HEALTH: High-fructose corn syrup is everywhere in our diet - and that's raising concern (DIET, RECIPES)

[Guest guest]

High-fructose corn syrup is everywhere in our diet - and that's raising

concern

By MICHAEL PRECKER

The Dallas Morning News

 

Who knew corn could be so sweet? Who knew corn could be so controversial?

 

The same food that gives us muffins, grits and tamales now accounts for

about half of the added sugars that Americans consume each day.

 

Most of it – about 60 pounds per person per year – is in the form of

high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. You can't buy it for your pancakes,

but HFCS sweetens everything from soft drinks to ketchup, yogurt to

bread, bacon to ice cream.

 

Backers say it's economical, domestically produced and in many ways

superior to the cane sugar that it often replaces.

 

" HFCS actually enhances fruit flavors, " says Audrae Erickson, president

of the Corn Refiners Association, an industry trade group. " It gives a

browning color to breads. Because it doesn't crystallize like sugar, it

helps products retain their moisture, which lends a chewy texture to

cookies and breakfast bars. "

 

The benefits go on and on, she says, at a lower cost to consumers than

sugar and with no nutritional difference: 4 calories per gram.

 

Some scientists aren't so sanguine.

 

" This is 5 to 10 percent of the calorie intake of every American, " says

Dr. Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North

Carolina in Chapel Hill. " We really should be studying it more. "

 

Dr. Popkin and other researchers have published studies noting that the

increase in HFCS consumption has mirrored the country's rising tide of

obesity and questioning whether fructose's effect on the body may be a

factor.

 

Politicians and pundits are entering the fray. In Florida, Rep. Juan

Zapata called HFCS the " crack of sweeteners " and proposed legislation to

ban sales of anything containing it in schools.

 

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently wrote that Americans

need to cut down on sugary drinks and fired this broadside:

 

" Our government needs to do much more to control potentially deadly

substances – plutonium, anthrax and high fructose corn syrup. "

Seavey of the American Council on Science and Health shot back with

a column headlined " Kristof goes berserk over high fructose corn syrup. "

 

Last month the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer

group that crusades against junk food, threatened to sue Cadbury

Schweppes for calling 7UP " all natural. " The soft drink, which has no

fruit juice, is sweetened with HFCS.

 

" High-fructose corn syrup isn't something you could cook up from a

bushel of corn in your kitchen, unless you happen to be equipped with

centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns and buckets of enzymes, "

said the center's director, Michael Jacobson.

 

" It's a very hot topic, " says Cynthanne Duryea, a dietitian at the

Cooper Clinic in Dallas. " We haven't seen the end of this. "

 

The food industry insists there is no danger. Ms. Erickson says her

organization is " working very hard to get out the message of what HFCS

is. There's a lot of misunderstanding. "

 

Can we clear it all up? Probably not. But let's examine the issue, a

kernel at a time.

 

The sugar saga

 

Our national sweet tooth used to depend on sugar made from cane or

beets. That's sucrose, the white grainy stuff in your sugar bowl. In the

late 1960s, Japanese scientists figured out how to use enzymes to break

down cornstarch into HFCS, which was just as sweet.

 

That was great news for American farmers, who had another outlet for

their corn crop, and for food manufacturers, who saved money by changing

to corn sweeteners.

 

The switch was on, with soft drinks leading the way. Check the labels at

the supermarket, and you'll see that HFCS has replaced sugar on a long

list of foods.

 

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, the average

American consumed no HFCS in 1966, 10.8 pounds in 1978, 50.3 pounds in

1991 and about 60 pounds a year today. By the mid-1980s, HFCS

consumption passed refined sugar.

 

" It's such a cheap and high-sweetness item that the food industry is

figuring out more and more ways to use it, " Dr. Popkin says. " You'd be

surprised how much of what you consume has it. "

 

So what's the problem? As we've devoured more HFCS, we've also gotten

fatter. That's merely circumstantial evidence, but here's the argument:

 

" HFCS is implicated in the obesity epidemic because it made calories

cheaper, " says Greg Critser, author of Fat Land: How Americans Became

the Fattest People in the World (Mariner Books, $13).

 

" It made it possible to turn an 8-ounce Coke into a 16-ounce Coke for

the same amount of money and then market it, so people drink more

calories. "

 

So little bottles of soda became Big Gulps with free refills. Kids and

their parents chose high-calorie, no-nutrition soft drinks over healthy

milk and juice. Candy and sweet junk food became cheaper and more

plentiful – and Americans got fatter every year.

 

But beyond the math of calorie intake is a scientific argument. Dr.

Popkin and others have published studies suggesting that, more than

other sugars, fructose may increase triglyceride levels in the

bloodstream and may not produce the hormones that tell the brain you're

full.

 

Thus, the theory goes, HFCS might not be putting the normal brakes on

your appetite.

 

A study at the University of Cincinnati made news last year by

suggesting that HFCS might cause the body to store more fat. But the

conclusions were based on the results of feeding fructose-sweetened

water to mice.

 

Defending HFCS

 

The corn and beverage industries think all the above is nonsense. Ms.

Erickson notes that obesity is rising in places that use little or no

HFCS, including Europe and Japan.

 

" We're consuming too many calories and not getting enough exercise, " Ms.

Erickson says. Critics are " trying to link HFCS as a unique contributor

to obesity, and research has found the opposite to be true. "

 

A recent study by Dr. James Rippe of Tufts University – funded by the

company that makes Pepsi – concluded that the body handles HFCS no

differently than table sugar.

 

He says the term high fructose corn syrup is " a misnomer, as it makes

people think there is much more fructose in HFCS than sugar. "

 

Food industry defenders note that much of the research casting doubt on

HFCS has been done with pure fructose. Table sugar (sucrose) is half

fructose, half glucose. HFCS is usually 55 percent fructose.

 

But even those five extra percentage points, Mr. Critser says, are " an

important increment " that needs more study.

 

Dr. Popkin says he's disappointed that more studies aren't being carried

out. One reason, he says, is that much of the funding for food research

comes from the food industry.

 

" They don't like to study adverse effects, " he says. " If we thought HFCS

had huge benefits, if it prevented cancer, then we'd be studying it. "

 

Reduce added sugars

So what's a sweet-toothed, scale-tipping American to do? Dr. Jacobson,

who thinks obesity is a national health crisis, says the culprit isn't

specifically HFCS.

 

It's all kinds of added sugars.

 

" If soda were still sweetened with sucrose, we would have the same

problem, " he says. " I haven't seen evidence that HFCS poses a greater

threat than sucrose. "

 

The first step to cutting down added sugar, he says, is to know how much

sugar has been added. The center has asked the government to recommend a

daily limit and then put the information on food labels, just as it does

for fat and nutrients.

 

For the average person, Dr. Jacobson says, that should be 10 teaspoons

of added sugar per day. Does that sound like a lot?

 

" That's how much there is in one can of Coke, " Dr. Jacobson says.

 

 

HOW TO CUT THE SUGAR

Cynthanne Duryea, a dietitian at the Cooper Clinic, says added sugars

should be limited to about 10 percent of your daily calories. Here are

some of her tips for trimming sugar intake without making major changes:

 

Read labels.

Sugar can be disguised. If the ingredient ends in " ose, " it's probably a

form of sugar. Check portion sizes. Don't buy cereal with more than 8

grams of sugar per serving. Buy treats in individual packages, such as

100-calorie snack packs, for built-in portion control.

 

Dilute.

Combine a package of unsweetened instant oatmeal with one that's

sweetened. When dining out, share those desserts.

 

Substitute.

Drink diet sodas or flavored sparkling water. Instead of drinking a

whole glass of lemonade, add a small amount of lemonade to iced tea.

Bake with Splenda, or replace 1/4 cup of sugar with a mashed banana.

 

Budget.

If you really want to indulge, save your sugar allowance for a few days

and spend it all at once.

 

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/healthyliving2/stories/060606dnl\

ivNH_cornsyrup.10a8b837.html

 

***

[Guest guest]

Not to mention what HFCS does to kids!! I finally realized once a few years ago

that it made my then 5 year old son just ping off the walls. After doing hours

and hours of research online and really reading labels when grocery shopping I

came to realize that HFCS is in almost every thing that is consumable!! It's

just crazy! And I think it's a vicious cycle....parents give children the quick

fix of pop...(although with us only on occasion-how I realized), then get upset

with them for not sitting still!!

 

~V~

 

wildmouse <wildmouse wrote:

High-fructose corn syrup is everywhere in our diet - and that's raising

concern

By MICHAEL PRECKER

The Dallas Morning News

 

Who knew corn could be so sweet? Who knew corn could be so controversial?

 

The same food that gives us muffins, grits and tamales now accounts for

about half of the added sugars that Americans consume each day.

 

Most of it – about 60 pounds per person per year – is in the form of

high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS. You can't buy it for your pancakes,

but HFCS sweetens everything from soft drinks to ketchup, yogurt to

bread, bacon to ice cream.

 

Backers say it's economical, domestically produced and in many ways

superior to the cane sugar that it often replaces.

 

" HFCS actually enhances fruit flavors, " says Audrae Erickson, president

of the Corn Refiners Association, an industry trade group. " It gives a

browning color to breads. Because it doesn't crystallize like sugar, it

helps products retain their moisture, which lends a chewy texture to

cookies and breakfast bars. "

 

The benefits go on and on, she says, at a lower cost to consumers than

sugar and with no nutritional difference: 4 calories per gram.

 

Some scientists aren't so sanguine.

 

" This is 5 to 10 percent of the calorie intake of every American, " says

Dr. Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North

Carolina in Chapel Hill. " We really should be studying it more. "

 

Dr. Popkin and other researchers have published studies noting that the

increase in HFCS consumption has mirrored the country's rising tide of

obesity and questioning whether fructose's effect on the body may be a

factor.

 

Politicians and pundits are entering the fray. In Florida, Rep. Juan

Zapata called HFCS the " crack of sweeteners " and proposed legislation to

ban sales of anything containing it in schools.

 

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently wrote that Americans

need to cut down on sugary drinks and fired this broadside:

 

" Our government needs to do much more to control potentially deadly

substances – plutonium, anthrax and high fructose corn syrup. "

Seavey of the American Council on Science and Health shot back with

a column headlined " Kristof goes berserk over high fructose corn syrup. "

 

Last month the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer

group that crusades against junk food, threatened to sue Cadbury

Schweppes for calling 7UP " all natural. " The soft drink, which has no

fruit juice, is sweetened with HFCS.

 

" High-fructose corn syrup isn't something you could cook up from a

bushel of corn in your kitchen, unless you happen to be equipped with

centrifuges, hydroclones, ion-exchange columns and buckets of enzymes, "

said the center's director, Michael Jacobson.

 

" It's a very hot topic, " says Cynthanne Duryea, a dietitian at the

Cooper Clinic in Dallas. " We haven't seen the end of this. "

 

The food industry insists there is no danger. Ms. Erickson says her

organization is " working very hard to get out the message of what HFCS

is. There's a lot of misunderstanding. "

 

Can we clear it all up? Probably not. But let's examine the issue, a

kernel at a time.

 

The sugar saga

 

Our national sweet tooth used to depend on sugar made from cane or

beets. That's sucrose, the white grainy stuff in your sugar bowl. In the

late 1960s, Japanese scientists figured out how to use enzymes to break

down cornstarch into HFCS, which was just as sweet.

 

That was great news for American farmers, who had another outlet for

their corn crop, and for food manufacturers, who saved money by changing

to corn sweeteners.

 

The switch was on, with soft drinks leading the way. Check the labels at

the supermarket, and you'll see that HFCS has replaced sugar on a long

list of foods.

 

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, the average

American consumed no HFCS in 1966, 10.8 pounds in 1978, 50.3 pounds in

1991 and about 60 pounds a year today. By the mid-1980s, HFCS

consumption passed refined sugar.

 

" It's such a cheap and high-sweetness item that the food industry is

figuring out more and more ways to use it, " Dr. Popkin says. " You'd be

surprised how much of what you consume has it. "

 

So what's the problem? As we've devoured more HFCS, we've also gotten

fatter. That's merely circumstantial evidence, but here's the argument:

 

" HFCS is implicated in the obesity epidemic because it made calories

cheaper, " says Greg Critser, author of Fat Land: How Americans Became

the Fattest People in the World (Mariner Books, $13).

 

" It made it possible to turn an 8-ounce Coke into a 16-ounce Coke for

the same amount of money and then market it, so people drink more

calories. "

 

So little bottles of soda became Big Gulps with free refills. Kids and

their parents chose high-calorie, no-nutrition soft drinks over healthy

milk and juice. Candy and sweet junk food became cheaper and more

plentiful – and Americans got fatter every year.

 

But beyond the math of calorie intake is a scientific argument. Dr.

Popkin and others have published studies suggesting that, more than

other sugars, fructose may increase triglyceride levels in the

bloodstream and may not produce the hormones that tell the brain you're

full.

 

Thus, the theory goes, HFCS might not be putting the normal brakes on

your appetite.

 

A study at the University of Cincinnati made news last year by

suggesting that HFCS might cause the body to store more fat. But the

conclusions were based on the results of feeding fructose-sweetened

water to mice.

 

Defending HFCS

 

The corn and beverage industries think all the above is nonsense. Ms.

Erickson notes that obesity is rising in places that use little or no

HFCS, including Europe and Japan.

 

" We're consuming too many calories and not getting enough exercise, " Ms.

Erickson says. Critics are " trying to link HFCS as a unique contributor

to obesity, and research has found the opposite to be true. "

 

A recent study by Dr. James Rippe of Tufts University – funded by the

company that makes Pepsi – concluded that the body handles HFCS no

differently than table sugar.

 

He says the term high fructose corn syrup is " a misnomer, as it makes

people think there is much more fructose in HFCS than sugar. "

 

Food industry defenders note that much of the research casting doubt on

HFCS has been done with pure fructose. Table sugar (sucrose) is half

fructose, half glucose. HFCS is usually 55 percent fructose.

 

But even those five extra percentage points, Mr. Critser says, are " an

important increment " that needs more study.

 

Dr. Popkin says he's disappointed that more studies aren't being carried

out. One reason, he says, is that much of the funding for food research

comes from the food industry.

 

" They don't like to study adverse effects, " he says. " If we thought HFCS

had huge benefits, if it prevented cancer, then we'd be studying it. "

 

Reduce added sugars

So what's a sweet-toothed, scale-tipping American to do? Dr. Jacobson,

who thinks obesity is a national health crisis, says the culprit isn't

specifically HFCS.

 

It's all kinds of added sugars.

 

" If soda were still sweetened with sucrose, we would have the same

problem, " he says. " I haven't seen evidence that HFCS poses a greater

threat than sucrose. "

 

The first step to cutting down added sugar, he says, is to know how much

sugar has been added. The center has asked the government to recommend a

daily limit and then put the information on food labels, just as it does

for fat and nutrients.

 

For the average person, Dr. Jacobson says, that should be 10 teaspoons

of added sugar per day. Does that sound like a lot?

 

" That's how much there is in one can of Coke, " Dr. Jacobson says.

 

 

HOW TO CUT THE SUGAR

Cynthanne Duryea, a dietitian at the Cooper Clinic, says added sugars

should be limited to about 10 percent of your daily calories. Here are

some of her tips for trimming sugar intake without making major changes:

 

Read labels.

Sugar can be disguised. If the ingredient ends in " ose, " it's probably a

form of sugar. Check portion sizes. Don't buy cereal with more than 8

grams of sugar per serving. Buy treats in individual packages, such as

100-calorie snack packs, for built-in portion control.

 

Dilute.

Combine a package of unsweetened instant oatmeal with one that's

sweetened. When dining out, share those desserts.

 

Substitute.

Drink diet sodas or flavored sparkling water. Instead of drinking a

whole glass of lemonade, add a small amount of lemonade to iced tea.

Bake with Splenda, or replace 1/4 cup of sugar with a mashed banana.

 

Budget.

If you really want to indulge, save your sugar allowance for a few days

and spend it all at once.

 

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/healthyliving2/stories/060606dnl\

ivNH_cornsyrup.10a8b837.html

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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