[A:http://www.centerforprocessedfreeliving.org/plandee/components/com_podcast/media/DietScience09272010.mp3;High Fructose Corn Syrup is Now Corn Sugar? ] In as last and certainly noticeably desperate path to helping themselves to convince Americans that we’re wrong and they are selling something healthy, the Corn Refiners Association is currently sending a petition before the FDA of the United States requesting the permission to change the name of their notably unhealthy high fructose corn syrup to Corn Sugar, a name that has some connotations of health. It is little if not deliberately misleading to a public already confused by the ramifications of corn syrup.
Over the last decade, the controversial sweetener has been dubbed “the crack of sweeteners” and “liquid Satan” due to its addictive qualities and numerous studies showing it contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, overweight and obesity. Besides being derived from corn, the vast majority of which is genetically modified (genetically modified foods are health hazard in their own right), HFCS also contains detectable levels of mercury.
A 2009 study which was published in Environmental Health showed that nearly half of all of the samples which were tested contained mercury. Another study undertaken by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), which is a watch-dog type group and a non-profit, found that nearly one in three of some fifty plus brand-name cereals, sodas, breads, and other foods “bought off the shelf in the autumn of 2008” contain mercury. This was most often found in products such as dairy products like ice cream and yogurt along with salad dressings and condiments such as ketchup. It appears most often when the first or the second ingredient is HFCS.
How did the mercury get into the HFCS? In the wildly unnatural 15-step chemical process that converts a mild mannered corn kernel into the liquid sweetener, caustic soda (otherwise known as lye) is one ingredient used to separate cornstarch from the corn kernel. Apparently most caustic soda for years has been produced in industrial chlorine plants, where it can be contaminated with mercury that it passes on to the HFCS, and then to consumers. Mercury is a potent brain toxin that accumulates in fish and seafood, and now apparently is in our soda, yogurt, and breads.
Since the time that HFCS was seen for what it was, a highly dangerous substance and one which introduced toxins into the human body, the consumption has lowered in volume, coming to an all time new low. It is projected to continue to decline despite continuous marketing and CRA claims that it is no different than any other type of sugar. Ignoring the claims that mercury is being introduced into young children, the marketing and lobbying continues and the CRA has begun to use the new terminology to describe the products which are in actuality, high fructose corn syrup. While the name change could take up to two years to become standard and approved, the corn producers have already begun to use this terminology in marked attempts to secure a higher market share for a sweetener that clearly has more health ramifications than just inducing obesity. New commercials will tell you that sugar is sugar and your body can’t tell the difference. Realistically, that claim is nothing more than an attempt to confuse the American public with half truths. The reality is that while it may be a variety of sugar, it is not a healthful one and your body knows poison when it sees it and will react to that with disease process.
The simple truth is that this claim is an insult to the intelligence of every American. They believe that we should not know that we can’t always trust the words of the food manufacturers when they tell us something is safe. Their reasoning seems to be that consumers will see the the term “corn sugar” listed on the ingredients and be less concerned because “sugar” sounds more natural than the truth. The truth is that an industrially manipulated combination of fructose and glucose is what you are eating.
According to the CRA, high fructose corn syrup is safe and does not have any higher level of fructose when compared to refined white sugar, honey or fruit juice concentrates. High fructose corn syrup is half glucose and half fructose, just like white sugar is. Despite the evidence to the contrary, the CRA continues to assert that the body metabolizes HFCS in the same way as regular white sugar. This assertion is reminiscent of how the manufacturers of DDT claimed the pesticide was safe right up to the day it was banned.
High fructose corn syrup is different from other forms of sugar. It is different from natural as well as refined sugar in that your body can tell the difference between them, and does so , processing it in an entirely different, and far less healthy way than it does natural or grown sugars. The claims of the CRA are shown to be untrue based strictly on how your body reacts if it is not shown in any other way.
White sugar comes primarily from sugar cane or sugar beets. High-fructose corn syrup is made essentially by soaking corn kernels to extract cornstarch, and using enzymes to turn the glucose in the starch into fructose and is then mixed with regular corn syrup (100% glucose). Although white sugar and HFCS may contain similar concentrations of sucrose and fructose, the CRA’s claim that HFCS contains a similar ratio of fructose and sucrose does not take into account the difference in how the fructose and sucrose are chemically bonded together. Chemical bonding is an important factor in this case.
Whereas beet sugar, can sugar, fruit juices and even honey are all linked in their glucose and fructose in a chemical bonding process the body uses them as a single ingredient which is called sucrose. The high fructose corn syrup lacks that bond. The two chemicals are in no way linked, but enter the body as two separate components which can produce results in the body that are simply not healthful in any way.
Consuming these high amounts of those unbonded fructose-the amounts which are added to the various foods and drinks which we take in on a daily basis, the ability of your body to metabolize it is impaired. Fructose and glucose are unique in the metabolic processes. Glucose is metabolized in virtually every cell and is converted to energy that your body can use. Fructose is metabolized in the liver which is literally responsible for ridding the body of poisons, a fact which does not go unnoticed. Your body does know the difference and sees a toxin . Too much of this fructose in your liver will turn to a fatty substance and that leads to a liver disease. Duke University in recent studies said that a disease which we will hear more about, non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver disease has been known to occur from those who intake larger amounts of high fructose containing foods.
Earlier this year, in February 26, 2010 an internet publication of the Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior journal published findings from a research team from the Princeton University Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.This study said that there had been two experiments done that showed some serious repercussions from the consumption of high fructose corn syrup and the link between HFCS and obesity. The study results clearly show that HFCS and regular sugars are not equal when it comes to weight gain.
That Princeton article states:
In the first study that male rats which were given water that had been sweetened with corn syrup in addition to the regular diet of rat food gained a great deal more weight than those who which were given water that had been sweetened with regular table sugar or sucrose along with their normal diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solutions was the same as that which is found in a store brand soft drink while the high fructose corn syrup solution was less than half the concentration of a regular store brand soda pop drink.
The second experiment — which was the very first of its kind, the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals was used to monitor the weight, the new body fat, and the levels of triglycerides that the rats had or developed. In comparison to the animals who ate only the rat chow, those who had a diet which was rich in the high fructose corn syrup were showing symptoms of a very dangerous condition that was known as metabolic syndrome. This includes a high weight gain, a higher level of triglycerides and a great deal more visceral fat in the belly area. Those rats who ate the diet that was rich in the high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than the rats who were given a normal diet.
“These rats aren’t just getting fat; they’re demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides,” said Princeton graduate student Miriam Bocarsly. “In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes.”
Here’s why. The manufacturing of HFCS starts with corn kernels and takes place in a series of stainless steel vats and tubes in which a dozen different mechanical processes and chemical reactions occur-including several rounds of high velocity spinning and the introduction of three different enzymes to incite molecular rearrangements not found anywhere in nature. It’s that difference that is the crux of the problem.
White sugar, no matter how bad it may be for us, is at least a substance that the body knows. It knows what to do with it and how to break it down. In the normal metabolism of sugar, the fructose is broken down and is processed by our cells. The cells are then signals to the brain which tells the pancreatic cells to produce insulin. The extra sugar that is there simply gets turned into fat. While this is a problem its not as significant a problem as it might be with HFCS.
Because of its altered molecular structure, the body doesn’t know what to do with HFCS. It does not get metabolized the same way that sugar does, in fact it doesn’t really get metabolized at all. When we eat HFCS, the cells do not send a signal to the brain, therefore the pancreas does not secrete insulin. As a result, the sugar (fructose) does not get converted into energy, and goes directly to the liver to be stored as fat. This large glut of sugar turning to fat has been linked to fatty liver disease (a condition where the liver is literally choked by fat globules and cannot perform its normal detoxifying and fat burning functions), elevated levels of triglycerides and high cholesterol. High triglycerides in the body are linked to heart disease and diabetes. HFCS also lowers chromium levels in the body, further increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Food manufacturers are slowly beginning to replace HFCS in their products by reverting back to using “real sugar” (and proudly touting that in its advertising). The “real sugar” they are using is refined cane sugar or beet sugar, which has its own set of health consequences, and should not be considered healthy in any way, shape or form. Also, don’t be fooled by the use of evaporated cane juice either-it is a more refined form of sugar than most would suspect.
The bonded forms of sucrose and fructose from sugar cane or sugar beets has been a part of the human diet for centuries; the bonded forms of sucrose and fructose from fruit or raw honey has been a part of the human diet for millennia. They are balanced by many nutrients that help the body process the sugars properly. But processed and refined forms of sugar are bad news.
It will always be in your best interests for you to get rid of those kinds of sugar that are too refined and over processed. Not only do they rob your body of nutrients, but a lead to chronic health conditions that may be overwhelming to the body If you’re interested in a healthy sweet treat, consider moving toward stevia, to honey or to real and unprocessed cane sugar that has no refinement when it is marketed. All of these are typically a much better way to get a treat. In addition to this you may want to try a low glycemic liquid sweetener called raw coconut nectar.
Dee McCaffrey is the co-founder of The Center for Processed-Free Living. She lost 100 pounds and has kept it off for 18 years by refraining from processed foods. Learn about how to lose weight and gain health by staying away from harmful food additives at Processed-Free America