"Corn syrup producers want a sweeter name: corn sugar."

Curious, I clicked … and saw that the Corn Syrup Refiners Association is considering a name change because of all the negative press they’ve received recently, with some blaming high fructose corn syrup for the obesity epidemic. 

Apparently consumption of HFCS is at a 20 year low amidst the growing health concerns and obesity epidemic.

Will a name change matter — will "corn sugar" be viewed more favorably than "high fructose corn syrup?"  And, at the end of the day, whatever they decide to call it — is high fructose corn syrup making you fat?

We’ve talked about this before, but this recent news brought it to light again … let’s take a look at the actual science.

You may have seen the commercials by the Corn Industry saying high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is no worse than other added sugars.

On the flip side, some scientists and nutrition experts have been screaming at the top of their lungs that HFCS causes weight gain and is partly responsible for the obesity epidemic.

Well another study is out that’s receiving a ton of attention.

"High-fructose corn syrup causes characteristics of obesity in rats: Increased body weight, body fat and triglyceride levels"

Here’s a quick summary.  HFCS is an added sugar that is used by many food and beverage companies because it’s cheap and easy to use in beverages because it’s liquid.

Well, interestingly, the boom of HFCS use matches very closely to the increase in the obesity epidemic over the last few decades.

But while some research made the correlation between HFCS and obesity, most has shown mixed results.  However, all the negative press obviously has the Corn Refiners Association looking for a lifeline since intake is at a 20 year low and major soft drink and sports drink companies finding alternatives for their products.

Is the panic necessary?  The current study looked at both the short and long term effects of HFCS on weight, fat, and triglycerides in male and female rats.

The first study was 8 weeks long and the male rats were separated into 3 groups:

The first group was maintained for 12 hours/day on a diet made up of 8% HFCS and unlimited amounts of "chow."

The second was maintained for 12 hours/day on 10% sucrose (table sugar) and unlimited chow.

The third was was maintained for 24 h/day with HFCS with unlimited chow

And the fourth — chow alone.

They found that rats with 12-h access to HFCS gained significantly more body weight than the rats in the table sugar group.

What’s important, though, is that they both ate the same number of overall calories.

In the longer term part of this study, rats were fed these diets for 6 or 7 months and they found that the male and female rats with access to HFCS gained more body weight, fat and had higher levels of triglycerides than those in the other groups.

Mohr Results Bottom Line:

We’re not fans of ANY added sugars — sucrose to HFCS (even if they do change the name to corn sugar), organic turbinado to brown rice syrup. 

At the end of the day, though, is one WORSE than the others?

This one study shows it may be — but after looking at the study, I’m not too impressed with the design and methods.  We’re still not convinced that HFCS is worse than other added sugars from a weight loss standpoint.  And we’re not convinced that HFCS is the cause of the obesity epidemic — that being said, the foods that it’s most prevalent in, though, surely play a role:

    * Soft drinks
    * Fruit juices/cocktails
    * Most other sweetened foods

It’s even in "common" foods like ketchup, so read food labels carefully!

Take Home: if a food as added sugar (any type) as one of the first 3 ingredients, leave it on the shelf.

Stay tuned on the HFCS debate as more will surely be uncovered.  And whether it keeps its name of High Fructose Corn Syrup or tries to go incognito with "Corn Sugar" — at the end of the day, it’s still an added sugar.

1. Portions are out of control! This image is a perfect example of portion distortion.  Not that any of these are smart food options, but even if we went back to the smaller portions of each, we’d be headed in the right direction.So what can you do about it?  When at home, don’t serve family style.  You’ll eat more when serving out of a larger bowl or platter.  Read food labels, too, so you can see that sometimes 1 bottle, or 1 bag of a product, is often 2, 3 or even 4 servings!
2. Thinking all calories are created equal! A calorie isn’t a calorie.  That might be in the face of science.  Some say that all calories are equal, meaning as long as you cut calories, you’ll lose weight.  Sure, but is your goal to lose fat or lose muscle?  And don’t you want to fuel your body with all the nutrients you can?  After all, slugging down a 250 calorie sugar laden soda is far from eating veggies and hummus, peanut butter and an apple for those same 250 calories. So a calorie isn’t a calorie — eat quality, don’t just focus on quantity!
3. Outeating your exercise. Run 1 mile and you burn about 100 calories.  Walk 1 mile and you burn about 100 calories.  That means if you wanted to lose 1 lb/week through exercise only, you’d have to run or walk 5 miles every single day!  That’s not realistic or a good use of your time.  It’s much easier to eliminate those extra calories by replacing junk  with high nutrient fuel or eliminating calories from soft drinks, for example.  Exercise, yes, but you’ll get more bang for your weight loss buck by monitoring the foods you put in your body.
4. Skipping breakfast as a way to "save" calories. Eat breakfast and you’ll weigh less.  It’s as simple as that.  Just eat the right types of foods — avoid sugary breakfast cereals and instead opt for fruit, raw nuts, yogurt, eggs and veggies, for example.
5. Thinking exercise is your answer to losing fat. Exercise doesn’t work.  Nutrition does.  Sure, exercise needs to be a part of your fat loss routine, but even though you may exercise 1 hour/day, what happens the other 23 hours?

There you have it – the 5 most common fat loss mistakes! If you truly want to be permanently successful,avoid the mistakes above and you’ll be well on your way. Tomorrow we’ll be back with some fat fighting recipes!