How Bad Is High Fructose Corn Syrup For You?
September 16th, 2008 · Filed Under: Abs Nutrition
There was a lot of response to my post about the high fructose corn syrup commercials.
Most of you couldn’t believe your eyes when you saw these commercials, and were outraged.
However there were other opinions as well.
One person said that we are all bigoted towards high fructose corn syrup and that there is nothing dangerous about high fructose corn syrup at all.
That surprised me to hear that.
In response, I wanted to get a registered dietitian’s opinion.
So I just called Jayson Hunter, author of The Carb Rotation Diet, and we had a brief conversation about the high fructose corn syrup commercials.
Take a listen and please share your thoughts.
Do you agree what Jayson had to say?
Do you agree with the other comment that high fructose corn syrup is not dangerous?
Thanks for listening.
Scott
September 16th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I agree with what Jayson had to say 100%. The way we eat these days is the problem. HGCS is just a CHEAPER way to make the foods and products and get us to buy more, thus leading to biggier profits and bigger people. And it is extremely diffucult to find foods that are no loaded with this since it is cheaper. Even breads have traces in it. It makes the bread softer. Where will it end? I think NEVER!
September 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
WOW! What incredible commercials. They’re evil as hell, but you’ve got to admire how convincing they are. Look at how they play on the fact most people have heard that HFCS is “bad” for them, but cannot articulate why. Viewers immediately relate to that and are swiftly convinced by the smooth response of the “educated” other.
Unfortunately, it’s an absolutely brilliant piece of marketing in their defense. It’s complete and utter bulls*t but it’s a masterpiece.
Continuing to educate the population with the facts is the only way to defend against this crap. Period.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I agree with Jason. The important bottom line is that we should be eating UNPROCESSED foods. If HFCS is in everything you eat, you’re eating the wrong stuff. EAT FOOD THAT STILL LOOKS THE WAY IT COMES IN NATURE. The majority of your food should have only one ingrediant - a fruit, vegetable, bean, nut, seed, intact/unprocessed whole grain, etc.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I also agree with what Jayson had to say about HFCS and other junk food as well. But I also have a very personal experience concerning HFCS while I realize that I am only one person that’s one too many as far as having good health for myself goes. I can always tell if I have eaten any food containing HFCS because I start to shake like a drug addict having withdrawal symptoms. My nervous system and blood sugar goes wild!. And this ONLY happens if I consume HFCS, Not with any other sweeteners (do not get me wrong here I go easy on other sugars) too. So I read labels like mad trying to avoid the stuff at all cost..because reactions like that scare the H..E..double Hockey sticks out of me!
September 16th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Ive not seen this commercial in the midwest. I agree with not eating unprocessed foods. What I was wondering?? Are you trying to sell Jason’s Book? It seems with the life and death situation-talking to the dietitian who is selling a book. Seems like a sales pitch. Sorry
September 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
running4fun - Did you listen to the audio with Jayson? You shouldn’t have seen it as a sales pitch. It was all content and he didn’t mention his book once.
I mentioned the book as a courtesy to Jayson. He gives freely of his time and as a courtesy I mentioned his book. That’s common practice.
Scott
September 16th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Scott, I think it would be helpful to also examine this issue from a medical perspective. There are many credible sources that can give more in-depth analysis of this ingredient and what it does to our bodies (ex. Dr. Mercola, Dr. Oz, etc). I chuckled when Jason mentioned going back to the 70’s when we grew our food, etc. WHAT?? You have to go much further back than that. Much of the canned and processed food started popping up in the 50’s and 60’s to make life easier. I have started to change my buying habits to eliminate HFCS and artificial sweeteners from my family’s diet. These commercials show that I am not the only one doing this!
September 17th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Dr Oz explains it better than I can. On Oprah’s site, he lists HFCS in his “Food Hall of Shame”.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/health/nutrition/slideshow2_ss_yourbody_20060501/2
September 17th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Listened to Jason’s comments. Think they were too reserved. Accompanying the HFC commercials were other videos from medical and nutrition people that went into more detail about how really bad that stuff is. Apparently glucose is extracted from the corn then a chemical is added to turn it into fructose. The body has a harder time digesting this than regular sugar. Basically HFC is sweeter thereby feeding the sweet tooth addiction and craving for more. Check out those other utube videos and you will see how bad they really are. JD
September 24th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I can’t believe this nutrition expert doesn’t even mention the fact that diabetes is in epidemic proportions in this country. And that the corn that this crap is made out of is genetically engineered corn, full of pesticides and herbicides. My God, we are one of the sickest nations on this globe. Most of our children are getting cancer or diabetes or asthma, let alone the general population. Even the “good” fruits and vegetables we eat now are full of pesticides and weed killers, put right into the DNA of the plant. My thought is, huge corporations have the advertising dollar to put any misinformation, falsehoods, etc. in front of the American people, to sell their products and make us feel darn lucky we can buy it. We need to wake up from our deep sleep and start taking care of ourselves, stop listening to these conglomerates who don’t care about anything but their bottom line!!!!
October 8th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
High fructose corn syrup is not something a health conscious person should be consuming.
It’s probably worse than sugar because it’s
chemically altered, and the body has a hard
time processing it. Those commercials are
blatent propoganda for the corn growers and
anybody who’s educated enough to read this
blog should already know it. If you have a
sweet tooth try stevia or small amounts of
raw honey.