular models, charts, graphs and quotes to help us understand that High Fructose Corn Syrup, which by the way-isn’t high in fructose, is treated by the body just like other sugars. The human body cannot differentiate between HFCS and sucrose.
Michael Jacobson Ph. D., Executive Director of The Center for Science in the Public Interest stated that “To pretend that a product sweetened with sugar is healthier than a product sweetened by high fructose corn syrup is totally misguided.”
“The switch from High Fructose Corn Syrup to Pure Cane Sugar is 100% marketing and 0% science.” according to David Ludwig, Director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
After attending the webinar, which was very educational, I have personally decided that sugar is sugar. It doesn’t matter if it comes from corn, sugar cane, or bees-the human body processes it identically-so why should I pick one sugar over another. What we need to do is reduce our sugar intake across the board. What do you think? Have you done your research? Please leave me a comment and let me know.
Disclosure: The information shared was provided by the Corn Refiners Association. I have been compensated for writing this blog post. All opinions are my own
Hi,
I don’t quite know how to write this without sounding patronizing or
condescending, but I find the CRA’s strategy, to use mombloggers to
help them sell HFCS, rather desperate.
I have been doing research on HFCS for the last three years.
The problem with talking about HFCS is that it is not just one syrup.
According to Archer-Daniels-Midland, producer of HFCS, they make
three
Cornsweet 42,
Conrsweet 55, used for soda
Cornsweet 90, intensely sweet, used for low-cal foods and beverages.
The numbers reflect the percentage of fructose in the sweetener.
Therefore Cornsweet 90 is 90% fructose. This challenges the CRA’s
statement that HFCS is not “high” in fructose, when one of their
products surely is high in fructose compared to table sugar, sucrose, which has 50% fructose.
I will understand that you might not want to post my comment.
But, please, for your and your family’s sake, try avoiding HFCS
as much as you can, especially all national brands of soda which
are sweetened with HFCS-55. In every American Coke there is, compared to glucose, 22% more fructose.
Take care,
Cynthia Papierniak, M.S.