The High Fructose Corn Syrup Myth - Nutrition

It's getting hard to find a product in the supermarket these days that doesn't contain at least a small dollop of the infamous high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

You've long known that HFCS is a commonly used sweetener in drinks like sodas, but did you realize it's also hiding in breads, salad dressings, yogurt, crackers, and soups — just for starters? Avoiding HFCS altogether might be possible (with a lot of work and label reading), but do we really need to steer clear of the stuff entirely?

One myth about HFCS is that it alters your metabolism in such a way that promotes fat storage and increases your appetite. The thought behind this is that, unlike glucose, fructose somehow keeps the body from releasing enough of the satiety hormones we need to feel full.

But this is nonsense: The makeup of HFCS (55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) is close to that of white sugar (50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose), which means that our bodies digest HFCS and sugar in very similar ways.

The other big myth about high fructose corn syrup is that it's responsible for America's current obesity epidemic. Since HFCS entered our food supply in the 1970s, and the rates of obesity started to rise about then, many blame HFCS for our fat plague. It's true of course that the calories HFCS contributes can be linked to our nation's obesity problems, but its calories are no different from those in refined white sugar.

If you're casting about for the culprit behind our obesity crisis, think, too, about the huge portion sizes we are served, about how we eat out more than we eat at home nowadays, and about how our more sedentary jobs and our great love affair with the TV and computer screen have slashed our ever-dwindling exercise timetables.

So what should you do about those ubiquitous HFCS? First, reduce your intake of both HFCS and plain old sugar; decreasing your calories will in turn decrease your weight. Then think about eating more whole fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed whole grains such as rice, barley, and corn.

And realize that many other nutrition goals are more vital to your health that striving to attain a diet that's 100-percent HFCS-free.