Fructose Anyone?

Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Really Good for You?

Time - September 17, 2008 - By Lisa McLaughlin

Shopping last week in her local New York City grocery store, Elise Mackin, 32, filled her cart with items she knows to be good for her family — whole grains, fruits and veggies — and shied away from products that contained less wholesome ingredients. "Trans fats are out," she said, "and anything with high-fructose corn syrup."

The American Medical Association recently announced at its annual policy-making meeting in Chicago that high-fructose corn syrup does not contribute more to obesity than sugar or other caloric sweeteners. Even Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has to agree. He criticized early versions of the CRA's ad campaign for its claims that high-fructose corn syrup is a "natural" product. "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose," says Jacobson. "High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." But he admits that the sweetener gets a bum rap. "The special harmfulness of high-fructose corn syrup has become one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong. Nutritionally, high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose may be identical."

(Read More)

--------------------------------------------------
Rick Kaselj – rkaselj@HealingThroughMovement.com
Personal Trainer Specializing in Post-Rehab
Surrey, BC, Canada
Get your “5 Myths about Core Training” Special Report – www.CoreStabilityoftheBack.com
-------------------------------------------------------