When asked about a certain food, the first thing that might come to mind is the taste, the look, or the texture. What does not come to mind is the ingredients that make the food for what it is. Today, many food items contain the ingredient high fructose corn syrup. While some people may cringe when they hear those words, others will explain the true meaning behind HFCS. Based on several articles, the truth of the matter is that high fructose corn syrup is just another replacement for sugar. There is no sufficient evidence proving that HFCS is worse than sugar, however that does not mean it is better for you either. HFCS is just as bad as sugar, meaning that there is no large effect on the body compared to sugar, but they both do have side effects …show more content…
For instance, in the “myth vs facts” article it claims that HFCS is the same as sugar when it comes to the number of calories, composition and absorption in the human body. In addition, when it comes to sweetness, sugar and HFCS taste the same, even though HFCS is actually less sweet than sugar. In terms of nutrition, high fructose corn syrup and sucrose, which is the main composition of sugar, are identical. The main difference between these two sweeteners is the way they are produced. HFCS comes from all natural products, such as corn however this corn started as cornstarch, which was chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose which is then transferred into fructose. But today, existing research indicates that corn DNA cannot be detected in measurable amounts in high fructose corn …show more content…
When picking up items at the grocery store, most people do not stop to read the ingredients. However if someone were to stop and look at each ingredient, they will see that HFCS comes up in unusual foods such as yogurt, ketchup, and even jelly. One would never think to group these food items together, however HFCS is such a diverse ingredient that it is can be used in so many products, same as sugar. Since HFCS is in so many foods, in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we must moderate our sugar intake. While some may think this is impossible, it actually is possible but only if you track the amount of sugar you
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is an artificial sweetener commonly used in the United States. As its name implies, this sweetener is derived from agricultural corn. All high fructose corn syrups are corn syrups whose fructose content has been increased via enzymatic processes and then mixed with pure corn syrup. There are several different formulations of high-fructose corn syrup. The product sold in the United States (HFCS #2) has the following composition: moisture, 29%; dry substance, 71% D.S.; dextrose, 50% D.S.; ash, 0.03 D.S.; and nitrogen, 0.002% D.S. The amounts of dextrose, fructose, and other saccharides may vary slightly in HFCS #3, but the analysis is fairly consistent. HFCS #1 hasn’t been commercially sold specifically for consumer consumption in the U.S. for many years. Instead, it is used by food producers in their products.
Glucose can be used directly by any cell in the body. It easily moves into the cell where it is directly burned for energy. No such luck with fructose. It must first be transported to the liver where a wide variety of things (none of them good) happen.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is found in a lot of the foods and drinks we consume. It is something that is consumed on a regular basis by not only Americans but by plenty of others across the world and sometimes we might not even note the difference between it and “real” sugar. HFCS comes from a type of corn known as “Dent” corn, dent corn is transformed into cornstarch by being cleaned, soaked, ground, milled, and dried corn starch is then converted into a liquid state in a process known as hydrolysis (Sloan, 2013). Once in a liquid state, HFCS is then used to not only add a sweet flavor to drinks and food but it also can be used as a form of coloring to the consumables. What you would label as “regular” sugar is essentially the same the same thing as HFCS when you break them down chemically, the only difference between the two is that their chemical components are placed in different order (Beil, 2013).
High fructose corn syrup was first created in the 1970s by the Japanese as a form of sweetener. Combining 45% glucose and 55% fructose it was the sweetest substance yet and its cheap production, longer shelf-life, and versatility helped it over the next three decades emerge as the dominant sweetener on the market. However, despite its success, it has most recently been noted that effects of the substance are extremely detrimental to consumers, and its increased use directly correlates to the rise in obesity and diabetes among Americans.
Abstract: High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), like many other unhealthy constituents that are used in foods, is cheap and retains the taste of the natural products it emulates, possibly even surpassing them in many areas. However, experiments have shown that fructose is not an ideal sugar for human consumption, not to mention the fact that the use of GM ingredients can be dangerous. In order to prevent the continued consumption of this noxious sugar, food producers should use healthy alternative sweeteners to prevent the further dependence on HFCS in our foods and drinks.
High fructose corn syrup was invented by Richard O. Marshall and Earl R. Kooi in 1957” (Production of HF...
Many researchers at various Universities say that high fructose corn syrup is the same as sugar and there is no evidence to suggest that it is linked to an increase in obesity. In “Fat Land” by Greg Critser, he talks about America’s obesity problem, which included high fructose corn syrup as a topic of discussion. Critser states that when Coca-Cola switched from sugar
We are all aware of sugar, the sweet delicious substance commonly used in food and beverages, but table sugar is not the only sugar there is. There are many artificial sugars that many people now-a-days aren’t aware of. In this research paper I will be identifying four different types of synthetic sugars which are: Saccharin, Aspartame, Sucralose, and Sodium cyclamate. Synthetic sugars, or artificial sweeteners, have both positive and negative effects that can either make a big impact in our body or a small impact. Synthetic sugars can be used in many ways but are most commonly used in regular everyday foods and beverages or they can be mixed with other artificial sweeteners. Synthetic sugars tend to look very similar to real sugar so sometimes it may be hard to distinguish them with the naked eye.
Michael Pollan, a writer for New York Times and author of New York Times bestseller The Botany of Desire and named best book of the year by Borders, Amazon, and the American Booksellers Association, discusses some of these harmful effects along with many other facts in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan discusses how corn syrup has consumed our nation in chapter six of his book. He discusses how high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has snuck its way into the food of the American’s every meal. As restaurants line roads and food lines pantries, HFCS lurks in almost every meal. Marlene Bishop, editor of Chocolate, Fast Food, and Sweeteners: Consumption and Health, states: “In the last 35 years, high fructose corn syrup has replaced the use of sucrose by food manufactures in the US due to its steady price and availability (White, 2008)" (3). Because of the excess corn and low price to make HFCS, it continues to pour into the ingredients of the American’s diet.
In order to understand the dangers of sugary drinks and foods, an explanation of their contents is necessary. These drinks and foods are composed of high carbohydrate-content, which is responsible for energy pr...
“there’s a fundamental difference between the sugar that you find in fruits & vegetables and the sugar that you find in a large Mountain Dew. The sugar in a lot of these carbonated drinks is highly concentrated simple sugar, the kind that will spike your blood glucose levels, reduce your insulin response over time (leading to Type 2 diabetes) and almost immediately get stored in your body as fat.” There is a difference between sugar from nature and sugar that is processed. Sugar that is processed is highly concentrated because of this it tends to increase your blood glucose levels higher than natural sugar. With high
HFCS is being used for almost every food product in the food industry. However, if we look at HFCS from a limited point of view we just see it as something present in our food and not the health factors behind it. HFCS can be habit forming since it is a sweet replacement for sugar and in his article Peretti mentions that David Kessler said “sugar, through its metabolisation by the gut and hence the brain, is extremely addictive, just like cigarettes or alcohol.” People enjoy the taste and because of this they consume large quantities, which lead to health factors such as: obesity, diabetes, heart problems, infertility, liver problems, and so on. Our limited perspective may cause us to lose sight of how much of a risk HFCS possess. In my case I use to think that my family gained significant amount of weight only through fatty foods and...
For years doctors have been saying that refined sugars are empty calories and consist of absolutely no vitamins or minerals that people need to survive. Dentists warn that sugary foods encourage tooth decay. Many people avoid sweet food because it can lead to obesity, heart problems, diabetes and cancer. These negative responses by people’s bodies are actually warnings. Maybe people eat sugar for other reasons than the sweet taste. The human body's negative responses to sugar may be a similar purpose to the reason kids feel pain when they are playing too roughly. People’s consumption of sweet foods might also serve as a sign of defiance against their bodies’ health limitations. What many people do not realize is that their tasty treats can affect their mind and emotions.
We are all familiar with sugar. It is sweet, delicious, and addictive; yet only a few of us know that it is deadly. When it comes to sugar, it seems like most people are in the mind frame knowing that it could be bad for our health, but only a few are really taking the moderate amounts. In fact, as a whole population, each and everyone of us are still eating about 500 extra calories per day from sugar. Yes, that seems like an exaggerated number judging from the tiny sweet crystals we sprinkle on our coffee, but it is not. Sugar is not only present in the form of sweets and flavourings, it is hidden in all the processed foods we eat. We have heard about the dangers of eating too much fat or salt, but we know very little about the harmful effects of consuming too much sugar. There still isn’t any warnings about sugar on our food labels, nor has there been any broadcasts on the serious damages it could do to our health. It has come to my concern during my research that few
Desserts can trigger severe problems. The highest risk developing health trouble is becoming overweight or obese. Especially young people, he or she would gain more pounds of what they take in than he or she will burn. According to Cameron Keady with TFK and TIME Reporting, American kids consume more than twenty teaspoons of sugar per day and adults take in about 50% more sugar onto this day than they did in the 1970s. Food deserts are in an urban area of which it is difficult to buy good quality fresh food. Living in a food desert area, it is more convenient to buy sweets. I say this because low-income people have a difficult time to find food that meets their dietary restrictions and sweets are always on the low-cost. This means it is more affordable for low-income people to buy sugary foods than fresh organic foods. HIH News in Health said, “About 15% of calories in the American adult diet comes from added sugars.” This is about twenty-two teaspoons of extra sugar a day. All these desserts will cause us numerous major consequence in the long-term. Many people are obese because of how they eat. Being overweight is dangerous and it can even result in deadly conditions. University of Utah used a mouse as experiment with sugar. Within the fifty-eight weeks of study, the mice ate 25% more sugar in its diet. They have concluded that the mice on the sugar diet would have died more likely