Clean Eating And High Fructose Corn Syrup

by The Gracious Pantry on July 6, 2010

Please pardon me while I rant for a moment…..

I don’t generally post videos like this, but this one is important.

I was speaking to a woman recently who honestly believes that high fructose corn syrup is completely healthy and natural. She sees no reason to remove it from her “clean eating” diet, and referred to some commercials (such as the one in the above video) as proof to support her argument.

People, high fructose corn syrup may be made from corn, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. I mean, tobacco is made from a plant. But does that mean you should smoke?

First and foremost, high fructose corn syrup is a HIGHLY processed item. It in NO way falls into a clean eating plan OR under the guise of “natural”. Avoid the stuff at all costs.

Secondly, they are linking more and more of our obesity epidemic to an increased consumption of this stuff.

Now, before anyone rips my head off on this one, I know that the blame does not fall on this one single ingredient alone. There are many factors that contribute to our obesity epidemic. But we’re talking about an ingredient that is in almost every single processed food on the market, simply because it is so cheap for manufacturers to use. And there is a direct correlation with the increased use of this ingredient, and the increase in the American waistline.

I don’t know about you, but I will never eat this stuff, and neither will my child. I have a hard time believing that there are people out there that will actually defend this stuff. IT’S NOT REAL FOOD, PEOPLE!!! It’s manufactured. And I think by now most Americans should be educated enough to know the difference between real food and stuff that a machine spits out. I mean really.

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  • http://foodjunkiefromtexas.blogspot.com/ Daphne

    Thanks for this video. It does blow my mind all the products that you can find this stuff in. My sister found it in store bought bread crumbs the other day. Crazy! But, I guess it’s in the bread that they use to make the bread crumbs. I have become much more aware and made my son much more aware. We always look at ingredient lists of products and are amazed!

  • http://kitchenmeditation.blogspot.com roxan

    Totally agree. I’ve been cutting out the HFCS from my diet… The hurdle right now is getting my husband to give it up too! It’s quite the battle.

  • http://cleanteenkelsey.com Kelsey @ CleanTeenKelsey

    The video won’t play for me. :/

    But I definitely agree! HFCS is baaaad stuff; most definitely not clean or natural!

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Kelsey – If you click somewhere on the video, it should take you to YouTube. You should be able to watch it there if you can’t view it on my blog. Although, I’m not sure if there’s really any difference. But it’s worth a shot!

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Roxan – My husband is the same way. Very stubborn in the diet department. All I can say is that it’s a battle worth fighting in the end. Keep up the good fight!

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Daphne – You’re not kidding. HFCS is in EVERYTHING!!! To avoid it, you absolutely HAVE to eat clean. It’s the only way to get the stuff out of your diet completely. The sad truth is, if you buy your food in a box (or even many cans these days), you are most likely getting a healthy dose of the stuff. Ick.

  • http://healthyhelper.wordpress.com kaila

    OMG i totally agree HFCS is a secret killer! i think the government should ban the use of it in foods……its just as bad as othee things that are regulated and/or illegal! i want food fresh from the farm not made in a lab by a chemist! heres to real food and clean eating! the ignorance that society had created in people on what is healthy is astounding!

  • http://recipesbymo.blogspot.com/ Mo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYiEFu54o1E < ~ Poorly-edited video, but WIN in my book nonetheless. ;)
    Actually if you search on YouTube for “HFCS commercial parody” you get a lot of HILARIOUS results, but the one I linked to is the one that makes the strongest point.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Kaila – It is pretty amazing, isn’t it? People will believe anything advertisers throw out these days. I think there are many people that feel that if something is on TV, then it must be so.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Mo – I LOVE that video! Thanks for sharing it here! It really sums it all up nicely.

  • Ashley Tracey

    I get so angry when I see those pro HFCS ads on TV! They promote that “its fine in moderation” however it is found abundantly in the diet of most Americans and specifically children! What was wrong with sugar???? Our bodies respond to natural sugar “sucrose” (which is 50% fructose and 50% glucose) with the release of insulin and leptin which signal your brain that you are “full”; however, HFCS has been chemically processed to be higher in fructose and lower in glucose. This chemical structure does not cause the natural response and therefore we don’t get “full” as we should and eat more. The end result of this trend = obesity!
    See this article for further information:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673878/?tool=pubmed

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Thanks Ashley. While I do avoid sugar, I do get your point. It’s just one more way for corporations to get us hooked on the garbage they produce. It’s up to us to protect our health the way big corporations protect their profits!

  • Julia

    Un-natural foods are often un-healthy. BUT, a product cannot be unhealthy simply by virtue of being unnatural. Consider medicine. Have you ever taken prescription medicine? Would you tell a cancer patient not to take his XYZ-inhibiting drug because it’s unnatural?
    Now, I don’t think HFCS is healthy. But I don’t think it is unhealthy because it is a processed product. I think it is as healthy as sugar– meaning ultimately, to me, that it is dietarily unnecessary, harmful in excess, and harmless in small quantities.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Julia – That’s an interesting perspective.

    For me, both sugar and HFCS are processed, and therefore I avoid them at all costs. The fact remains that the evidence for the health consequences of eating HFCS is mounting. And while the processors are fighting “bad press” tooth and nail, the truth is coming out whether they want it to or not.

    I noted your use of the word “product”. But it’s my philosophy to avoid “products” and only consume real food.

    While I see your point about medication, it is also a fact that many drugs out there have huge side effects. All you have to do is listen to one of their commercials. Often times, the possible side effects are worse than the original problem itself. But then, this isn’t really a discussion about medications.

    I really have to differ with you here. I think that the more processed a food is, the more unhealthy it is. While most things are okay in moderation, it really comes down to what you are willing to put in your body. Even in small amounts. The premise of clean eating is to get back to eating the foods that nature provides, and avoiding those foods that a corporation creates or alters. Our bodies are 100% natural, so it makes sense that we should only put food in them that is 100% natural.

    While a little here and there may not seem like much, I do believe that over a life time, it adds up. I’m sure there are many out there who would argue with me. And that’s fine. Again, it all comes down to what YOU are willing to put into YOUR body. But the fact remains that HFCS is very unhealthy.

  • Lori

    LOVED this video! I absolutely avoid sugar and HFCS. There are so many natural sweeteners out there, that there really is little excuse! Thanks for the post!

  • Mandie

    I avoid that stuff based on the fact that most of the corn produced these days is genetically modified and highly saturated with pesticides. If I’m going to sweeten my food with a “syrup” of any kind, it’s going to be Agave or 100% Maple Syrup. I keep anything processed out of my home. REAL FOOD is where it’s at.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Good for you Mandie! That’s the way it SHOULD be!

  • Jodi

    About 40 years ago I decided to cut way back on the sugar I was eating. My parents used something called “sugar twin” which was a granulated saccharin product. I tried it and thought it would certainly take some getting used to. Then I had a big re-think about it. I realized it was really foolish to try to get used to eating a weird chemical. It would be a lot smarter to get used to things less sweet in the first place. So I stopped sweetening my tea and cereals. I found it was not difficult to get used to the real flavors of foods, without excess sweetness. Now I don’t like sweet drinks at all, make me thirstier. I need a glass of water to get rid of the sweet. Fresh ripe fruit doesn’t need any gilding. I love fresh peaches and berries in the summer when you can get them locally grown (instead of picked green and shipped across the country or further). There are lots of things you can do with fruit without a lot of sweetener, just sweet spices like cinnamon, coriander (the ground seeds, not cilantro leaf-it’s the same plant! but tastes very different), cardamon, nutmeg, ginger. Try cinnamon on yogurt cheese or riccota. It tastes like dessert. Add some raisins or other fruit if you like. I realize it may be a drastic change for someone just starting to eat clean, but the real flavor of foods comes through when it isn’t smothered in sugar, salt or grease.

  • Gillian Bliss

    Between my husband and myself we make about 90% of what we eat from scratch. Nothing we have ever made called for HFCS. So it really is an unnecessary ingredient. Its used to create texture/long life instead of using REAL foods. If you ever find time to look in the snack aisle of the Dollar Store you will see that every snack contains HFCS thats why they can be sold for $1.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Gillian – So true! Any cheap foods will typically contain HFCS. Very sad.

  • Gillian Bliss

    Hubby always makes bread but has been super busy last few days so I thought I would get some english muffins for his breakfast sandwich I was so busy looking at sugar % that I didn’t give HFCS a thought till I got home and read the ingredients. Thought I would return them but really not worth my time so in the trash they have gone. I refuse to eat it or allow my family to.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Gillian – Good for you! The trash is really where it belongs anyway. lol

  • Angela

    There are some recipes that call for “corn syrup”. I haven’t made any, but I think I saw it in some of my grandma’s recipes. Is this the same thing as HFCS? I stay away from both, but I aways wondered if the corn syrup they sell in the store is the same thing. I am sure its just a bad-for-you sweetener regardless.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Angela – You got that right! Corn syrup is bad for you in any form. Hy fructose corn syrup is just a more-processed form of the stuff you buy in the store. Stay away from both. I have found that the best substitution for corn syrup is brown rice syrup. It’s not exact, but it’s as close as you will ever get. Good luck!

  • Angela

    Great, thanks for the clarification. My next thought was on brown rice syrup. I haven’t used it, but I am trying to replicate Clif Bars “cleanly” and I noticed it was an ingredient. I am wondering if maple syrup works the same way. Especially after I recently read about the health benefits of maple syrup! Thanks for the wealth of info you have here.

  • http://www.thegraciouspantry.com The Gracious Pantry

    Angela – Maple syrup will provide far more sweetness than brown rice syrup, but brown rice syrup provides the “sticky factor”. You might want to use both. Brown rice syrup is not very sweet.

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