Americans’ consumption of corn syrup has fallen to a 20-year low. It seems consumer concerns that it is more harmful or more likely to cause obesity than ordinary sugar has driven the change in purchasing habits.

HFCS is found in processed foods: everything from salad dressings to baked goods to soft drinks. The Corn Refiners Association (CRA), which represents firms making the syrup, has been trying to improve the image of the maligned sweetener with ad campaigns promoting it as a “natural” ingredient made from corn. The ads debunk the idea that HFCS is any different from other sugars.

According to the CRA, there has been a misunderstanding about HFCS. They say, “High fructose corn syrup meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for use of the term natural.

Kaylee shucks corn, a natural food.

HFCS is made from corn, a natural grain product and contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives.” They also say that HFCS has the same number of calories as sugar, so it’s healthy to eat.

First, Ignore Facts
Of course, they ignore various independent studies, like the one from a Princeton University research team, which demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain. When lab animals had access to high fructose corn syrup, they gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even with their overall caloric intake being the same in each group. In addition, long-term consumption of high fructose corn syrup in these lab animals led to abnormal increases in their body fat, especially in their abdomen, and also a rise in triglyceride levels.

Another convenient fact to ignore is how HFCS affects leptin secretion. Physicians Mehmet Oz and Michael Roisen believe high-fructose corn syrup is the worst sweetener added to our food supply. In their book, You: The Owner’s Manual, they state: “One of the biggest evil influences on our diet is the presence of high-fructose corn syrup, a sugar substitute that itself is a sugar found in soft drinks and many other sweet, processed foods. The problem is that HCFS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you’re full. And it never shuts off gherin, so, even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you’re hungry.”

Then, Divert Attention
When all else fails, divert attention from the problem. Just like the wizard in Emerald City, CRA is frantically trying to divert your attention. Okay, so the “HFCS is natural campaign” didn’t do so well. Last fall, the group petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to change the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup to “corn sugar.” They say a name change is the only way to clear up “consumer confusion” about the product.

Now, consumers are “confused” when they begin to change their purchasing habits. The truth is CRA is worried that food producers will opt out of HFCS for a more acceptable sweetener. More than 60 percent of brand managers would switch formulations from HFCS to sugar if they thought 21 to 40 percent of consumers made purchase decisions based on sweeteners. Many marketers believe the number of concerned consumers is close to 20 percent. Keep voting with your dollars.

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Carbonated Soft Drinks
Soda Pop Part 1: High Fructose Corn Syrup

To beat the heat, we often reach for an ice-cold can of soda pop! Today, more than a quarter of ALL drinks consumed in the U.S. are carbonated drinks.

Most parents are in denial about the amount of soda pop their children regularly drink. Studies have found over half, 56 percent, of 8-year-olds down soft drinks daily. Even picky eaters love sodas.

Would you allow your child to eat 17 teaspoons of sugar? Never!… unless your child drinks a soda. During summer it’s easy to let down our guard, because a can of pop is so refreshing (and easy). Soda has been dubbed, “liquid candy” and rightly so, as soda pop is the number one source of sugar in our kids’ diets.

Ethan and John beat the heat in the sprinklers.

According to government data, carbonated drinks contribute about 10 percent of the calories in the American diet. Carbonated drinks have replaced fruit juice, milk, and even water in our daily routine. Studies have linked soda to obesity, tooth decay, osteoporosis, and even heart disease. Carbonated drinks contain High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). There are so many problems with HFCS that it’s hard to know where to begin. Yes, there’s a huge campaign to try to undo the negative aspects of the High Fructose Corn Syrup, but don’t be fooled.

According to the Corn Refiners Association, there has been a misunderstanding about HFCS. They say, “High fructose corn syrup meets the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for use of the term natural. It is made from corn, a natural grain product and contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives.” They also say that HFCS has the same number of calories as sugar, so it’s okay to eat.

Sounds like HFCS is really a health food! Not so fast. According to physicians Mehmet Oz and Michael Roisen, high-fructose corn syrup is the worst sweetener added to our food supply. In their book, You: The Owner’s Manual, they state: “One of the biggest evil influences on our diet is the presence of high-fructose corn syrup, a sugar substitute that itself is a sugar found in soft drinks and many other sweet, processed foods. The problem is that HCFS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you’re full. And it never shuts off gherin, so, even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you’re hungry.”

Other studies by researchers at UC Davis and the University of Michigan have shown that consuming fructose, which is more readily converted to fat by the liver, increases the levels of fat in the bloodstream in the form of triglycerides. And unlike other types of carbohydrate made up of glucose, fructose does not stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin.

Peter Havel, a nutrition researcher at UC Davis, who studies the metabolic effects of fructose, has also shown that fructose fails to increase the production of leptin a hormone produced by the body’s fat cells. Both insulin and leptin act as signals to the brain to turn down the appetite and control body weight. And in another metabolic twist, Havel’s research shows that fructose does not appear to suppress the production of ghrelin, a hormone that increases hunger and appetite. “Because fructose in isolation doesn’t activate the hormones that regulate body weight as do other types of carbohydrate composed of glucose, consuming a diet high in fructose could lead to taking in more calories and, over time, to weight gain,” he says.

Researchers are finding new problems with high fructose corn syrup. A study in Journal of the National Cancer Institutesuggests that women whose diet was high in total carbohydrate and fructose intake had an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Mel Heyman, chief of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at UCSF, is seeing sick children whose bodies have been overloaded with fructose from naturally occurring fructose in fruit juice combined with soda and processed food.

“The way the body handles glucose is different than fructose, Heyman says, “It can overload the intestines’ ability to absorb carbohydrate by giving it too much fructose. That can cause cramps, bloating, and loose stools.”

If you were to avoid only one sugar, HFCS would be the one! Replace sodas in your family’s diet with healthful alternatives: water, milk, 100 percent fruit juice (then dilute), homemade lemonade and fizzy drinks (half fruit juice and half carbonated seltzer water with no added sugars).

Look for Thursday’s blog: Part 2 Soda Pop: Phosphoric Acid

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Sugar is produced from sugar cane or sugar beets. In the refining process all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, enzymes, and other beneficial nutrients have been stripped away. Simple sugars cause a drop in the ability of white blood cells to engulf bacteria, resulting in the suppression of the immune system.

People develop a craving for sweet tasting foods, especially little picky eaters. Skinny picky eaters may grow up to be overweight, as their favorite foods often have added sugars.

Several studies have shown an increase in the number of children diagnosed with type two diabetes. Until recently, only 1 to 2 percent to of children with diabetes had type two. Reports indicate up to 45 percent of children with newly diagnosed diabetes do NOT have type one. Type two diabetes is directly connected to the processed sugary foods people eat and is avoidable.

The average American consumes approximately 2½ pounds of sugar a week!
Kids eat more sugar then their parents.

Sugar is seductive as it may take years before sugar makes you overweight, ruins your pancreas, your adrenal glands, and throws your endocrine system out of whack. Sugar is included in most processed foods. It’s in everything from soup, to cereals, to ketchup, to lunch-meat.

In my book, Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater,” there are practical solutions on how to avoid sugar. First, you must become familiar with all it’s aliases. Buy the Book at the Baby Bites Store Now! Click Here

Sugar is listed on the nutrition label under 40 different names!

Various Names For Sugar Commonly Found in Processed Foods:

• Amaske (brown rice)
• Barley malt (grain)
• Beet sugar (root)
• Brown rice syrup (grain)
• Brown sugar
• Cane juice
• Confectioners’ sugar
• Corn sweetener (grain)
• Corn syrup (grain)
• Date sugar (fruit)
• Dextrose
• Fructooliosaccharides (fruit)
• Fructose (fruit)
• Fruit juice concentrate (fruit)
• Galactose
• Glucose
• Granulated sugar
• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) — If you were to avoid only one sugar, HFCS would be the one! According to physicians Mehmet Oz and Michael Roisen, high-fructose corn syrup is the worst sweetener added to our food supply. In their book, “You: The Owner’s Manual…,” they state: “One of the biggest evil influences on our diet is the presence of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sugar substitute that itself is a sugar found in soft drinks and many other sweet, processed foods. The problem is that HCFS inhibits leptin secretion, so you never get the message that you’re full. And it never shuts off gherin, so, even though you have food in your stomach, you constantly get the message that you’re hungry.”
• Honey (natural)
• Juice concentrate
• Lactose
• Licorice Root
• Maltodextrin (corn syrup solids)
• Malted barley (grain)
• Maltose
• Maple sugar (natural sweetener)
• Molasses (natural sweetener)
• Powdered sugar
• Rice Syrup & Yinni Syrup
• Raisin juice (fruit)
• Raisin syrup (fruit)
• Raw sugar
• Sorghum syrup
• Stevia—Stevia is really a healthy sweetener. It’s a herbal sweetener that’s two to three hundred times sweeter than sugar and no calories. It’s presently sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement, although it has been used as a sweetener for hundreds of years in Latin America, Japan, and Asia and now in Europe.
• Sucanat
• Sucrose
• Sugar cane
• Turbinado sugar
• White sugar

Update on Sugar Alcohols and Polyols

Polyols include: Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysates (HSH), Isomalt, Lactitol, Maltitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol, and Xylitol.

Polyols are slightly better than artificial sweeteners, but in light of the following information, I would strongly caution parents in purchasing foods for your children with Polyols listed in the ingredients.

Polyols are made from sugar. Polyols average 50 percent fewer calories than sugar. Although, they can have adverse side effects: dehydration, equilibrium loss, vitamin and mineral depletion, and malnutrition. Polyols can adversely effect the digestive system with bloating, gastrointestinal distress, diarrhea, and anal leakage at 1 1/2 teaspoons a day. Although in some individuals (possibly more so in children) these side effects may occur at a lower level.

Children have immature digestive systems it’s best to avoid Polyols as well as artificial sweeteners. I would NOT recommend Polyols for children, even though you’ll find them in candy, chewing gum, chocolate, baked goods, cough drops, cold medicines, mouthwashes, and ice cream.

For info about the free Baby Bites Ezine, Click Here.

For a synopsis of Baby Bites: Transforming a Picky Eater into a Healthy Eater, Click Here.