HFCS vs other sugar

[Inkslinger]

Some good info.

Glucose is what your cells use. Everything (sugar/carbohydrates) else is a chain of glucose molecules that must be broken down by an enzyme produced by your body. Your body produces a finite amount of enzymes. Sugars (carbohydrates) not broken down and used by your body will pass through your intestines and become food for bacteria in your gut. Too much extra "food" and your "gut" becomes a fermentor for these bacteria, i.e. they are overpopulated and so are their waste products (gas, acids etc). Too much HFCS can upset that balance and give too much food to those bacteria.

And on top of that, there are theory’s that those bacteria then send signals to your brain to make you crave more sugar.

[Hmac]

Data suggest fructose is more problematic than other sugars (the F in HFCS) due mostly to hepatic conversions to TGs and other issues, but at the end of the day, a reduction in sugar intake should be the goal. The dose makes the poison, always, so small amounts of fructose are not an issue per se, but keeping it to a minimum is the goal. How old is your son? Is he experiencing some issue that the doc felt compelled to say that? Without some context, it's also not terribly useful advice

If I saw a healthy active kid with good labs etc, and I knew he was drinking a Coke a week and his diet was good, I'd shut up and tell his parents to keep doing what ever they were doing. Over weight, off labs, etc, is then a different issues, and reducing sugar intakes, most of which comes in the form of HFCS, is good advice,

I agree with this. Reduction in overall sugar should be the goal. I think the hysteria over the source...HFCS in this case...is just more more irrelevant nutritional spit-balling by America's legion of Nutrition Nazis.

[WillBrink]

I agree with this. Reduction in overall sugar should be the goal. I think the hysteria over the source...HFCS in this case...is just more more irrelevant nutritional spit-balling by America's legion of Nutrition Nazis.

It makes them feel important and relevant. We can split hairs to talk about how fructose has a different metabolic impact and fate to glucose, or save wasted time and effort and confusion, and simply tell people to eat less damn processed sugar and worry about other things.

In the grand scheme of things, sugar is sugar is sugar.

[joffe]

The reality is that table sugar is 50/50 glucose and fructose. This is around the same ratio as "high fructose" corn syrup. As I stated earlier in the thread, natural corn syrup is lower in fructose than table sugar is, and they turn it into HFCS precisely to make it a closer analogue to the product the food industry tends to replace it with.

The two are different in that the glucose and fructose molecules are linked in sucrose, whereas HFCS is merely a mixture of both forms of sugar, but either way your stomach acids take care of that and the molecules end up being perceived by the metabolic system in an identical fashion.

Avoid both. If you find metabolism and nutrition interesting, feel free to read up on the peculiarity of fructose metabolism, because it is quite different, but either way both sucrose and HFCS have the same adverse impact.

[Mick Boon]

I used to be a sugar addict. Now I'm a stevia addict, 0 calories and end of problem.

[madmax_fal]

In the grand scheme of things, sugar is sugar is sugar.

I tend to agree with this. I've experimented with trying different types of sugars and sugar alternatives. My own personal experience is that sweeteners lead to craving sweet things which leads to going back to regular sugar when tempted. Better to stay away from sweets entirely.

[hotrodder636]

My wife and I have cut sugars, HFCS, etc almost completely out of our diets (as in less than 10g/day for all) and we feel better, sleep better, have better blood labs and are in our target weight bands.

It does seem odd the Dr. would say something unless they saw a flag in labs or physical.

[kirkland]

Table sugar, HFCS, Honey, Maple Syrup are all chemically just about the same. Fine in moderation, but very bad for your body if consumed excessively in the long term. Unfortunately sugar is in just about every type of packaged food and most people regularly eat way too much of it. Check out Dr. Lustig's presentations on Youtube where he gets into the science of how excess fructose gets turned into fat in the liver and over time can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Interesting stuff. Also check out "That sugar film" Where the Australian guy dramatically upped the sugar in his diet but still ate the same amount of calories as he was eating before, he ended up gaining a lot of fat.