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Comments

hush

@Jill & mel - on not knowing how to respond to friends who are skeptical about the real dangers of HFCS, artificial sweeteners, etc.

Ok, I don't want to advocate any intellectual dishonesty in dealing with the doubters. However, you could certainly say "Well, because we don't actually know what causes X, which is on the rise in this country, I'd rather be safe than sorry." X could represent any number of Scary Diseases & Ailments Du Jour On The Rise in this country. And that's actually for real.

Eva

You can try molasses (and get extra iron) if you are concerned about HFCS in the fake syrups and maple syrup is too costly.

I saw the print ads this week and was really confused until I saw it was from the corn people. Then I was irritated. If truth weren't so hard to define, I'd be railing about how there oughtta be a law about only having true ads (thinking also of politics here).

Nella

A couple of good books about food including HFCS are Fast Food Nation and Fat Land.

As someone who studies food for a living I could go on and on and on about this topic so I won't even start!

As for the commercials, I had to see them 2 or 3 times to actually realize that they were saying HFCS is okay (am I dumb or what?)! I totally couldn't get my head around it.

We don't buy anything with HFCS or Hydrogenated oils in it at our house, and it has been our practice for some time. I occasionally indulge in some Pepsi but otherwise we avoid the stuff. It takes a lot more time at the grocery store reading every single ingredient list but it has really helped me realize just how much crap is in the "food" we eat.

ada

For those of you living on the west coast, Franz offers a nice variety of bread that is free of HFCS. I see these breads at groceries stores all over the Seattle area. Not all of the breads they make are HFCS free, but many are!

http://usbakery.com/index.php?page=big-horn-valley-all-natural-100-whole-wheat

Jana (sidetrack'd)

I was just talking to hubby about these commercials last night. They drive me CRAZY! Hello, yes it is made from corn, but by a chemical process. Who are you kidding?

shans281

Dee, I'll second Mo's recommendation of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I've been using it for over a month and haven't bought bread from the supermarket since I got it; there are lots of really tasty recipes (homemade rye!) and it really is an easy process (be sure to check their website for errata and tips).

We're HFCS/hydrogenated oil free at our house, but it helps enormously that I love cooking and am a SAHM so I (kind of) have time for it.

Also seconding the various recommendations for Michael Pollan's book from PPs -- his writing style is very engaging, and the topic is SO important; unlike some political causes, food is one area where we really CAN make a difference with our everyday choices (ok, getting off soapbox now).

Sort of related, anyone have recommendations for childhood nutrition books? Looking for something general (breakdown of nutrients & requirements etc.) with maybe short blurbs about various illnesses' nutritional aspects, maybe recipes??; something like Lendon Smith's "Feed Your Kids Right", but well, not 25 years old.

And, because the HFCS people aren't the only ones doing it, the text from the back of my bag of Domino sugar:
"Sugar is a 100% natural simple carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are an important part of any balanced diet."
Ha! That cracks me up every time I read it (uh, not that I make brownies twice a week or anything, ahem).

Lisa in Canada

Up in the Great White North, more than half of our stations are from the US, so yah, I've seen it and I could NOT BELIEVE MY EYES. Seriously, at first I thought I was watching a clip from a new movie a la "Thank You for Smoking" (great movie, BTW). WHAT A LOAD OF %^&#!!! Those magazine articles are practically straight from that movie ("My mom said smoking was bad. Oh! I didn't know you mom was a doctor!").

@Suki: I'm not 100% sure, but I believe Hedra is correct in that HFCS is call glucose-fructose here. It's in a ton of stuff. =P

Man, those lobbyists are making a good living....

auburn

Marion Nestle wrote about HFCS and the ads in her column this week. It's a good primer I think.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/4m9gvn

SarcastiCarrie

CHOCOLATE: One more place you can cut out HFCS without sacrificing anything...switch from chocolate syrup (like Hershey's in the squeeze bottle) to powdered chocolate milk mix (I think I'm using Nestle Quik, but I really don't remember - read the label).

anon

Hmmm, diabetes anyone?

jbq+h

I had no idea that HFCS was in Hershey's syrup. And I was trying to be such a good doobie about checking labels. I guess I didn't think that *they* would mess with chocolate.

My heart is broken.

Kathy

I would be horrified if they weren't so hilarious. I've also spent the last 20 minutes watching the Dave Chappelle videos on youtube - the most wonderful invention on the internet. But, I digress.

Perhaps it's just bad acting, but I'm totally creeped out by those ads.

I do my best to avoid all processed foods but they are so darn convenient (for this working mom). I've seen a few in the previous posts but does anyone have a list of companies or products that are genuinely good for you? My 17 month old son only gives me 20 minutes to shop for groceries... including check out. I have no time to read labels. I just trust that Whole Foods and Trader Joes are choosing quality products for me. I'm sure that is totally naive.

sudru

I just saw the popsicle commercial today. I was surprised and then disturbed. To me, this is another example of business and politics, saying something over and over again and then it eventually becomes truth.

Eleanor

I noticed that you mentioned agave nectar as a healthier alternative to HFCS, and I wanted to point out that agave nectar has even more fructose than HFCS.

This is both good and bad: agave nectar (up to 90% fructose) is more slowly digested than HFCS (usually about half fructose and half glucose), which means that it makes blood sugar levels rise more slowly because fructose must be processed in the liver before it can enter the bloodstream as glucose. This is good, because it decreases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

However, the processing of excessive amounts of fructose can damage the liver in much the same way as excessive alcohol intake does. Recent studies have suggested that a high fructose intake can cause the development of a fatty liver, which can then lead to cirrhosis of the liver and other nasty things. This, obviously, is bad. In addition, there is some recent evidence that high fructose consumption can increase the risk of gout, of all things.

So depending on what you're most worried about (there isn't a whole lot of evidence to point you either way, as far as I know), it might be smart to avoid agave nectar as well as HFCS. In my opinion, what we know today suggests that limiting fructose consumption might be a smart thing to do.

(As far as references go, I just graduated from college pre-med with a degree in molecular biology, which is where most of this comes from. Also check out these topics on wikipedia, and an interesting abstract about fructose and fatty liver can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18395287?ordinalpos=12&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum )

hedra

@michelle, sorry, I was trying to get too much content in too little space, and mangled.

NO, of course HFCS does not cause ADHD!

What I was trying to say was:

Any high fructose source (HFCS, Agave, honey, mangos, whatever) in Fructose Malabsorbers causes fermentation, which due to blocking tryptophan affects brain chemicals (low serotonin in particular) which then creates some of the same behavior patterns that are diagnosed as ADHD.

What this means is not that if your child is Dx ADHD, they really have fructose malabsorption.

It also doesn't mean that if they have fructose malabsorption, they will get ADHD by eating foods not allowed on their diet.

What it does mean is that if you have a child with a) some of the symptoms of ADHD, or b) ADHD at any level, it may be worth finding out IF they have fructose malabsorption, because if a) it might just be FM (not a full profile of symptoms, but the difficulty changing focus and the lack of social inhibition - that is, doing things like hiting people 'just because'), or b) if they have FM on top of ADHD you might be able to reduce some of the expressed symptoms by changing diet.

Just like a lot of kids on the autism spectrum do better with a change in diet - this doesn't change the genes they have, or their brain development, or the rate of brain growth they had, or any of the other physiological underpinnings that are starting to be identified. What it does is ensure best possible function by eliminating the fermentation.

If there is any. And since 2/3 of the population (or so) does NOT have fructose malabsorption, it isn't just a matter of 'everyone should do this' - it is a matter of trialing or doing formal medical testing to find out, if it seems useful. Any kid with behavioral outbursts or anxiety/depression might benefit from doing a trial, since the food trial only takes four days. (Three days for fructose to clear the gut, fourth day you start seeing rebound in serotonin levels, therefore behavior.) And only half the people who have Fructose Malabsorption have ANY gastro symptoms, so it isn't just 'they don't have IBS signs, so it isn't involved' - it is IMHO worth four days to find out.

I seriously did not at all mean to imply that HFCS caused anything but fermentation-based behavior changes, and that those behaviors are commonly associated with an ADHD diagnosis.

With Mr B, the teachers actually said 'we'd consider talking about testing for ADHD, but he only has some of the signs, and attention is NOT a problem for him. He has plenty of capacity to focus. He just...' and then they trailed off. Changed his diet, and changed the child. He is one of the sub-group that is particularly sensitive to HFCS, so even traces will change him from joyful happy bouncy boy to rage-filled inflexible demanding rude and cruel boy. Sorbitol (and other polyols) also have the same effect on him (they block absorption of fructose even further), and even a little wheat, while not as fast a trigger, will develop the same pattern in him (fructans, in that case).

Anyway, that was the point I was trying to make.

And agave, I agree, is worse. But fortunately, it isn't ubiquitous. On the other hand, peach, pear, and apple concentrates are in freaking everything, and they're nearly as troublesome as HFCS. More 'natural', yes. But high in polyols as well as fructose. Honey, too. Pretty much everything that becomes a commercial standard becomes excessive in the US diet, it seems.

Also worth noting that for those FM folks who are not sensitive to HFCS, the 55 version (which is more glucose than fructose - High just refers to 'higher than corn syrup alone, which is mainly glucose') is usually quite easy on the system. Only problem - it's not labeled for whether you're getting the 42 or the 55, and it makes a big difference to the body which one it is, especially if you take in a lot of it over the course of a few days.

hedra

Oh, and IMHO, total fructose intake shouldn't be at 54g/day (US average), period. That's more than even a well-absorbing person can tolerate effectively.

AmyinMotown

In re: Hershey's syrup: I swear I can taste HFCS in things and it just tastes like sticky fuzzy sweet to me. As an alternative, may I suggest Alton Brown's cocoa syrup?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cocoa-syrup-recipe/index.html

So yummy--sweet, but purely chocolatey and delicious. Yes, it has (plain old) corn syrup in it, and it needs it (I've tried to leave it out and it doesn't work as well, it separates and gets runny and crunchy). But really, a little Karo syrup is OK here and there. This isn't an everyday thing but man it's good.

hedra

As for the road rage, I also didn't mean to imply that the incidence, EVER, is due to fructose fermentation. Just the RATES are likely higher since the rate of fructose malabsorption is quite high, and one of the behavioral symptoms in men is intense sudden onset rage.

And unless your DH is actually following a low-FODMAP diet, he's likely still nowhere near doing a low-fermentation diet. Low sugar is great. Hippy diet, however, is total hell for fructose malabsorption. Whole grains, beans, fibrous veggies, lots of whole fruits, honey and agave-sweetened foods, xylitol-based toothpaste... Again, if he has anger-management issues, putting fermentation on top of that makes it worse. I am a pretty decent absorber of fructose, myself (not perfect, but not anything like my kids!), but I will also have rage outbursts if I've overdone the fructose, fructans, or polyols. They even make sense to me, feelings-wise (I don't FEEL like I've lost all perspective!). But if I follow the kids' diet, I don't have that kind of wind-up-out-of-nowhere thing. Which means no pear, no apple, no pit-fruits, no wheat (or wheat only once a day every other day or so), no beans (or beans only with bean-o), no onions or leeks (including onion powder), and limited whole grains (white rice instead of brown, for example). And no sushi made with HFCS, soda, yogurts with inulin, FOS, prebiotics, or chicory.

I would actually love to see what happened if you took your road-rage DH and put him on a low-FODMAP diet for a week, not a low-sugar hippie diet... (One of the huge crushing issues for a lot of FM patients is that they've been told that they should 'eat healthy' - and good god, the escalation of issues if they do!)

hedra

(last was @michelle, forgot to say)

jesse

I'd never heard of these commercials until yesterday, hadn't thought much about HFCS in any real way (I thought it was bad but not worse than sugar, really.) Now I know, so thank you Moxie and everybody!

And to put a synchronistic spin on it, I opened my latest copy of Parenting magazine last night before going to bed and wouldn't you know, there is an advertisement for HFCS in it. In Parenting magazine! Talk about going straight for your audience. And the ad is so condescending and mocking.

I hope that soon the truth comes out in a big way and changes things, like what happened with transfats. Until then, I'm telling everyone I know.

Beth

I have been meaning to break out my bread maker for ages. BUT in the meantime, ARNOLD NATURAL 100% WHOLE WHEAT bread does not have HCFS and it does have tons of fiber.

I also laughed out loud when I first saw these commericals. I thought for sure that they were a joke. But then I saw the sponsor, and what do you know? Let's petition the government to stop handing out corn subsidies- bet that makes a difference.

Trish

I guess I'm really in the minority on this one but the one time I did see the commercial it stopped me in my tracks and I thought it was a joke. When it was over I shrugged and thought that it was about time someone put things in perspective. I call it food snobbery. Occassionally juice, ice pops and white bread aren't going to kill you or your kids. We don't always make the best choices but our peer moms are often times really good at making you just feel bad about your choices. I think that the commercial was addressing that.

I do everything in moderation with my kids. Occassionally, we eat fast food on the way to soccer practice. We don't have it daily but we do it in moderation. Juiceboxes go in my kids' lunchboxes frequently, usually when they're just sick of thermoses of water and need a change. You know what though, vegetables are always in their lunchboxes too...and a piece of fruit. They eat it - I do lunch duty so I see that they eat it. I make healty dinners six nights a week with wholesome ingredients. Dinner is out one night a week. Counterbalance that though with the candy or treat that they get at the end of the food shopping trip. It's times like that I always get caught by the "food snob" friends that I have. Looking down at me for feeding my kids garbage.

I'm off to see the rest of the commercials that someone linked on here. Maybe I'll eat my words when I watch it again.

Diane

@Trish - I agree that moderation of stuff like this is the key. I don't think of HFCS as poison at all. The point is that it is very difficult to consume HFCS in moderation unless you actively try to avoid it. It isn't just in white bread or juice or popsicles. It's in sauces and cereal and salad dressing and all sorts of things that are otherwise nutritious in nature.

I, too, am bothered by food snobbery. People want to judge everything we do as parents. Try not to take much of this discussion personally. I don't think anyone here is saying that these foods are detrimental to a child or adult on occasion, but when ingested on a daily basis in almost every meal (which honestly was how bad it was in my family when I first learned of this ... and we were eating healthy foods!) it's just too much.

Meika

Thanks for the chocolate and maple syrup options; I was just going to ask about that! I'll add, too, that I made strawberry freezer jam for the first time this summer - blows the store-bought stuff out of the water, it was incredibly easy, and I know exactly what's in it (even if that is exactly a whole lot of sugar).

ALSO, PEANUT BUTTER - Meijer carries a brand called Krema (found it online, too, associated with something called Crazy Richard's). It's reasonably priced and the ingredient list reads: "PEANUTS". That's it.

Diane D

I read some of Michael Pollan's works over the summer and they really made sense to me. So I cut out HFCS just to see if I felt better. I did. A lot better. And I lost 5 pounds in a month without even trying (or darkening the door of the gym, I admit).

After 2 weeks of no soda, I had a coke with my sister. Felt so awful, comparatively, that I haven't even been tempted since. It's been 2 months and I don't plan to go back.

I can't believe that they're trying to convince us that 'moderation in everything' applies to HFCS in fruit drinks. Why do we need to give our kids moderate amounts of purple drink when there's 100% juice that comes in boxes too? I don't get it.

But I'll take it as a hopeful sign that the HFCS-is-bad message is getting out there.

CathyY

My blood pressure went thru the roof the first time I saw one... of course the website has no email link, which made me madder. lol I am insulted by the commericial, which is just a reminder as to why I watch so little TV to begin with. There's also another one about some chemical company doing great things for the environment/your health as a bunch of Windex passes behind him on a conveyor belt or something. Ugh! Please! Off button NOW!

Sara Mackey

My jaw dropped when I saw these commercials. I was thinking, BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE!
I love my Golden Eagle Syrup - it is made with corn syrup, cane sugar, molasses, and maple syrup. YUMMY! I bought some aunt jemima for my husband a few weeks ago - so bland and icky, and it has hfcs. Back to the golden eagle for me. It is made in Alabama, and I doubt it is available outside the south, though it is online.

paola

Wow, these comments have opened my eyes. I thought we were immune form the dangers mentioned (living here in Europe)until I had a quick look at the ingredients of some of the food-stuffs I have in my pantry and fridge! I can not say it is everywhere in my house, fortunately, but I did find two items with scirropo di fruttosio glucosio ( no need to translate, I'm sure) and countless others with labels containing more general descriptions such as 'natural sweetners' (European laws haven't caught up to the US in regards to detailed ingredient lists), although I'm not even sure whether HFCSs are considered 'natural' sweetners at all.

I have to admit, thanks to having a bit more time up my sleeve than most mothers (SAHM here), most of my cooking is from scratch, and we rarely consume processed foods, but rarely does most certainly not mean never and certain things you simply can not avoid eating and god knows what they have in them.

Johanna

@Pippi, or anyone else who knows, how do I watch TV on the computer? Are there particular websites I should know about? Or is it just nbc.com, etc.? We're slowly going from a lot of TV, to a little TV, to basically no TV, but we want to be able to watch certain things. The networks, mostly, but my husband would like to watch ESPN on occasion. Can that be watched online?

Way off topic, I realize, but I thought someone might have a second to offer advice! Thanks!

bethp

Sarcastic carrie - and all others WARNING, now that "no HFCS" is a popular marketing tool - I saw that you were excited that Brownberry bread taking up the charge. Unfortunately, now instead of HFCS they put SUCRALOSE in their Health Nut bread. I called the company to complain - artificial sweetners are WAY more dangerous than HFCS on any day, and I think it's irresponsible of them to not make it more prominent that that's what it contains...I think we are all going to have to be more careful...

bethp

Oh, and brownberry bread is the same thing as Arnold's here in the east...

SarcastiCarrie

Bethp - I don't buy bread with sucralose. Maybe the regional baker of my Brownberry isn't using sucralose because my Health Nut has raisin juice, molasses, and maybe honey.

Why don't manufacturers or company websites list the nutritional and ingredient information? I went to the Brownberry website to see whether they had the ingredients listed and they didn't have that nor did they have the Nutrition Facts panel. They did have an allergen finder, but not total ingredients lists (and yes, the last bread I bought from Brownberry did have Tilapia in it of all things...Omega Boost bread or something).

heather

I did a lot of reading on the food chain and I agree, Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilema" is an excellent (although scary) read, as is "In Defense of Food". To summarize both books, the shorter the food chain, the better (buy directly from farmers, if possible) and eat the least processed foods possible.

We eat a fair amount of yogurt in my house and wow, it is HARD to find yogurt that doesn't have all sorts of funky ingredients! I switched us to the organic yogurt because I really don't think my toddler needs Aspartame in her diet. Now if only someone would make organc cherry yogurt and make it available here in Canada...

paola

@heather

Why don't you make your own? We have always made our own yogurt and love it much more than any commercially produced stuff. Our old yogurt maker cost us around $10 and we had 3 good years out of it and then it went bung. Our new yogurt maker is making me sweat a bit as I haven't had one good yogurt out of it and my hubby has told me 'one more try' and then it's back to shop yogurt. I'm sure I can work it out, I mean the last machine was a sinch to work. These hi-tech appliances, eh? But seriously, they are dead easy to use ( usually) and cheaper than buying the stuff and you know exactly what is in it- can add your own cherries when they are in season.

Cali Angel

I just think they're hilarious! Dave Chapelle's version was waay funnier for sure! I would love to see some counter videos made with David Elsewhere just to make it even more random! Just check out his moves on the Motorokr vids on www.motorola.com/e8

Kristine

Amen, sister!!

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I hate corn syrup, high fructose or not, and it's in EVERYTHING! Cookies, soda, bread, crackers, candy, ice cream, salad dressing, ketchup, jam, etc. I think most people would be suprised at how many products contain corn syrup.

When I saw those commericals I was blown away at how ridiculous they are. There are studies that prove that it's bad for you. If you read about the process of making it, it will scare you.

My middle child is intolerant to corn syrup. Ingesting it makes her sick. Halloween is hard on her, to say the least. Thank goodness for Reeses Cups (the regular-sized ones only) and Kit-Kat bars! At least a few companies have gotten smart and started using real sugar. Not that sugar is good, but it's better than corn syrup.

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  • My expertise is in helping people be who they want to be, with a specialty in how being a parent fits into everything else. I like people. I like parents. I think you're doing a fantastic job. The nitty-gritty of what you do with your kids is up to you, although I'm happy to post questions here to get data points of how you could try approaching different stages, because, let's face it, this shit is hard. As for me, I have two kids who sleep through the night and can tie their own shoes. I've been a married SAHM, a married freelance WAHM, a divorcing WOHM, a divorced WOHM, and now a WAHM again. I'm not buying the Mommy Wars and I'll come sit next to you no matter how you're feeding your kid. When in doubt, follow the money trail. And don't believe the hype.
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