Come back to us, sugar! Some food makers dumping corn syrup
After years of debate about the role of high-fructose corn syrup in the obesity epidemic, many food manufacturers are going back to using sugar to sweeten products. For many people, sugar and honey are seen as more natural products than corn syrup, so some food companies are choosing to play up the sugar angle in their marketing efforts. Con Agra, Pepsi and Kraft Foods are among those switching to sugar for some products.
That's an interesting change from the bad rap sugar has gotten in the past. Sugar has been blamed for causing weight gain and hyperactive behavior. Now corn syrup is being blamed for various ills. "Sugar was the old devil, and high-fructose corn syrup is the new devil, Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at market researcher Mintel International, told the New York Times.
Scientists say eating too much of either substance isn't good. Apparently American adults ate 44 pounds of sugar in 2007 and 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup. I feel my blood sugar rising just thinking about that.
The Corn Refiners Association has run ads defending the use of corn syrup in recent months, while the Sugar Association has taken a break from a campaign to highlight the fact that sugar is naturally found in fruits and vegetables because of growing acceptance of the sweetener.
Like so many other things when it comes to diet and nutrition, the conflicting messages about sugar and corn syrup are bound to confuse a lot of folks. The best thing you can do for your own health is learn to read food labels to understand exactly what you're putting in your mouth. Besides, with all the other chemicals and additives out there, sugar versus corn syrup isn't the only thing to worry about when purchasing food. If I can't pronounce or identify an ingredient, I don't want to eat it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-23-2009 @ 8:27PM
CMR said...
Sugar is Bad..Sugar is Good. Milk is Bad...Milk is Good. Beef is Bad...Beef is good. Eggs are bad...Eggs are Good. :P
Bottom line...they don't know anything about anything and they need to SHUT UP!!!! They're all too busy jumping to conclusions instead of actually doing complete research. If I listened to anything they said, I would be starving, naked, homeless, and living on the moon in a vacuum bubble.
Reply
3-23-2009 @ 8:35PM
pat said...
It's about time they get rid of high fructose corn syrup. Just like aspartame it is bad news for the body. Even sugar has been proven to be harmful for your arteries and heart. You have to do your homework re: the old expression, "you are what you eat."
Reply
3-23-2009 @ 8:38PM
Jennifer said...
Thanks Kraft! I was one of the many emails you received about corn syrup.. Thanks for listening!
Reply
4-15-2009 @ 11:13AM
mentalpestilence said...
As Kathleen J Melanson et al state in their December 2008 article, " although Fructose is present in fruit, honey, and some other carbohydrate sources, the quantities consumed from these sources are not as large as is found in foods and beverages sweetened by HFCS".
In contrast, the most common sugar in nature is Glucose. Glucose comes in the form of starch (in plants) and glycogen (in animals). Glucose and Fructose have inherent differences in their chemical properties. Within the stomach, they use different transport channels to enter the body. Glucose can activate insulin release, but fructose can't. Also, Fructose can bypass a critical step in fat synthesis that Glucose cannot.
The current research also suggests Fructose plays a much more noxious role than was previously assumed. For example, many studies have demonstrated that Fructose effectively inhibits the feeling of fullness while eating. "Stimulation of the AMPK/malonyl-CoA signaling pathway from fructose leads to more eating, while glucose intake leads to less eating, as glucose levels rise in the brain" states Kathleen Blanchard RN reflecting on recent research out of Johns Hopkins University.
Increased Fructose consumption has also been shown to decrease Leptin concentrations. Leptin is a hormone that regulates appetite throughout the day and is associated with energy expenditure. Therefore, as Kimber L Stanhope and Peter J Havel suggest prolonged Fructose consumption could be "contributing to weight gain and obesity as a result of reduced insulin and leptin signaling in the brain".
As George A. Bray, MD, stated, "it is interesting to note that nature did not select fructose to circulate in the blood." "Human milk has essentially no fructose, nor do the foods that comprise most traditional diets."
www.mentalpestilence.com
Reply