Groxie

This stuff is bad, and it’s in everything. It’s in the obvious places like soda and candy, but also in bread, pizza sauce, cereal—the list goes on.

High fructose corn syrup is a cheap sweetener that has replaced sugar in many processed foods. As if that wasn’t bad enough, HFCS is also added to tons of foods that have regular sugar, too!

What is HFCS, and why do I hate it so?

Corn starch is processed and processed, producing glucose and then fructose. During the processing all kinds of crap is added to break down the starches. Wikipedia has a more detailed explanation.

HFCS contributes to all sorts of problems, from obesity to illogical farm subsidies and quota policies. I’ll stick to the former here. HFCS is absorbed more slowly than other sugars; this means that your body doesn’t get the signal that it is full when it should. HFCS also converts to fat more readily than other sugars because it does not cause the pancreas to release insulin.

HFCS also robs you nutrients, increases bad cholesterol levels (LDLs), can lead to osteoporosis and diabetes, just to name a few health effects. It’s worth further reading, but remember to look carefully at the source of the article. I have found quite a few pro—HFCS articles written by the corn or soda industry.

What can we do?

So the moral of the story is: read the label carefully. Try drinking iced tea sweetened with honey instead of that soda. Buy your bread from the bakery (or make it at home) rather than the bread isle. Make your own granola instead of buying sugary cereals.

If you don’t have time to make your own non-HFCS foods, there are plenty of brands that avoid HFCS. For example, Honest Tea is a great bottled tea that is barely sweetened with honey and cane sugar. I’m also a big fan of the Kashi products.

There are many other brands that are moving in this direction, but I haven’t found a good list of them yet. I will keep looking, or maybe even get start on one myself!