"Can you make that fungus-free, please?" The dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

The first thing I noticed a couple months ago when I first started to become more health-conscious and reading labels became routine is that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is in EVERYTHING. If you eat anything prepackaged or mass produced, chances are it’s somewhere on the ingredient list; even in things you wouldn’t suspect, i.e. things that aren’t even viewed as sweet. Right now I have a box of (pre-health nut era) bran flakes in my cupboard. Not raisin bran or anything fancy, just regular old cardboardesque flakes of bran. Ingredients: Whole grain wheat, wheat bran, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, salt, malt flavoring. Who knew?

My biggest frustration occurred in the bread aisle at the grocery store. Looking for something 100% whole grain, I had a little shock and awe moment after reading labels on about 20 loaves of bread. Even whole grain bread does not appear to exist (at least at the closest chain supermarket) without High Fructose Corn Syrup. I finally found a whole sprouted grain bread in the frozen section, those of you who’ve tried Ezekiel Bread know what I’m talking about, but that’s a topic for another post. Bottom line is that I’m pulling out the bread machine and trying recipes, because unless I’m willing to shell out $5 a loaf at the natural market on the other side of town (I’m not) my options are pretty limited.

Why do I care, and what makes HFCS so bad?

There’s a great article written by Linda Forristal on the whole manufacturing process here but I’ll give you the gist of things:

Any time something is a product of a manufacturing “process,” it’s going to be a pretty far cry from natural. HFCS is pretty much the epitome of that. You start with corn, process that to get corn starch, process the corn starch to get glucose, and process the glucose to get a higher concentration of fructose. Processing is done by three enzymes at different stages, one of which is a product of a bacteria and another of which is a product of a fungus, and both of those enzymes are considered “genetically modified.” As is the corn we started with in the first place. Now we aren’t only processing food, we’re processing genetically modified food with other things that are already processed and genetically modified. It really is a wonder we don’t glow in the dark at this point.

Fructose (which is about 55% of HFCS) is the real “big bad” in the equation. According to the article I mentioned above, unlike glucose which can be metabolized in cells in the body, fructose can only be metabolized in the liver. So basically too much HFCS can have the same effects on your liver as alcoholism. Other health problems it's linked to include mineral deficiencies, elevated "bad" cholesterol, increased blood clotting (which can lead to strokes), a suppressed immune system, heart disease, high blood pressure, and just getting damn fat. Researchers at the USDA did a study on lab rats, feeding half glucose and half fructose. The male rats getting fructose ALL DIED - before reaching adulthood. Just my opinion, but massive organ failure is usually enough to turn me off of something. I'm avoiding high fructose corn syrup for the same reasons I don't smoke, lick walls coated in lead-based paint, or make paper maché piñatas with leftover asbestos. So unless the FDA/USDA/whoever's really running the show wants to put themselves in position for a class-action lawsuit by admitting how harmful this stuff is, which I don't see happening any time soon, my bread machine is going to get a lot of mileage.

(Note: Some good alternatives to processed sweeteners like HFCS are honey, pure maple syrup, stevia,agave nectar,sucanat,and xylitol.)