High Fructose Corn Syrup Half Truths

We all use these and most of us started using them in Kindergarten. “Mom, I ate my broccoli.” Should have been “Mom I ate some of my broccoli, and Scooter ate most of it.” Well, I found a glaring, not so innocent, half truth in my research on High Fructose Corn Syrup. Industry groups stick to lines based on the idea that HFCS is made up of fructose and glucose, both naturally occurring sugars in fruit and other common dietary staples seen as healthy. This implies that high fructose corn syrup is as safe as cane sugar (mostly sucrose) and has the same metabolic effects on our body. There really are two problems with this line of thinking.

Glucose/Fructose Bonds

In naturally occurring sugars the fructose and glucose are two components of sucrose (cane sugar) making them two parts of a disaccharide not monosaccharides as they exist in HFCS. The difference here is in how your body uses them. In sucrose your body must first break the glycosidic bond to access the highly energetic fructose and glucose molecules. The breaking of this bond forces your body to expend energy in order to gain energy. Although the energy release is obviously much greater than the energy expenditure it’s still important to point out that this is something the pro High Fructose Corn Syrup industry lobbyists and ad campaigns chose to overlook.

Fructose and Your Blood Sugar

This is important and goes to the “this is natural” argument so often used. High Fructose Corn Syrup is rated by its fructose content, the more fructose the sweeter the overall taste experience. Common mixtures are HFCS 42, HFCS 55 and HFCS 90, Representing 42%, 55% and 90% fructose. The problem here is that since there is no bond between the glucose and fructose the mixture is much more bio-available. Combine this with the rate that HFCS is consumed and we reach sugar consumption rates our bodies are just unable to handle. The problem is highlighted with the fact the our bodies response to fructose is especially poor. As mentioned in the Will Bar post the American Diabetic Association has done studies which have found that our bodies are poor at regulating blood sugar with insulin when ingesting fructose.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Vs. Corn Syrup

So where does Corn Syrup lay in both of these arguments? Simple, Corn Syrup does not contain any fructose. It is the equivalent to HFCS 0 granting it a 100% glucose composition. Glucose is not as sweet as fructose but our bodies handle it much better. We can regulate our blood sugar and maintain a steady energy level without the especially high highs and low lows (we have all heard of sugar crashes).

The “Sweet Surprise” High Fructose Corn Syrup Advertisements

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9vZYj-aJ4

“It’s made from…”

This is one argument I love. It rears it’s head in many different ways, “it’s close too…” “It’s like…” “it’s one ______ molecule from ____” etc. The counter example I like to use is monoxide, a very deadly gas is really close to or like or made from the same thing as, Oxygen (O2) one of the building blocks of life as we know it. Think of other examples, coal vs. diamonds, plastic vs. petroleum, Corn Syrup vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup.

“High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad for you…”

Obviously the anti-HFCS lady in this commercial did not do her research. She just gave a sound bite, a sound bite I’ve heard spoken with as little reasoning as provided in the commercial. The obvious reason its “bad for you” is stated in this blog post: the increased bio-availability of HFCS due to the lack of a molecular bond between the glucose and fructose and the body’s inability to regulate, with insulin, the additional fructose.

Moderation

Another point to look at here is the quick mention of “in moderation”, almost mumbled as the pro-HFCS line is finishing. Moderation to manufacturers of HFCS might mean an 8 oz. glass daily. I don’t know, as they don’t mention portions, but in that lays the point, “moderation” is a broad term with no legal definition. An evolutionary viewpoint on flavor points to the fact that our taste buds could have been programmed. Hard to find or difficult to obtain food sources that are vital to our survival could have been made to taste better in order to encourage us to forage and or hunt. Sugars, salts and fat all potentially fall into this category. It’s an interesting viewpoint and one that explains why common grains, starches and vegetables aren’t as tasty. Or even why we react to bitter and certain naturally occurring flavors by spitting them out. Certain flavors have a high probability of being from a poisonous or otherwise potentially harmful plant. Today with the more tasty products being as available as everything else our taste buds are capitalized on by the food industry. This is why much of the foods we crave end up being poor health choices in modern diets, they taste good due to their historic scarcity. All this to say that moderation in this case is probably fractions of what we actually consume even in a relatively conscious diet.

My BH with white wheels! Kinlin Rims, DT swiss 240 Hubs, DT Swiss Aerolite Spokes

As part of my work with Fairwheel Bikes, I’m going to be putting together a review of one of our newer wheel set offerings:  This hand built wheel set is eight hundred dollars, weighs in at 1423 grams, and is available in Black, Gold, Silver, Red, or White XR-270 Kinlin rims.  I currently have the wheels sitting at my house and need to put together a review for them.  Rather than ride them myself (which I have done) and then post a review, I’m going to take a different approach this time.  I’d like to find around five people in the Portland area that are willing to take the wheels out for a few rides and write a review of them.  I will then compile the reviews and rider experience into an article to be published.  I feel that this will give a more honest and rounded perception of the wheel set.

A few things to Note:

• Your name, and if applicable, team name will be published, you might get yourself and team a little exposure.
• You will not be held responsible for damage to the wheels, but please treat them with respect, to test wheels you don’t need to do anything different than you do with your own.
• If you’re interested please post a comment on this posting, or contact me.

KCNC Road Skewers; Red

DT Swiss 240 Rear Hub