Those high-fructose corn syrup ads have always bugged me. “It’s made from corn.” Newsflash: everything starts as something natural. That doesn’t mean we should eat everything. Cardboard sandwich with a gasoline spread, anyone? But it comes from the earth!
That’s why I was so pleased to read this. Turns out (PREPARE TO BE SHOCKED) high-fructose corn syrup is not good for you, and it is way worse than regular sugar.
In other shocking news, the grass is green and chocolate is tasty.
Lauren E. is a food writer and recipe tester living in New York City. She is a regular contributor to Yumm.com and has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show.
THANK YOU! Seriously, people need to know this.
I’ve seen data that any sweetener, other than fruit sugars, do not trigger the “sweet” sensors of the body in the same way as “natural” sugars. This includes many non sugar sweeteners.
The body doesn’t recognize that they are sweet. Thus you are more likely to consume more. Great way to get folks hooked, huh.
What started out as a great new income stream in a product made from corn, isn’t so great anymore.
Eat simple, exercise more.
You’re so right: eat simple, exercise more. It’s the only tried and true method of leading a healthy lifestyle that has never been disproved. Call it crazy. It works.
Why does this simple equation seem so hard sometimes?
Because sometimes the terrible food tastes SO good!
Exactly. The problem with agriculture in this country is that the incentives are way skewed towards corn production so we end up with a massive surplus and therefore have to figure out what to do with it all. Hence corn fed beef, chicken etc. Those meats don’t have a lot of the nutrients that grass fed meats do, which is part of the problem with eating red meat. It’s not the meat itself that’s so horrible, it’s the fact that it doesn’t pack the nutritional punch that it should because the animals aren’t getting the nutrients they should be getting.
(Clearly I’ve been brainwashed by The Omnivore’s Dilemma…)
Whoa there. If corn being fed to animals was the problem it would show up in pigs, chickens and turkeys more so than beef. A beef animal is NOT fed only corn. It is not made that way. The diet for a cow may contain some corn, but it always contains much more plant stems of some kind. In corn country that is usually the whole corn stalk, corn is a grass after all.
The diet of chickens, turkeys and pigs contains a lot more corn. Their bodies are made to eat seeds.
Farm animals eat better than most people. They have nutritionists to make sure they have the right food EVERY meal. Veterinarians watch over their health, and the farmer or rancher is diligent in making sure they are growing properly also. The larger the farm the more likely it is to have a professional nutritionist and vet on staff.
We do not have a massive surplus of corn in this country. In my 40 years of farming we have never had a massive surplus, and some years corn can get to be in short supply just before the next harvest.
Incentives to plant corn have been gone for a long time. The incentives that go to farmers now are for protection of water and wildlife areas. (If you check into the budget for the Department of Agriculture you will find that more than half of its budget goes to the Food Stamp and School Lunch program. After you take out the money to run our forests, there is not a lot left for farm programs.)
Last summer, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a comprehensive systemic review that concluded organic and conventional food had comparable nutrient levels. There may be a different taste depending on the main feed source, but that can be found in all types of food production. (Consider the different types of honey.) Beef fed on barley, wheat, corn or grass is the same nutritionally. It just has a different taste.
Actually the average American is not getting enough meat according to the food pyramid. I still maintain what is needed in this country is a bit more self control. Eat only at meal time, Cut out between meal snacks, soda or other naturally or artificially sweetened drinks should be considered a snack. Get plenty of exercise. If YOU make an effort to eat well, you can include red meat in your diet with no problems.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma is not in how much they eat, or the way food is raised, but in the lack of self control of those who live in this land of plenty.