High Fructose Corn Syrup - Avoid it!

I love to learn about nutrition. I've always said that if I were to go back to school, that I'd like to major in nutrition. I'm of course not the perfect eater (I don't think anyone is) but I try to eat "feel-good" food as I've taught my family.

A friend said to me a few weeks ago "What is your food mantra?" I didn't really know how to answer that but I started telling her about the ingredients that I try to avoid. I'll mention one ingredient that I avoid today and later I'll try to do more posts about other ingredients.

Today's topic is High Fructose Corn Syrup. I'm sure you've heard of it, it's in almost everything! This is a very concentrated sugar that was introduced in the 70's (man-made.) It's sweeter and cheaper so the food industry "ate" it all up (pun intended.) Now it's in most processed food, condiments, soft drinks, and even bread! HFCS prohibits your stomach from releasing Leptin which tells your body that it is full. So that's why some days you eat and eat and eat yet still feel hungry. I've done my best to cut HFCS out of our diet and I've noticed now that when I or my family has it that day, we are by far more hungry.
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Here are more facts that I've dug up from the internet:

High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener containing 40 to 90 percent fructose and a carbohydrate extract from corn. This is a popular and inexpensive sweetener in cereals and sodas.
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High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a form of corn syrup which has undergone enzymatic processing in order to increase its fructose content.

The production process of HFCS was developed first by Japanese researchers in the 1970s. HFCS was rapidly introduced in many processed foods and soda drinks in the US over the period of about 1975–1985.

The process for making the sweetener high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) out of corn was developed in the 1970s. Use of HFCS grew rapidly, from less than three million short tons in 1980 to almost 8 million short tons in 1995. During the late 1990s, use of sugar actually declined as it was eclipsed by HFCS. Today Americans consume more HFCS than sugar.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced by processing corn starch to yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to produce a high percentage of fructose. It all sounds rather simple--white cornstarch is turned into crystal clear syrup. However, the process is actually very complicated. Three different enzymes are needed to break down cornstarch, which is composed of chains of glucose molecules of almost infinite length, into the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

Ordinary corn syrup contains dextrose sugar which is about three-quarters as sweet as the sucrose sugar in cane or beet sugar. In many sweetener applications this is an advantage because it does not overpower the other flavors in the food. Howev-. er, in some applications, such as soft drinks, a sweeter taste is desired. To improve the sweetness of ordinary corn syrup, it undergoes a further process called enzyme conversion. In this process, the dextrose sugars in the syrup are converted into sweeter fructose sugars by the action of an enzyme in a series of steps under carefully controlled temperatures, pressures, and acidity. This produces a high fructose corn syrup with a 42% fructose content. It is used in canned fruits and condiments.
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High Fructose Corn Syrup {HFCS) is extremely soluble and mixes well in many foods.. It is cheap to produce, sweet, and easy to store. Its used in everything from bread to pasta sauces to bacon to beer. Its even used in "health products" like protein/energy bars and "natural" sodas. You sort of get the idea that you are eating something good for you.

HFCS is great for the manufacturers. It retains moisture, resists drying out, controls crystallization, prevents microbiological growth and blends easily with sweeteners, acids, and flavorings. Best of all for manufacturers, it makes sugar drinks taste better and is cheaper than sugar.

From the point of view of soda makers, HFCS is a revolutionary advance in food science.

Generally, baked products made with HFCS will be softer than those made with sucrose. This means if these products are "steamed" they may get gummy. Thus, if there is a fast-food hamburger place that precooks and wraps their product, they may prefer the firmer product (sugar); If you doubt that they use sugar at fast food restaurants, ask for their nutritional publications. They all have them available. You might be surprised.