Community | March 14, 2011 | 15 comments

Variety & Moderation: The Spice of Life

source: http://motherjones.com/environment/2011/03/fructose-sugar-hfcs

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FLeggplant
Back in the '70s, table sugar (a.k.a. sucrose) was the bad guy. People associated it (rightly) with tooth decay and diabetes, whereas fructose, the predominant sugar in fruit, seemed a more natural option.

Table sugar—a molecule composed of one part fructose to one part glucose—is no better, really, than food-grade HFCS, which contains the same ingredients in a roughly 55/45 ratio. The main distinction is that the fructose and glucose units are joined in sugar and detached in corn syrup. But since the small intestine promptly breaks that bond, it doesn't matter.

Now the pendulum has swung back: Corn syrup is the demon, while sugar (sometimes cleverly disguised as "evaporated cane juice") is back in vogue. But all this back-and-forth makes little sense since, nutritionally speaking, the two sweeteners are practically identical.

But like most things that are heavily marketed and little thought through, perception trumps reality. There are no studies saying that corn syrup is any less or more healthy than sugar.

"All of these are empty calories that offer you no nutrition," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. That doesn't mean they're forbidden, just that they should be eaten in moderation, she says.

All foods should be eaten in moderation, especially when feeding your children.
Variety and moderation trumps opinion. Eat a variety of healthy foods and the seemingly unhealthy ingredients contained within should balance themselves out.

It’s all a matter of opinion and caution. Take responsibility for yours and your Families health.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/corn_syrup_vs_sugar.php

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-fitness/2009/04/03/sorting-out-swe...
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15 comments // Variety & Moderation: The Spice of Life

  • SpencerTreeGarden
  • MDBard
    • +1
      MDBard  

    • Food for thought, Its all bad for us and don't worry just get rid of those calrioes at the next rally against the Mega corps and it will all be ok. Some one mentioned mercury below. More reason to boycott it I would think...

    • 1 year ago
  • Stoneyroad
    • +4
      Stoneyroad  
    • Image

    • Retro packaging may look cool, but we need retro sized portions.

      Once upon a time the 12oz. can was considered 'king size'
      And all fast food soda came in one size cup,
      that cup size is now called the "child size"

    • 1 year ago
  • SIBob
    • 0
      SIBob  
    • Image

    • It seems that if you live long enough that everything out there is bad for us at some point. We banned DDT in the United States but we import vegetables and fruits from around the world where they have no such restrictions. That is the problem with trans-national corporations, they always find a way around local laws. That is one of the main incentives, aside from wage savings that drives jobs away. The Chinese are now seeing a rise in their cancer rates as they hustle to produce for capitalistic concerns. Their conversion from hard-line communism comes with a price. What will happen when the people of China start demanding better working and living conditions? You guessed it, it will be on to the next country where they don’t care about such things. That is already happening, there is always a poorer country to exploit. When things come full circle we’ll be back in the running someday, after the Republicans finish gutting our EPA, OSHA, NLRB and collective-bargaining laws. In the mean time we can wonder where our food and prescription drugs are really coming from.
      http://sibob.org/wordpress/

    • 1 year ago
  • jpvt
    • 0
      jpvt  

    • The problem isn't how "good" or "bad" one sweetener is over the other. The problem is that a 2009 test of HFCS showed that "Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient."

      Mercury people! You've got people running around worried about mercury in vaccines but it's in an abundance of crap foods that we feed our kids. Gee, I wonder why autism rates have sky rocketed in the the last twenty-five years. By the way, when did HFCS come on the market? About 30 years ago! I guess it could be a coincidence. Hey, when did the "obesity epidemic" start in this country? What do ya know, about 20 years ago. It just happens to coincide with the change from regular sugars to HFCS. I guess this is another coincidence.

    • 1 year ago
  • mspray11
  • Leen61
    • +1
      Leen61  

    • I read this article earlier. I get Mother Jones e-mails. The article is saying they are both bad...real sugar and HFCS. Just more confusing news on the "what to eat and not to eat" front. It always comes down to this: Everything in moderation and try to exercise when you can. I don't even drink soda. It's too expensive and it's not good for you. I've also heard plenty of bad things about Nutra-sweet and Splenda..but if someone is a diabetic, what can they do?

    • 1 year ago
  • desmosabie
  • Hi_Maintenance
    • +1
      Hi_Maintenance  

    • I believe as far as the beverage makers are concerned sugar is very expensive to use. High frutose corn syrup is cheaper and that one of the reasons fast food venues are able to super-size soda.

    • 1 year ago
  • Rebecca_Phillips
  • aaron1972
  • bailey78
  • crash_text_dummy
    • 0
      crash_text_dummy  

    • in this story is written:

      ...the two sweeteners are practically identical.

      practically
      hmmm... practically

      the distance between actually and practically is.... everything
      especially when you are keenly perceptive and aware

      it's a species similar to: there their they're

      sounds like sugar
      but it's different sugars

      the system processes cane sugar in a distinct and different manner
      than corn sugar
      in the micro-minute end, it ends the same
      but
      arriving there?
      a light-year of difference...

    • 1 year ago
  • FLeggplant
    • +1
      FLeggplant  
    • crash_text_dummy:

      I know, it's all very confusing.
      Hence the reason I posted this.
      All the sweeteners are bad for you or not bad for you, Depends who you ask or who is marketing it and making the money.
      It seems science and research cannot determine what is right and wrong anymore when it comes to foods.
      We all have to make our own choices regarding what we put in our bodies.

    • 1 year ago
  • FLeggplant
    • +2
      FLeggplant  

    • With all the negative issues and happenings in the US and around the World, the least we can do for ourselves is take care of our Health.
      A Healthy Nation is a Strong Nation IMO.
      Republicans and others don't see it that way.
      Just go to your local Walmart if you want to see how unhealthy Americans have become. Yuck!

    • 1 year ago
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