High Fructose Corn Syrup - Good or Bad

A friend just emailed me a question about high fructose corn syrup. And I had to share my response with my naked Stretchers...so here it is...

I'm not a nutritionist, a doctor or a scientist. So take my opinion as just that, an opinion. I am no expert. I just know what feels right and healthy.

High fructose corn syrup - good or bad?

This is one that I waffle on a bit. I think most things in moderation are ok, however I am really, really leery of processed and engineered ingredients (i.e., high fructose corn syrup). I think that the long-term effects are yet to be determined. God intended us to eat real sugar that you find naturally in fruits, for example. So, the fake stuff is very questionable. I try to eat as cleanly as possible (fresh is best) and these days I am obsessed with reading labels. I do shy away from high fructose corn syrup. I actually prefer a label to read "sugar." At least I know that it is a real ingredient.

I like to go by the 5 ingredients or less buying rule. If it has more than that or has a bunch of things I can't pronounce in it, I don't want it. Now I do think it is nearly impossible to completely stay away from the stuff, but does it really need to be in crackers? Yep, I've found it on the ingredients list for some popular brand name crackers!

I'd avoid it as much as possible. Pure sugars aren't great but at least you know what it is. Opt for pure cane sugar whenever possible.

Wikipedia actually has some good info, including how HFCS is made. I don't want to eat anything that takes a lot of processing to create. Basically it is used because it's cheaper than sugar (high import taxes, etc.)

Here is a nice quote from the Center for Science for Public Interest: "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose...High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature."

P.S. chemicals sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid are used in the manufacture of high-fructose corn syrup. Not to mention the higher links to obesity, liver disease and probably others yet to be identified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup

Read those labels!