High Fructose Corn Syrup - Friend or Foe?

You decide...



So I was laughing out loud by the end, grabbed Jord’s arm and said, “Please never let me be ‘that woman’!” Ha! Okay, we’ve all got similar goals, we trying to get them fed, bathed and still alive by bedtime, all the while without scarring them for life with our issues. Gotcha. So that includes doing our best to make the right dietary decisions for them.

You know what? The mom that “fired back” was RIGHT! High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is sugar, it’s made from corn, it’s made by scientists, and most who go spouting how horrible it is, are looking for another “scapegoat” for our unhealthy society. HFCS in and of itself has not been proven to make your kids fat, unhealthy or give them cancer or Diabetes. Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy! No more HFCS – Poof! The world is cured of all disease, and your kids will now behave in public! I digress…

A couple of facts: HFCS consumption has increased 4000% from 1974 to 2000. Roughly 1.5lbs per to 62.7lbs per capita. FOUR THOUSAND PERCENT!!! SO, it would be safe to assume that HFCS is making our kids fat. WRONG. We can assume that WE are making our kids fat and WE are making OURSELVES fat! Pretty sure it has more to do with our sinful selves needing more and more…and more, and being afraid to tell our children "NO", than some poor scientists’ evil scheme to poison our children and make us all fat.

It is also known, that High Fructose intakes may cause hypertriglyceridemia and gastrointestinal symptoms in susceptible individuals, remedy – drink fructose (yes, including that stuff we get in fruit and fruit juice) in moderation, and don’t give it to kids under 1 yr (those are the ‘susceptible’ ones). Too much fructose can lead to malabsorption by the body and a build up of fructose in your system – again – moderation anybody?

As the Nutritional Head of my household, I choose to avoid HFCS for my family and myself. Am I able to eliminate it completely? No. But we limit it drastically. Here’s why…

Countless studies have shown that limiting added sugars, in general, will help in promoting healthy, happier lifestyles in the long run – especially for our little ones. Most added sugars these days are in the form of HFCS. We know that too many calories leads to being overweight, we also know that most excessive calories are consumed in the form of added sugars. Cutting it out is a great way to limit these excessive calories (especially in the home of “sweet-tooths” and tots). It’s the same reason we choose to use non-nutritive sweeteners in moderation at our home (Splenda, and occasionally Aspartame) because WAY more scientific peer-reviewed studies have linked excessive sugar in the diet to co-morbidities and long-term health detriments, than artificial sweeteners. In fact, 1 study (in over 7000 to date) has linked artificial sweeteners to tumors in rats over 20 years ago, its since been “thrown out” by most of the medical community for inconsistencies… buuut, back to corn syrup…

HFCS is made by scientists in an effort to maintain a more affordable sweetening agent for processed foods (mainly fruit drinks, sodas, cookies, cakes and pies that are shelf stable for millennia). Eerily similar to the creation of Trans fat, which were created as a more affordable fat for processed and convenience foods years ago, and look at how that turned out for us. Trans fats, over time, were proven to be even more harmful than the “natural” form of fat it was created to replace. Which is why we’re encouraged to eliminate Trans fat and limit Saturated fat. Sugar’s been around forever, with no harmful effects ever proven, when consumed in moderation, as part of a healthy, nutrient rich diet. So, I choose the very scientific conclusion here of… “Better safe than sorry.” Ask me in 30 years and I may feel otherwise.

So. Limit total sugars in your diet (especially your growing kids’) and be sure that the foods they are consuming 90% of the time are full of nutrients, in relation to overall calories, and for cryin’ out loud, sodas and Hawaiian punch are a treat, not a source of hydration. Make every calorie count.