Sweeteners Exposed

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has gotten a very bad rap. It has been linked to all sorts of evil. I used to work for Cargill in the Sweetener division at several corn milling plants, so I have direct knowledge of which I write. The starch in field corn is broken down into slurry, then to corn syrup (glucose) and through enzyme reactions changed to dextrose. The 2 are mixed to get the desired sweetness, 55 Fructose is the same sweetness as sugar syrup and thus is used to replace sugar in food and beverages.

Sugar, honey and HFCS are all similar in calories per gram and all cause the same bad results like diabetes and weight gain if over consumed. The reason that HFCS is preferred is that it is cheaper than cane sugar in the US to protect the beet farmers. This is not the case in Mexico or Cuba where sugar is cheaper and so they use sugar to sweeten their soft drinks - mostly. Dextrose is sweeter per gram than HFCS and is used to reduce calories. Using dextrose would be a way to get the same sweetness with less calories and I am not sure why it hasn't caught on. It would save a ton of weight for the masses.

Then there are the non caloric sweeteners- saccharin made from methyl benzene (a solvent), NutraSweet/aspartame, spleenda/ suralose and stevia a natural plant extract. They are all bad as far as I can tell except stevia which has only recently been allowed to be sold as a supplement NOT as food additive most likely due to lobby pressures. Anyone can grow or sell stevia- there are no patents.

When I was growing up there was a book Sugar Blues about how bad sugar is for you and that it is an additive drug. That our bodies are not made to break down refined sugar because the other things we need to process the sugar are lost in the refining process. I am an addict and today again I couldn't layoff the sweets. I may need to wean myself off the snickers and get the sugar and sugar substitutes out of my diet because they all are unhealthy - maybe stevia is OK but I am not sure. I need to stop with the 3 diet sodas a day and the chocolate and refined sugar. I think it is making it harder for me to stay on my plan. It is like a drug the more I have the more I want a little more the next day etc. Jan 1 I stop. (I just can't see doing that through the holidays.)