Corn Syrup (was Whole Wheat Vegan Fruit Muffins and Intro)

[Guest guest]

Marilyn,

 

I don't doubt what you say about your children's responses to any

corn syrup. Obviously they should not have it.

 

However, plenty of folks do say that HFCS is different and worse.

You mentioned three sources before. The Weston A Price Foundation

rails against HFCS

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html, and the

Feingold site acknowledges that glucose and fructose are metabolized

differently and HFCS has been linked to some bad things

http://www.feingold.org/PF/cornsyrup.html

I couldn't find a discussion on the third site.

 

I'm a follower of Dr. McDougall. What he says is:

De novo lipogenesis, the synthesis of fat from sugar, occurs readily

with fructose, whereas with other kinds of simple sugars, like

glucose, this synthesis does not commonly occur.11 Many experts blame

the recent rise in obesity on high fructose corn syrup consumption.12

The use of this HFCS has increased by more than 1000% between 1970

and 1990.13 Fructose affects hormones very much like the way that fat

does; it increases hunger, which results in more dietary fat and food

intake. In addition, fructose does not stimulate brain satiety, as

glucose does.11

 

11) Teff KL, Elliott SS, Tschop M, Kieffer TJ, Rader D, Heiman M,

Townsend RR, Keim NL, D'Alessio D, Havel PJ. Dietary fructose reduces

circulating insulin and leptin, attenuates postprandial suppression

of ghrelin, and increases triglycerides in women. J Clin Endocrinol

Metab. 2004 Jun;89(6):2963-72.

 

12) Malik VS, Schulze MB, Hu FB. Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages

and weight gain: a systematic review.Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Aug;84

(2):274-88.

 

13) Bray GA, Nielsen SJ, Popkin BM. Consumption of high-fructose

corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Apr;79(4):537-43.

 

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/oct/sugar.htm

 

If you google on something like " high fructose corn syrup regular

corn syrup " you can find quite a bit:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient & aq=t & ie=UTF-

8 & rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-

35,SUNA:en & q=high+fructose+corn+syrup+regular+corn+syrup

 

I don't know if the evidence is conclusive, because I've never sat

down and read all the studies and arguments. But I hesitate to have

anything so artificial in my diet unless I know it is safe. Not that

I really eat regular corn syrup either -- I usually use agave nectar

or maple syrup and very little of them.

 

Diane

[Guest guest]

On the topic of corn syrup, there's this article on Corn:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22301669/

 

Hilary

 

- - - - -

" Corn boom may expand 'dead zone'

Farmers say crop too profitable to stop, despite problems downstream

The Associated Press

 

Dec. 17, 2007

 

JEFFERSON, Iowa - Because of rising demand for ethanol, American

farmers are growing more corn than at any time since World War II.

And sea life in the Gulf of Mexico is paying the price.

 

The nation's corn crop is fertilized with millions of pounds of

nitrogen-based fertilizer. And when that nitrogen runs off fields in

Corn Belt states, it makes its way to the Mississippi River and

eventually pours into the Gulf, where it contributes to a growing

" dead zone " - a 7,900-square-mile patch so depleted of oxygen that

fish, crabs and shrimp suffocate.

 

The dead zone was discovered in 1985 and has grown fairly steadily

since then, forcing fishermen to venture farther and farther out to

sea to find their catch. For decades, fertilizer has been considered

the prime cause of the lifeless spot.

 

With demand for corn booming, some researchers fear the dead zone

will expand rapidly, with devastating consequences.

 

" We might be coming close to a tipping point, " said Matt Rota,

director of the water resources program for the New Orleans-based

Gulf Restoration Network, an environmental group. " The ecosystem

might change or collapse as opposed to being just impacted. "

 

Environmentalists had hoped to cut nitrogen runoff by encouraging

farmers to apply less fertilizer and establish buffers along

waterways. But the demand for the corn-based fuel additive ethanol

has driven up the price for the crop, which is selling for about $4

per bushel, up from a little more than $2 in 2002.

 

That enticed American farmers - mostly in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota,

North Dakota and South Dakota - to plant more than 93 million acres

of corn in 2007, the most since 1944. They substituted corn for other

crops, or made use of land not previously in cultivation.

 

Farmer: 'Try to be a good steward'

Corn is more " leaky " than crops such as soybean and alfalfa - that

is, it absorbs less nitrogen per acre. The prime reasons are the

drainage systems used in corn fields and the timing of when the

fertilizer is applied.

 

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 210 million

pounds of nitrogen fertilizer enter the Gulf of Mexico each year.

Scientists had no immediate estimate for 2007, but said they expect

the amount of fertilizer going into streams to increase with more

acres of corn planted.

 

" Corn agriculture practices release a lot of nitrogen, " said Donald

Scavia, a University of Michigan professor who has studied corn

fertilizer's effect on the dead zone. " More corn equals more nitrogen

pollution. "

 

Farmers realize the connection between their crop and problems

downstream, but with the price of corn soaring, it doesn't make sense

to grow anything else. And growing corn isn't profitable without

nitrogen-based fertilizer.

 

" I think you have to try to be a good steward of the land, " said

Jerry Peckumn, who farms corn and soybeans on about 2,000 acres he

owns or leases near the Iowa community of Jefferson. " But on the

other hand, you can't ignore the price of corn. "

 

Peckumn grows alfalfa and natural grass on the 220 or so acres he

owns, but said he cannot afford to experiment on the land he rents.

 

The dead zone typically begins in the spring and persists into the

summer. Its size and location vary each year because of currents,

weather and other factors, but it is generally near the mouth of the

Mississippi.

 

This year, it is the third-biggest on record. It was larger in 2002

and 2001, when it covered 8,500 and 8,006 square miles respectively.

 

Soil erosion, sewage and industrial pollution also contribute to the

dead zone, but fertilizer is believed to be the chief factor.

 

Fertilizer causes explosive growth of algae, which then dies and

sinks to the bottom, where it sucks up oxygen as it decays. This

creates a deep layer of oxygen-depleted ocean where creatures either

escape or die.

 

Marine life struggle to survive

Bottom-dwelling species such as crabs and oysters are most at risk,

said Michelle Perez, an analyst with the Washington-based

Environmental Working Group. " They struggle to survive, " Perez said.

" They can't swim away. "

 

Crabbers complained at a meeting in Louisiana earlier this year that

they pulled up bucket upon bucket of dead crabs.

 

Rota warned that if the corn boom continues, the Gulf of Mexico could

see an " ecological regime change. " The fear is that the zone will

grow so big that most sea life won't be able to escape it, leading to

an even bigger die-off.

 

" People's livelihood depends on the shrimp, fish and crabs in these

waters, " he said. " Already, some of these shrimpers are traveling

longer and longer distances to catch anything. "

 

Given the market pressure to grow corn, the Natural Resources Defense

Council and others argue that the nation needs a comprehensive,

federal approach to the problem.

 

Among the ideas floated: rules to force farmers to use fertilizers

with more care, and the establishment of buffer zones to contain

runoff.

 

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. "