There’s an interesting article over on 5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You – Dr. Mark Hyman. It starts with a quote which Hyman attributes to Harry Truman — IF YOU CAN’T CONVINCE THEM, CONFUSE THEM – Harry Truman. And like so many things in the world of nutrition and food, the attribution may be somewhat true, but it’s unlikely that Truman was the original source of such a sentiment. Plus, the quotation is taken out of context, as when Truman made the statement he was not condoning such an act, but he was explaining it wouldn’t work — Truman wasn’t convinced. He wasn’t confused. More simply, he was saying shenanigans like this would not work. These days, when it comes to large corporate lobbyists and the politicians paid by the lobbyists, this type of maneuvering is more a norm than an exception. Corporations spend huge amounts of money making sure the average consumer is confused. They would have consumers believe, for all intensive purposes, HFCS is sugar.
HFCS isn’t sugar.
Hyman makes it clear — HFCS is not sugar. I found myself liking Hyman’s second reason quite a lot. Dr. Hyman mentions Michael Pollan , and Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma (TOD). Corporations like Archer Daniels Midland or Carghill ( which, more likely, is the company, Cargill, and Dr. Hyman has a misspelling ) would not allow Pollan to see how corn stalks, not cane stalks, are processed into High Fructose Corn Syrup ( HFCS ). The big corporations aren’t going to let an author in on “the secret” of producing HFCS. The reading public won’t get to know, really, what’s going on in the manufacturing process of HFCS. The public will get to know the misdirection corporations do allow. Dr. Hyman’s takeaway, at the end of the second reason, gives me what I’m looking for which I’ll state as HFCS has never been sugar and never will be. Yet, the public will build beliefs based on misinformation that, no doubt, pleases the Corn Refiners Association, Cargill, and Archer Daniels Midland as well as the corn farmers ( read corn farmer as corporate corn farms ) that are being subsidized to produce corn.
Comments taken out of context weigh heavily on the fourth reason Hyman states, and, actually, “out of context” seems to be Hyman’s sticking point by beginning the article with a quotation that is often given, if not taken, out of context.
Finally, HFCS may be one of the carbohydrates that has a debilitating consequence for the celiac. HFCS metabolization is rife with possible problems from leaky gut to toxicity levels that are difficult to diagnose or treat.
The public’s solution is not in consuming more “throw back” Pepsi or “mexican” Coca-Cola. Manufacturers of cane sugar soft drink products most likely are not taking the consumers’ health into question, although the corporations would tell us they do have genuine concerns about our good health . Moreover, the question manufacturers are concerned with are based on profit margins and whether the sales are “healthy” enough to produce a profit.
The costs of HFCS used in food like substances and soft drinks are generally described as a predictor of a low quality calories that increase the already growing epidemic of obesity and type II diabetes. HFCS may even be a factor in gluten sensitivity as well as creating “leaky gut.”
HFCS is not the celiac’s friend. Mention that to the celiac in your life. Both your lives may be better by just stating something so simple. Time will tell.