What could tomato paste, chocolate milk and cold medicine (amongst countless other supermarket products) potentially have in common? The answer is corn, and more specifically, High Fructose Corn Syrup (also known as HFCS). Perhaps you have seen the ads for HFCS or maybe you have spotted this commonly used ingredient on your food package. Some believe that HFCS is a contributor to the growing rate of obesity and type 2 diabetes in our country. While others, including the FDA, claim it is a completely safe product to consume. What are the facts about HFCS and should you eat it?
HFCS is made (in brief) by processing corn starch to corn syrup and further processing that corn syrup using genetically modified enzymes. This enzymatic process yields a high fructose mixture, to which additional corn syrup is added, ultimately creating what we know as a high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Despite the lengthy process to make it, HFCS was invented as a cheaper alternative to sugar and is now used in countless processed foods. It is an estimated 30% cheaper than the cost of both honey and sucrose, with the added benefit of extending the shelf life for many products. This economic advantage of HFCS has been credited to our government subsidy programs for corn farmers. Many believe that this constant (and arguably excessive) supply of corn greatly helps to suppress the cost of HFCS for major food companies.
When consumed in moderation, sweeteners such as fructose, glucose or sucrose won't necessarily hurt you. In fact, glucose (also known as blood sugar) is essential for brain function and needed from food sources to supply energy to the body. HFCS is essentially a mixture of fructose and glucose molecules and moderate consumption shouldn't pose a direct harm on your heath. It is when over consumption of these simple carbohydrates increase, when adverse health affects are more likely to occur.
The stress on moderation of consumption is the pivotal point in the HFCS debate:
Although HFCS contains anywhere from 42-90% fructose*, with the remaining content comprised of glucose, the strongest argument against HFCS is not nutritional content, but that it is excessively used in many foods today. It is argued that consumption is escalating to dangerous levels because it is cheaper for food companies to use HFCS in their products and in turn packaged, processed foods are more affordable and easy to prepare for the consumer.
Although moderate levels of glucose are needed by the body; excessive amounts can create detrimental health concerns such as weight gain, nutritional deficiency and insulin resistance. As a result of long term spikes in blood sugar and excessive weight gain, insulin (our glucose regulator) could begin to fail. When this occurs, the body has less control over the rate in which sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream and the risk of developing diabetes potentially increases. Fructose on the other hand, is not regulated by insulin and is absorbed at a slower rate than glucose. However, when consumed in excessive amounts, it is stored in the body as fat.
Opponents of HFCS correlate these listed health concerns with the increase of this product in our food supply and the growing rate of obesity in our country. At the very least, it is argued that many foods containing HFCS are high in sugars and lower in overall nutritional value, which can on the most minimal level compromise nutritional needs in exchange for empty calories.
Perhaps the policy in which the food industry thrives, the over-consumption of food and a life style that has grown so fast have all contributed to the birth and growth of High Fructose Corn Syrup. It is up to you to look at the label of what you eat, chances are you will find an ear of corn somewhere in the ingredients.
*Fructose is found naturally in fruit, but as a large scale sweetener, wasn't a part of our food supply as a genetically modified product until about 1970. High Fructose Corn Syrup can be listed under various names including HFCS 90, HFCS 42 (number is based on fructose concentrations)
This is a great movie to check out:
http://www.kingcorn.net/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
