Misleading Marketing

When it comes to eating right and fitness we often find challenges at every turn. Often times the marketing of a product can be misleading. One most recent example is the marketing of High Fructose Corn Syrup. The makers of this product try to diminish people questioning the safety of HFCS. Some of their print ads make is seem like it's your wacky hair dresser sharing incorrect information so that people question the source of the information. The advertisements try and make it sound like there is no substance to the many reports that caution consumers on the amount of HFCS they may be taking in. They also state that it contains the same amount of calories as sugar. That is really not the issue. What is at issue is your body's ability to tolerate it. But I think that this grass roots effort to bring up the danger of HFCS must be having an effect and as people attempt to clean up their diets and eat a more natural diet they turn to organics. Why would the makers of HFCS launch a multi media advertising plan to state that HFCS is just like regular sugar? Perhaps they are losing business!

There have been some reports suggesting that HFCS may have something to do with the rise in Type 2 diabetes and Juvenile Diabetes. If you read labels HFCS is in so many products that are marketed as healthy products such as whole grain breads.
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is produced by processing corn starch to yield glucose, and then processing the glucose to produce a high percentage of fructose. It all sounds rather simple--white cornstarch is turned into crystal clear syrup. However, the process is actually very complicated. Three different enzymes are needed to break down cornstarch, which is composed of chains of glucose molecules of almost infinite length, into the simple sugars glucose and fructose.

The info below was compiled from various sources and university websites:

"But there's another reason to avoid HFCS. Consumers may think that because it contains fructose--which they associate with fruit, which is a natural food--that it is healthier than sugar. A team of investigators at the USDA, led by Dr. Meira Field, has discovered that this just ain't so.

Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy--that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young."

This information is provided on the website of Manchester College in Indiana:

“High fructose corn syrup contains what are called ‘free’ or unbound fructose molecules. These molecules have been found to interfere with normal heart functioning, among other things. A recent study performed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed that high fructose diets shortened the life span of laboratory mice from the normal two years to an astounding five weeks. One study performed with human subjects was inadvertently stopped short of completion as some of the subjects developed abnormal heart conditions.”

The Los Angeles Times on Oct. 27 reported:

“Irritable bowel syndrome—a condition that causes abdominal discomfort, bloating and constipation or diarrhea in about 10% to 15% of Americans—may be triggered by fructose in some people, conclude University of Iowa researchers. In a study involving 80 people with IBS, the researchers found that 31 were fructose intolerant.”

The University of Iowa said in a press release: “Anything with high fructose corn syrup, a prevalent ingredient in commercially prepared food in the Western diet, can cause problems for people with IBS or fructose intolerance.”

A Washington Post article on March 11 pointed to concerns about fructose, citing two studies published in 2000. A USDA study suggested that fructose may mess up the magnesium balance in the body, spurring bone loss. At the University of Minnesota, it was found that in men, fructose produced “significantly higher levels” of triglycerides in the blood than glucose does and that “diets high in added fructose may be undesirable, particularly for men.”

Dr. Robert C. Adkins, father of the Adkins diet, has warned on his website of the dangers of HFCS. Pointing to the University of Minnesota study, he explained:

“Triglyceride goes into the bloodstream and makes our cells resistant to insulin. And insulin resistance…is the fast road to fatigue, malaise, diabetes and, of course, obesity….”

He went on to comment:

“University of London researcher P.A. Mayes believes that high fructose consumption causes the liver to release an enzyme called PDH that instructs the body to burn sugar instead of fat. If true, then a high-fructose diet—and the average American consumes 9 percent of his or her daily calories in the form of fructose—is a major metabolic factor in favor of weight gain….Considering the health implications of obesity, it seems like a clear-cut choice: Avoid high-fructose corn syrup.”