High Fructose Corn Syrup "Sweet Surprise" ads

Anyone else getting really irked by the new "sweet surprise" commercials put out by the corn growers? If you haven't seen the ads, you can go to sweetsurprise.com to read the propaganda. They are claiming there isn't anything wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup (compared to sugar) and we're all idots if we think it's any worse than sugar.

I saw the ad but then couldn't come up with the reasons I know HFCS is worse than sugar, so here's a refresher for all of us if anyone needs it (see below). The basics are this...yes, it isn't different in calories, it's different in how it's metabolized by our bodies.

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Industry advocates for corn growers say that High Fructose Corn Syrup and sugar are the same. But nutritional science studies say that there is a big difference between the two.

This manufactured fructose is sweeter than sugar in an unhealthy way, and is digested differently in a bad way. Research has shown that "high-fructose corn syrup" goes directly to the liver, releasing enzymes that instruct the body to then store fat. This may elevate triglyceride (fat in blood) levels and elevate cholesterol levels. This fake fructose may slow fat burning and cause weight gain. Other research indicates that it does not stimulate insulin production, which usually creates a sense of being full. Therefore, people may eat more than they should. Indications also are that the important chromium levels are lowered by this sweetener which may then contribute to type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a contributor too.

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And just in case it turns out that HFCS really is just the same as sugar, here's a little something to make all of us anti-sugar folks feel good about our eating habits (and something we can attest to as well)...

Even Barry Popkin, Ph.D., a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who previously suggested, in an influential 2004 paper, a possible HFCS-obesity link, stresses that the real obesity problem doesn’t lie just with HFCS. Rather, it’s the fact that sugars from all sources have become so prevalent in our food supply, especially in our beverages. He scoffs at the “natural” sweeteners sometimes added to upscale processed foods like organic crackers and salad dressings. “They all have the same caloric effects as sugar,” he explains. “I don’t care whether something contains concentrated fruit juice, brown sugar, honey or HFCS. The only better sweetener option is ‘none of the above.’”

At EatingWell, it’s our philosophy to keep any sweeteners we use in our recipes to a minimum—and likewise, to limit processed foods with added sugars of any type, including HFCS. We recommend you do the same.