I am really excited that other people want to participate in the HFCS challenge this month! My interest in doing this particular challenge came when I started reading In Defense of Food (which I haven’t finished yet) and I learned more about the nastiness and abundance of refined foods in my own diet. One of Pollan’s recommendations is to avoid products with HFCS, not because HFCS is necessarily harmful in and of itself, but rather because its presence in a product means the product is so processed that it “may no longer be what it purpots to be.” (p 151). Using bread as an example, Pollan examines the ingredients to show that the end products contains a whole lot of stuff other than “bread.” It’s really quite fascinating how far away from “food” what I eat on a daily basis is, and I’m fairly healthy!
Now, I am just a regular consumer of information so it was important for me to investigate HFCS further in order to fully understand why I think this is an important food challenge.
First, I didn’t really know about the different kinds of sugar. Pollan (p. 105) quickly defines the various types of sugar as follows:
- Glucose: sugar molecule that is the body’s main source of energy.
- Fructose: a different form of sugar usually found in fruit.
- Sucrose: table sugar made of a molecule of fructose and a molecule of glucose.
Second, I wanted to know exactly what HFCS and Corn Syrup are. Both are processed sweeteners.
- Corn Syrup is a liquid obtained from corn that is a combination of maltose, glucose, and dextrose.
- High Fructose Corn Syrup is a sweetener and preservative used in many processed foods. It is made by changing the sugar in cornstarch to fructose.
Third, I wanted to know why HFCS is so bad for me. VeggieGirl and Caitlin each provided great links which can be accessed here and here that have lots of great info.
I also found this link which discusses some information from YOU on a Diet by Dr. Oz of Oprah fame. According to the site:
“HFCS is found in most processed foods today. It is six times as sweet as cane sugar, very cheap to produce, and therefore very cheap to use in food manufacturing. It aids in shelf life so it is found in most convenience foods, frozen foods, processed foods, and is present in foods labeled as “low-fat”. It is especially prevalent in sodas and low-fat salad dressings. HFCS is not processed by the brain as regular food.
What happens when you eat foods with this ingredient is since your body doesn’t “see” the fructose, you keep eating because your brain doesn’t get the signal that you’re full! The HFCS doesn’t turn off the hunger signals in your brain, therefore you can end up consuming large amounts of these low-fat labeled foods (or any food containing HFCS), while taking in a high amount of calories.
One step that you can take to aid your brain in telling you that you are full is to avoid eating foods that have High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, or Fructose listed as one of their top four ingredients. If you presently don’t read labels, you will be surprised to discover just how many foods contain these ingredients. If you make only this one change in your eating habits, you will be knocking out a large percentage of foods that are not only unhealthy for you, but that you will more than likely overeat since you will continue to feel hungry and want more and more.”
I am assuming this recommendation does not mean avoiding an apple, which contains fructose, but rather things in a box with an ingredient list. In light of this information, I am stepping up my challenge. My goal is to avoid HFCS, CS and F all month. In doing so, I will probably be avoiding most processed foods, which is my ultimate goal. I think it would be silly of me to avoid HFCS while giving CS the green light. I think that is one themes of In Defense of Food: think for yourself and make reasonable decisions. Just because someone says HFCS is bad or good or Corn Syrup is bad or good doesn’t make the food containing that ingredient magically wonderful or magically the devil (well, maybe the devil).
Even without knowing anything about HFCS or CS what makes more sense: eating an apple or eating a package of Twinkies?
