What is it? what is it in? I never read any of the books on whole foods but I am interested in it. Ive seen it mentioned in a few other threads, but I was just wondering what it is, what its in, and why its so bad?
Thanks!

High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener made from corn. It is found in a wide variety of processed foods- from soda pop, to baked goods.

It is a relatively inexpensive sweetener for manufacturers to use and has many benefits in the manufacturing process- mixes easily, extends shelf-life and is as much as 20 percent cheaper than other sources of sugar.

BUT the body handles this sweetener differently than it does others. It does not stimulate the pancreas to make insulin, and fails to increase the production of leptin- both hormones signal the body to slow down the appetite. So eating a product with HFCS makes us want to eat more. HFCS has no nutrients and is a source of whopping empty calories.

There are many sweeteners in products, some better than others. Although you cannot avoid HFCS totally, moderation is the key. Just as moderation is the key with any food type.

thanks guys!
also is HFCS called anything else?

In Canada it appears on the ingredient list as two separate entries -- corn syrup, fructose-glucose -- but it amounts to the same thing -- not good; so try to avoid it as much as possible.

Is evaporated cane juice in that category as well? I've seen that listed on several things.

I second this. Moderation, moderation, moderation.

While I agree that moderation is a good thing...

I disagree that you can not avoid HFCS completely. You definately can and many people do. I have not had anything with it in over 10 months by following a whole foods lifestyle.

I'm not particularly whole foods oriented and I manage to avoid HCFS-- yes, all the time. AFAIK I've had it once in the past year ("lite" yogurt I didn't think to check the label for).

It's not that hard to check labels once, and once is all you need to know that you can or cannot buy a specific product.

Moderation is great for healthy foods, but IMO there are some things that we just do not need to eat.

I read Northern Belles explanation of hfcs and I'm having a hard time figuring why it is so bad- I love sugar, but eat it in moderation (or try to anyways!) so why not take the same approach with hfcs?

If you really want to know about HFCS, I suggest you read the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Some of it is very dry reading, but very informative nonetheless. He basically takes you through the entire process of making HFCS starting from growing the corn and ending with where the corn and HFCS are used, and the problems that go with using both virtually everywhere. I had to read it for a class, otherwise it's not a book I'd normally read, but I'm glad I did now because it was really an eye opener.

I'm a firm believer in moderation for everything. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that HFCS is the poison it's being made out to be. It's not the best thing for you, obviously, but I've lost 75 pounds since July without cutting it out of my diet, and I ran 5 miles this morning so my body seems to be working ok...

Obviously it's best to eat whole foods, and it's best to avoid a substance that will make you crave more sugar, but it's also possible to control your impulses. I believe in portion control and limiting myself to a certain number of calories. Within that calorie range, I'm not that strict with myself in terms of what makes up the calories. That's what works for me, and it might be what works for you as well. Don't completely cut something out just because other people do. Work on limiting it, sure, and obviously we should all get the bulk of our calories from healthy whole grains, fruits, veggies, etc. But I don't believe you have to completely cut ANYthing out -- you can still be healthy and lose weight and be fit. For many of us, we'd rather enjoy a little "bad" food here and there because it's an enjoyable part of life, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Off my soapbox now...

Theres no way, that right now in my diet, I would be able to cut it out all together. Im like you LisaMarie71 I count calories and Im not strict as to what makes the calories up.
On the other hand its good to know about it so I can limit my consumption a bit, but theres no way I could give it up completely. I love my food too much haha

I agree you can totally avoid HFCS. Read, read,read, labels,

Actually, just counting calories will not work over the long run. What you use your calories for is very important.