Diabetic Recipes
I'm interested in the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) debate, which has been in the news again. I believe it probably is a factor in the "epidemic" of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
I thought the Corn Refiners Association's ads this fall (here & here were a touch defensive. Can you say "the lady doth protest too much"?
What I missed until now was the hilarious YouTube backlash at these ads. Watch this, or this or search for HFCS and peruse dozens of videos.
The blogosphere has posted quite a bit about the CRA's ads too. A couple of facts came together to make a new picture for me. Our (US Taxpayers) money is given to farmers to subsidize corn, artificially lowering the price, while we (US Govt) charge tariffs on imported sugar, making the US price twice the global price of sugar. This makes HFCS a very attractive sweetener for food companies to make a larger profit. GIving more of my money to corporate interests. In the end, the government is "pushing" HFCS.
Don't the corn subsidies also mask the true dollar figures for biofuels? But I digress.
Granted, HFCS might not be the bad guy in the obesity/type 2 escalation - it might just be too much fructose that's not in it's natural habitat. It's found in nature in fruits and vegetables, which of course have fiber and phytonutrients and all kinds of other goodies that change the way fructose is handled. And maybe it's just plain too much sugar and the HFCS brouhaha is just bringing that to light. After all, table sugar is half glucose, half fructose too.
Other interesting tidbits I gathered are:
- The Japanese invented HFCS in the 70's but it is only 25% of their sweetener market, vs. 52% in the US.
- The EU limits HFCS production to 2-3% of sugar production, so it is not widely used there.
- Most of the corn used for HFCS is genetically modified, which opens a whole other can of worms.
- Fructose apparently does not induce insulin production by the pancreas like glucose does.
- HFCS intake is closely linked to ovulatory failure and infertility!
I'm also struck by the similarity to the trans fats saga. Invented by man, created by chemical catalysts, widely adopted for cost savings, linked to diabetes and obesity. In 10 years, will we have a new line on the nutritional info panel telling us how many grams of HFCS is in our food?
I've been keeping an eye out for this ingredient in foods that I buy, and it is everywhere. Even bread is sweetened with it, so I try to at least make sure it's not in the first 7 or 8 ingredients. I got my husband some soda from Costco that was from Mexico and sweetened with sucrose and he loved it because it tasted better, but it's much more expensive.
dLife columnist Jack Challem is no fan of HFCS either. You can read his take on it here.
It *is* possible to completely avoid HFCS... it just takes a lot of attention to ingredients panels, and not buying things that don't have their ingredients listed. it often entails doing a lot more cooking and baking from scratch than you may be used to.
Great article. Added sugar poses higher risks for your oral health, too, which is a serious consideration due to the interactions between gum disease and diabetes. The microvascular effects of elevated blood sugar also make gum tissue more susceptible to oral bacteria, so it's a compound problem. More on this is available in my dLife column and on my blog at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog.
- Charles Martin, DDS
Founder, Dentistry For Diabetics
I have cut high fructose corn syrup out of my diet and my blood sugar has stayed under control. My last A1c was 6.1. It can be done but you have to read the ingredients and make things from scratch, but you can find things that are not made with it.
It is totally possible to avoid HFCS. I've been doing it pretty much my whole life. To just have to read labels and have an attention for detail. I've had diabetes since I was 17 months. I was diagnosed in 1983 and the doctors told my mom to avoid HFCS at all costs, and I still do today!
Yes, it is *possible* to cut HFCS out entirely, it's just not easy. For example, looking for canned cranberry jelly or even canned whole cranberries for Thanksgiving showed that every product on the shelf at my regular grocery store contained HFCS. Yes, I could have made a trip to the "Whole Paycheck" natural market, or bought all the stuff for canning and made my own. Have I mentioned I have a 17 month old and a 5 year old? :-)
Gigglemonster - that's really amazing that your doctors were so in tune 25 years ago!
Have a question about making fudge. My wife made some fudge using Splenda instead of sugar. It came out really gooey, did not set up. Was very good even though scooping it out with my fingers. Was taking fingerfuls about 2 times a day. With type 2, I did not want to overdo it. Before diabetes, the fudge would have been gone in 2 days. Very thankful for d-life, have copied several receipes and have been using them. My wife and I can not have many spices (onions, garlic, just to name 2)and some of the receipes that we would love to try but can not because of the spices being used.
Ron & Linda
To my knowledge, Splenda is processed with synthetic chlorine. There is quite a lot of info on websites regarding the dangers os Splenda. www.janethull.com is just one.
Ron, I'm not sure about the fudge but there's a great forum here that can probably help you. Click the Diabetes Forum icon at the top and the dLife Kitchen is about halfway down the page that comes up. As far as the spices, there are a lot my husband can't have too, so I have my favorites that I substitute, it works sometimes.