High Fructose Corn Syrup is making Americans hefty

[Spareribs]

I was watching the Woodstock documentary and noticed that the American people back in the 1960's were thin but back then, people ate sugar. Today, high fructose corn syrup is in almost every food product and if you go to a concert today, you will see lots of hefty people, unlike the thinner people at the original Woodstock.

According to a study, when you consume HFCS, it goes to your liver, releasing enzymes that then instruct the body to store fat. IMO, this a big factor for the national weight gain. People say that it's the busy work schedule and lack of exercise but I don't think Americans were big exercisers back in the 60's.

Food manufacturers started to use HFCS in the 1970s and today, you will see it in just about every product in the U.S. including bread, ketchup, soda, sauces, beer, snacks, etc... The national weight gain coincides with the proliferation of HFCS in our products. If you never saw the Woodstock movie, I recommend it. You will see how people looked before the era of HFCS and they were much thinner.

The reason why I am referring to the Woodstock movie is because it was made in 1969. And the 70's was the decade when HFCS became a part of our food system.

 

[Bojamijams]

MOD EDIT: Illegal activity discussion removed.



back to the thread... the mass explosion of MonoSodiumGlutamate, HighFructoseCornSyrup and trans fat are the reason americans have an obesity epidemic.. eliminate just those 3 from your entire diet, and you'll get a lot lighter without a hint more exercise

 

[virometal]

You can add portion size to that list. Americans eat just good old fashioned a-lot of food also. Thus for the obese, I would try to limit portion size first and foremost - easier said than done with factors considered such as low cost, availability, and marketing. It's an uphill fight with constant temptation.

 

[majid]

The US used to import a lot of sugar from Cuba. After Fidel Castro took over and sanctions were imposed, prices rose. Politically influential sugar growers, specially in Texas, ensured various other protectionist measures stayed in place to jack up their profits, since sugar in the US costs wholesale roughly twice world prices. This created a market opportunity for corn syrup (with its own list of even more politically influential backers like Cargill or Archer Daniels Midland) that does not exist elsewhere. There were side-effects like Midwest candy factories closing and moving to Canada, but they don't have the farm lobby behind them.

Ironically, another boondoggle for the corn processor lobby is reversing this trend - corn ethanol requires more oil to produce than the energy it yields at the pump, but it has led to a doubling of corn prices and bulk HFCS is no longer much cheaper than sugar. That's why you see all these products like Pepsi Throwback advertising themselves as corn syrup free. They can position themselves as premium products and be more profitable while not actually costing more.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Wait a minute, there is high fructose corn syrup beer? Really?

 

[Hi-Finthen]

Yep, 2000 calories a day intake should be the target, ie portion awareness/control.

That population of '69 referanced, also were tobacco smokers, one of the mainstays of media advertisements / marketing, was and is an appitite suppresant.

Most all perscription medicine have as a side effect(s), of weight gain.

However, I agree with the OP cheaper sweetners than even sugar cuts into profit margins which pays for the marketing and advertisements leading to unhealthy consumption quanities or more healthy choices.

Knowledge is Power.

Thanx OP, good topic!

~

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[Kirosia]

People are obese because they eat too much and move too little.

 

[MCC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majid /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ironically, another boondoggle for the corn processor lobby is reversing this trend - corn ethanol requires more oil to produce than the energy it yields at the pump, but it has led to a doubling of corn prices and bulk HFCS is no longer much cheaper than sugar. That's why you see all these products like Pepsi Throwback advertising themselves as corn syrup free. They can position themselves as premium products and be more profitable while not actually costing more.

Exactly. I live in Iowa yet I pay up to 15 cents more per gallon to fill up with plain old gas instead of E10. Ethanol is a sham.

On another note, one of the area grocery chains sells 20oz Throwback for $.99 vs. $1.49 for everything else.

 

[iszatso]

As mentioned before, wether you eat sugar or cornsyrup most dieticians will tell you that either is not helpful when more is taken in than is burned. Sedentary lifestyles are what make people fat. IMHO.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Names. I want names. Which beer companies use high fructose corn syrup?

 

[Happy Camper]

Americans are making themselves fat. Ignorant eating, little self control and a lazy lifestyle. Those Woodstock days were showing people who had little money and what they did have were typically drugs first, food second. If the drug enforcement were as lax as then, I'd be afraid to see where our society would be.

I wonder how many would show up to an outdoor three day event today?

 

[Billyk]

MOD EDIT: Discussion of illegal activity removed.

HFCS is only one issue, the "Low Fat" revolution is not much help either, everywhere you look products tout their lack of fat. What do they replace it with, carbs, like HFCS. People think they can eat it because it has NO fat.
A calorie is a calorie. To many calories in not enough burned the waistline grows.

 

[ericj]

Here's the thing. Sucrose - that's the kind of sugar you get from cane or beets - is composed of one fructose bonded to one glucose.

Corn syrup is dextrose. Which is glucose depending on how you look at it. It's the same thing in every meaningful way.

Sucrose breaks down into 50% glucose and 50% fructose in the presence of water and acid, heat, or sunlight. In doing so, it becomes slightly less sweet.

When you eat sucrose, it breaks into glucose and fructose before it passes through your stomach. It never makes it to your liver in one piece.

A bottle of mexican coke left in the sun on a hot day will become less sweet.

HFCS is called "high fructose" because it's got more fructose in it than glucose. To make it as sweet as sucrose.

The mixture used in soft drinks is 45% dextrose and 55% fructose. So, it's got 10% more fructose in it than sucrose does.

I've seen studies that show that eating fructose to the exclusion of other sugars - the way some doctors used to recommend to diabetics because it's much sweeter than sucrose - increases your serum lipids and can even cause fat nodules to form in the liver.

But i haven't seen studies that are as conclusive for people eating 10% more fructose vs. someone eating sucrose.

People should probably just eat less sugar. Over the last 30 years, companies that manufacture prepared foods have figured out that humans respond more positively when even savory foods are a little sweeter.

Have you ever noticed how sweet a pizza from Papa John's is these days? it's nauseating. Might as well be candy.

 

[acidbasement]

Yep, cane sugar is the way to go if you dig the sweet.

HFCS is not the only difference between those Woodstock people and the people of today. Back then, they got a hell of a lot more physical activity while growing up than today's kids do, and since most of the Woodstock crowd were in their late teens - early twenties, they didn't have enough sedentary years behind a desk or on an assembly line to accumulate much fat - yet. Contrast that with today's kids, raised on TV, video games, and the net, many of whom if not obese already are well on their way by the time they reach 20 years old.

 

[Signal2Noise]

Portion size and lack of exercise.