Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.

Fructose-sweetened dessert Photo: dizznbonn, Flickr

Unless you've been away from television, newspapers and computers for the last couple of years, you've probably heard that high-fructose corn syrup is bad news. Well, it is.

But it's not just high-fructose corn syrup -- it's fructose as an added sweetener (in any form), and the problem is not just that it contributes to weight gain (which it does, by the way).

Back in 1977, average daily consumption of fructose was about 37 grams per person per day. Recent surveys show that it's up to 54.7 grams, or about 10 percent of total caloric intake. And for teenagers -- who consume a ton of soda -- fructose intake averages a whopping 72.8 grams, the equivalent of 18 spoonfuls of the stuff every single day.

Why should we care?

We've been hearing for years that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is bad for us -- that it causes obesity and other related health problems. And, earlier this year, the FDA ruled that HFCS is "not natural." However, an ad campaign has been launched to try to change our minds.

Have you seen these commercials? I can't say that I disagree with part of their message -- inform yourself about what you're eating. The problem is that the HFCS industry wants to be the ones informing you via their website, SweetSurprise.com. And, sorry, but that's not exactly an unbiased source.

So why are these ads coming out now? There could be many reasons, including the fact that major food retailers, like Kraft, are starting to label products as HFCS-free because so many people are trying to cut it out of their diets. The fact of the matter is that it's extremely difficult to avoid HFCS -- it's everywhere. A number of studies have shown a link between HFCS and obesity, especially in children. HFCS doesn't give you the full feeling you should have after consuming it, leading you to consume more calories and gain weight.

Source

If you're a carb-eater, then you probably know by now that all carbs are not created equal. "White" flours are those who have had most of the nutrition stripped out of them during processing. Whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, are a much more nutritious source of energy and fiber.

So just grab the bread with the whole wheat label, right? Not so fast. It's important in today's world of powerful marketing to read food labels carefully. When choosing whole wheat bread, you want to look for three things, according to Dr. Mallika Marshall, who recently visited The Early Show:

• Fiber: Fiber will not only help you stay full longer, it's also linked to long list of health benefits. Adults should eat between 25 and 30 grams a day, so choose a loaf of bread that has a high fiber content.
• Sodium: Store bought bread contains a surprisingly high amount of salt. Make sure your choice has less than 350 mg per serving.
• Hydrogenated Fats: Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats are bad news. If you spot them on the label, move on to a different brand of bread.

I'm going to add my own item to the list -- high fructose corn syrup. It's nearly impossible to find bread without any sweetener in it, but it is possible to find a honey-sweetened bread if you want to avoid HFCS. Better yet, make your own bread at home and then you get to control what goes in it!

Source

Four things I knew about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It contains extremely high amounts of sugar, in the form of sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, and just about every other form known to man.

2 - It is bad for your teeth and gums, due chiefly to the aforementioned high sugar content.

3 - It can be high in caffeine; something that can be looked at as being either a good or bad thing. But, considering the fact that so much soda is consumed by kids, I'd venture to say that it's definitely a bad thing.

4 - It can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

One thing that I just learned about the effects of soda on your health:

1 - It can raise your risk of heart disease.

Canadian researchers analyzed the diets of more than 600 healthy people and discovered that those who regularly ate the most sugar-laden foods -- such as soda -- had the lowest level of HDL (good) cholesterol. Given the fact that HDL helps remove arterial plaque left by LDL (bad) cholesterol, and also because low HDL is related to related to high triglycerides, this sugar-based reduction of this cholesterol is far from sweet.

Frosted Flakes aren't as Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! as Tony the Tiger would have us believe, apparently. Forgive me for the slightly outdated news, but apparently Tony passed away in November as a result of complications due to Type 2 diabetes, which he developed by eating nothing more than sugary cereal and milk. One of the main ingredients in Frosted Flakes is the dreaded (and sometimes deadly) high fructose corn syrup.

It's a sad end for the furry guy, who was once pitched as a sports mentor for kids. But really, how can you be a both a healthy mentor and a spokesperson for a sugar-laden cereal? Talk about contradictions.

Perhaps the tiger should have taken advice from Sid the Cookie Monster and made Frosted Flakes a 'sometimes' snack.

Source

It turns out, we really are what we eat and researchers now can tell how much of certain kinds of food you're eating, just by looking at a strand of hair. And if we really are what we eat, then according to this article from CNN, we're mostly corn and soybeans. High fructose corn syrup and soybean oil have made their way into nearly every type of processed food we eat. Because the American diet is so heavily reliant on processed foods, we're getting a high percentage of our calories from soy and corn.

While on their own, those two food products aren't bad for you, the way they are processed is, and high fructose corn syrup and soybean oil are thought to be part of the obesity problem in our country. The answer? Adding more fresh, whole foods to your diet like fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins. When you do eat a processed food item, aim for products with less than five ingredients and make sure HFCS and soybean oil aren't on the list. Even your favorite loaf of bread may have them, so look past the claims made on the front of the package and read the fine print.

Source

We all know sugar is bad for you, and sugar by another name is just as, if not more, harmful to your health. Take high fructose corn syrup, for example. Label-savvy readers will know that this is one of the worst forms of sugar out there, and if you didn't know if already, you do now. HFCS has a proven link to diabetes and that's just one of its harmful side effects.

But it seems hard to avoid. It is in many items in your kitchen right now, even in the ones marked 'all natural.' Which I thinks makes a good case for not relying on convenience items and instead making snack foods yourself. Still, I doubt many people have much time for that so it's important to be educated on what you're putting into your body.

For more info on HFCS, check out this post.

Source

Is sugar of another name still as bad for you? Yes, particularly when it goes by the name 'High Fructose Corn Syrup.' Don't be fooled by this fancy name -- HFCS is sugar, plain and simple, and it lurks in places you wouldn't think. Back in the Skinny Jeans did a bit of research and found that HFCS is in many so-called 'healthy' items, including:

• Yoplait yogurt, even the 'light' ones
• Salad dressings, especially the light ones
  
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches (noooooooooooooooo!!)
  
• Smart Ones desserts
• Special K -- all flavours!
• 100 calorie snack packs

Kinda depressing, huh? The moral of the story is read the labels. You never know what's lurking in your food. For more info, check out the original post.

Source

Did you know that the average American spends 90% of their food budget on processed foods? That's an incredible statistic, and one that many blame on the obesity epidemic we're facing today. Here's another fact: The average person will eat 63 pounds of high fructose corn syrup in the next year. Yikes.

Processed foods are convenient, inexpensive, and easy -- but eating them without considering what goes into them may be contributing to your risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Reader's Digest outlines the "big four" -- or the most dangerous culprits hidden in processed foods to make them faster, cheaper, and often softer and sweeter:

1. trans fats
2. refined grains
3. salt
4. high fructose corn syrup

Luckily, all four of these show up in one way or another on food labels. Better yet, spend your time in the grocery store circling the perimeter where fresh produce, lean meats and fish, and dairy are kept. When you do go into the center aisles, try to find products than contain the fewest ingredients and that leave these "big four" out. Your heart, and your health, will thank you.

Source

High fructose corn sugar is the modern-day equivalent of mass-produced and totally unhealthy sugar product. I think it's the worst form of processed sugar available, and it's a main component in many soft drinks (which is why I avoid soft drinks) and is the sweetener of choice due to its low cost and sweet taste.

With more and more mainstream manufacturers sensing the customers want healthier choices, the makers of Jones Soda has decided to replace HFCS in its soft drinks with can sugar. While large doses of cane sugar is no healthy picnic either, it's much better than the mass junk that is HFCS. Hint -- don't look at the ingredients of a Coke or Pepsi can.

Source

I've never thought much of Prevention Magazine. For me, it is a mass market publication that seems to carry stories that parrot the latest confusing study results ("Is Coffee Good For You?", "Are Bald Men Happier?") rather than helping give us context and explanation.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I read this title:

It Raises Diabetes Risk and Robs Bone. It's Wrecking Our Teeth. And It's Making Us Fat. The Culprit? SODA.

Are you kidding me? Has criticism of soda, heard for so long among holistic health practitioners, finally going mainstream? I think it just did. Here are the highlights of this great article (which is not online yet). We've talked about soda before on this blog, but the Prevention article adds a few new wrinkles to the story.

Source

I typically eschew labels, especially when it comes to clothes and people. But in my ongoing quest for healthy living I've become an avid label reader. Ever since I caught Dr. Oz on Oprah talking about the hidden dangers in food, I've become that person. You know, the one people have to push their carts around in the narrow grocery aisle as I weigh the benefits of one spaghetti sauce over the other. And the biggest hidden culprit that just blows my mind is high fructose corn syrup. Forget fat or carbs -- we're awash in sugar.

Almost all nutritionists consider high fructose corn syrup consumption as a major player in America's obesity crisis. The inexpensive sweetener flooded the American food supply in the early 1980s, just about the time the nation's obesity rate and type 2 diabetes started their unprecedented climb.

The question is, why did it make us so fat? Is it simply the Big Gulp syndrome -- that we're eating too many empty calories in ever-increasing portion sizes? Or, does the fructose in all that corn syrup do something more insidious -- literally short-wire our metabolism and force us to gain weight? The debate can divide a group of nutritional researchers almost as fast as whether the low-carb, no-fat or Atkin's diets are fact or fad.

Source