Now I know why the American Cancer Society stopped using birthday cakes in their "Happy Birthday" ads.

Robert Lustig is a specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.  According to the enormous feature in The New York Times Magazine about his theories, UCSF has one of the best medical schools in the country.  Lustig published his first paper on childhood obesity over a decade ago, and he believes the leading cause of the epidemic is something we all consume every day: sugar.

But not only does Lustig believe that sugar causes obesity and diabetes in children and adults, he goes so far as to describe sugar and high fructose corn syrup as toxic, poisonous and downright evil.  Times scribe Gary Taubes is upfront about the fact that after 10 years of research, he’s in complete agreement with Lustig.  Early in the lengthy piece, Taubes writes, “when you bake your children a birthday cake or give them lemonade on a hot summer day, you may be doing them more harm than good, despite all the love that goes with it.”  Lustig, Taubes and others believe that sugar can even cause cancer. Continue reading »

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A new study finds corn syrup might NOT equal regular sugar

A not-so-sweet controversy is brewing over High Fructose Corn Syrup and whether, indeed, its just like granulated sugar. The corn industry has long argued that HFCS, which many have blamed for the rise in ADHD and obesity, is chemically just like regular sugar. So convinced of this — and also so tired of dealing with the bad PR of HFCS — they’ve decided to rename the stuff “corn sugar.”

But a new study claims to have found that, indeed, the two substances are not the same and that corn syrup has an extra fructose punch to it that makes it unhealthier. Continue reading »

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Is High Fructose Corn Syrup the same as regular sugar? There’s been a contentious debate over High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) for some time now. Those who defend the stuff say that sugar is sugar. Others have been more skeptical about a the mix of fructose and glucose that is used in soft drinks, bread and seemingly everything that Americans eat.

Some critics go so far as to blame HFCS for America’s recent obesity epidemic. Now a new report strongly suggests that HFCS is linked to pancreatic cancer, according to Reuters. Continue reading »

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The makers of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) dismiss studies showing that it may make you fatter than equivalent amounts of sugar. They’ve poured $30 million into an ad campaign portraying HFCS avoiders as uninformed busybodies trying to take away our favorite treats. But in spite of their best efforts, food manufacturers (hey, doesn’t that sound tasty–manufactured food!) are dumping HFCS in favor of sugar, with Hunt’s ketchup being the latest in a series of high-profile products now proudly waving a “No HFCS!” banner. Not surprisingly, the corn refining industry (another tasty-sounding phrase) is fighting back with a grand plan: they’ll change the name! Are we consumers really so easy to fool?
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Most of us are worried about high fructose corn syrup, but just like those ridiculous commercials say, few of us can articulate exactly why. Now Princeton researchers have uncovered some evidence that high fructose corn syrup actually prompts much more weight gain than sugar, even when overall caloric intake is the same.

Researchers from the department of psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute found that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup along with their usual rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas. Continue reading »

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There’s little doubt in most people’s minds that high fructose corn syrup isn’t especially good stuff to eat a lot of. And unfortunately, if you eat pretty much anything you don’t prepare from raw ingredients yourself, you’re eating a lot of it. It’s in just about everything from bread to juice to condiments.

A study from the University of California, the first one on human subjects, found some troubling effects from the substance. 16 volunteers were fed a strictly controlled diet with high levels of fructose. After 10 weeks, the subjects had formed new fat cells around their heart, liver, and digestive organs. They also showed metabolic changes that are linked to diabetes and heart disease. Volunteers on a similar diet but with glucose sugar Continue reading »

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Of the TV commercials that have been rattling around in my brain since childhood, the one I parrot (and parody) the most with my own kids is from Kool-Aid.

Remember when the punch-maker came up with the great idea of selling little packets containing only the flavor  — no sugar. It was doubtless an effort to say them (and Mom!) money. But they advertised it as a way to empower mothers with a little control over the amount of sugar — bad, bad sugar! — their kids were ingesting after a hot day roller-skating or playing on the lawn.

“And I control the amount of sugar he drinks!” the mom explains to another kid’s mom, who nods approvingly. Anything to fend off sugar!

So it’s funny to see … Continue reading »

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