The Corn Refiner’s Association has decided to change the name of corn syrup to corn sugar to clear up any misconceptions we may have about the true nature of high fructose corn syrup. This is actually a veiled attempt to remove any negative stigma we have about corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup. The Corn Refiners Association says, “Despite its confusing name, high fructose corn syrup is simply corn sugar – or an added sugar in the diet. It is not high in fructose as its name would suggest. High fructose corn syrup is composed of the same two simple sugars (fructose and glucose) as table sugar, honey and maple syrup.”
(from http://www.sweetsurprise.com/about-us/corn-sugar)
This statement, and this entire campaign, is misleading on many levels. Corn sugar is what corn syrup has always been: a cheaply produced grain sugar that is subjected to chemicals in the processing and is added to most processed foods to cheaply sweeten it. It is therefore a main culprit in our obesity problem. Corn is in everything. And corn sugar/syrup is added as a sweetner because it is so cheap and is subsidized by the government so there is incentive for farmers to grow it. This is nasty stuff, folks. Highly refined and processed with chemicals. It is nowhere near honey or maple syrup, which are natural sweetners, unprocessed and containing natural enzymes (if unheated & unpasteurized) and minerals. All sweetners have similar effects on the body: they temporarily raise blood sugar and insulin levels. But corn syrup is not a whole food like honey or maple syrup: it is refined, heated, and processed with chemicals that tax the liver. It has disruptive effects on our metabolism because it is a processed chemical, and the body was not designed to run on such foods. The body recognizes honey & maple syrup as natural products, but isolated and refined ingredients are toxic and some are even stored in our body’s fat cells because the body targets them as chemicals that could be damaging if allowed to circulate.
Corn is a grain, and grains consumed in excess make us fat. Refined grains, whole grains, refined sugars (like white table sugar, brown sugar), unprocessed sugars: they are all broken down as sugar in the body, and this is the body’s main source of fuel. When enough is utilized, the excess is stored as fat. We consume too many sweetners and too many grains, which is why we have an obesity epidemic. Sodas, processed foods, junk, candy, cookies, breads, cakes, pasta, boxed foods, cereals, fast foods–these are all cheaply produced and refined and processed, meaning vital nutrients are stripped away, and these food take a toll on our health & create deficiencies, causing us to crave more.
Retrain your palate. Cut down on your consumption of sweet foods & grains and completely eliminate any corn syrup from your diet. Consume more whole foods: foods as close to their natural state as possible. Cook out of the box. It takes the same amount of time to bake a chicken breast & saute some veggies as it does to get in the car and go through the drive-through. You will feel better for your efforts, and eating whole foods is better for the planet.
When you need sweetners for baking or cooking, use natural sweetners like raw honey or grade B maple syrup (unrefined) or xylitol, a natural sweetner that comes from beech trees. It is absorbed more slowly than sugar (does not cause blood sugar spikes & dips), so it does not contribute to high blood sugar levels, and is actually good for your teeth. It also does not feed the bad bacteria in your digestive tract that contributes to dysbiosis or candida. It does not exacerbate sugar cravings. You can use it exactly as you would use sugar in recipes and has about half the calories of sugar.
A sweeter life is a life without “corn sugar” or any refined sugars.
Mary Vance is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and author specializing in digestive health. She combines a science-based approach with natural therapies to rebalance the body. In addition to her 1:1 coaching, she offers courses to help you heal your gut and improve your health. Mary lives in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe in Northern California. Read more about her coaching practice here and her background here.
