History
High fructose corn syrup was invented by Richard O. Marshall and Earl R. Kooi in 1957. After the industrialized processing of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) was improved, the use of it in the American market increased dramatically between 1975-1985. HFCS has a longer shelf life, and costs considerably less than regular sugars making it a desirable product for processed foods.
Fructose Science
Most HFCS is a mix of 55% fructose and 45% glucose these are monoglycerides. Normal cane sugar is 100% sucrose which is a diglyceride. Monoglycerides present a problem when introduced to the body because the body processes "free" fructose differently than it does fructose bonded in diglyceride sucrose.
Studies have shown high levels of fructose produce higher levels of kidney calcium concentrations than other dietary sugars like glucose.The Problem
By consuming large quantities of HFCS foods people are literally peeing out their bones. May make you think twice about that delicious can of soda.
Ubiquity
Because HFCS is used so predominantly in processed foods it is very difficult to avoid. Even foods you may think are healthy contain it. I was deeply saddened when I discovered my Quaker Oats Granola Bars listed HFCS as one of the top ingredients. Blogger -
Accidental Hedonist<.htmla> - has created a list of food and drink products, which, contain HFCS in order to better help people avoid it.Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hfcshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium#Biological_rolehttp://www.americansugarbeet.org/secndTier.asp?bid=125http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp
Can you provide a link / reference to your source for making this statement?
"Approximately 50% of total body magnesium is found in bone. The short of it is - fructose affects levels of magnesium in the body, leaching it out of bone and creating a cascade effect where calcium is also removed from the bones and urinated out via the kidneys."
Thanks, great post!
Also here's a great post on sugar in general:
http://www.healthybot.com/blog/2007/10/the-sugar-menu.html
Why do food companies use HFCS instead of natural sugar, I'm assuming its because it leads to cheaper production costs.
Sorry about that Albert I've amended my statement in "fructose science" to be clear with my understanding of the way it works. (It's complicated and I don't have a complete understanding of the chemistry) I have also provided a link to the scientific journal that is the source of my statements.
Max
The reason the food companies use HFCS is because it is much cheaper than sugar. The history of the sugar tarriff is a long one. It goes back to 1789 when the first tax was imposed on raw sugar.
http://www.americansugarbeet.org/secndTier.asp?bid=125
our best fight against high fructose corn syrup might be the advancement of Michael Pollan for Secretary of Agriculture even if it is only in name.
Thanks for sharing the interview Hagbard. Seems Michael Pollan knows what he's talking about.
Very interesting what he has to say. Feel free to share some more thoughts on HFCS in our forum.