Comments on: Sweet Miracle: Sugar Will ‘Heal Wounds’ And High Fructose Corn Syrup Is ‘Just Like Sugar’

By: Dana

Dana — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:17:33 +0000

You know what sugar’s good for? Removing leg hair. Seriously. It’s a technique called–what else?–”sugaring,” and it involves making a paste out of the stuff, applying it to your hairy bits, covering it over with a strip of flannel, letting it set and then yanking the flannel off. Kind of like waxing without the high temperature. Ow?

I’m not surprised sugar’s good for topical healing, though. Honey is too. At minimum the sugar in honey is at such a high level that it kills germs, but honey also contains antibacterial properties; if the honey is raw, those properties remain. (Bees are *real* finicky about germ overgrowth.) And of course one of the reasons sugar is used in high amounts in the canning of high-acid fruit is that it prevents bacterial growth. But there’s a lesson here for those of us who think that consuming lots of it is no big deal: If it kills germs, what’s it doing to you?

By: Methuselah - Pay Now Live Later

Methuselah - Pay Now Live Later — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:43:46 +0000

Hey Jimmy – I created an alternative version of the HFCS advertisements that contains the REAL facts…check it out:

Alternative HFCS Advertisement

By: Orvette

Orvette — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:52:58 +0000

I was blown away the first time I saw this ad! If anyone is concerned about needing to include more HFCS in their diet, they might first check every product they buy to see if they can find even ONE without it! Good luck! Unbelievable.

By: Amy Dungan

Amy Dungan — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:23:36 +0000

Isn’t this campaign unbelievable! I do believe our message is getting out and has popped their little happy bubble, they seem to be getting desperate.

By: Bess G.

Bess G. — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:38:38 +0000

The increase in consumption of HFCS was accompanied also by an increase in consumption of table sugar, and indeed of sugar in general. So that is not really a valid argument.

Targeting HFCS as a particularly evil culprit really isn’t necessary, although it is quite tempting. The fact of the matter is, like table sugar, it is so refined that it consists of really only two chemicals at that point: glucose and fructose. I have read the clinical studies and there is NO difference between the way that the two are metabolized. Not surprising, since they really, truly, honestly are chemically similar.

Most of the arguments I’ve read talk about how HFCS is metabolized differently because of the fructose content. Yes, fructose is metabolized differently, but HFCS is 55% fructose which isn’t so different from table sugar which is 50% fructose. So that argument doesn’t work either.

Basically, a diet high in fructose, whether from table sugar OR from HFCS, can cause liver problems, kidney stones and gout. So avoid both sources!

But there’s no need to stop there. Is sugar any worse for you than refined carbs? Not really… the glycemic index is almost the same. What matters about ANY carbohydrate source is (1) how much you eat at one time (2) how much you eat altogether and (3) what you eat with it (fiber, fat, protein, water).

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:30:17 +0000

Great post!

My husband and I cut HFCS out of our diets after coming back from living in the UK,. I was wondering if you had any non-anecdotal sources about the problems HFCS causes. I have a few theories regarding HFCS and my own personal health, but would love to have something scientific to go on.