Quick Low Down on HFCS

This week we are giving you a quick low down on high fructose corn syrup. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

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Just Ingredients 

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Transcript

0:23

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey and this is Brianna. We are doing a speed episode today because we have eight minutes before we both have to like be off and be on a call. So we're gonna get this done, but I am drinking, what did, what did I say I'm doing? Oh, orange pineapple flavored water from just ingredients that powder plus the coconut lime electrolytes. It's like a fruit explosion in your mouth. Sounds so bad. I feel like I'm in Jamaica. Yeah. I'm not doing something that tastes that great. I went full like Jim, bro. I put protein in water and shook it because our, my time management today is great. Mm-hmm. I'm doing raw essential, it's like a grassed whey protein. Really good ingredients like label verified, have no idea the cost.'cause my husband randomly brought it home, which if he's listening, I took the last of it. So. Go buy some more. Hey, just ingredients. There's a sale right now. I'm gonna do that. There's that. No, that is a text message I got. It's saved on my phone. I'm ordering it today. Perfect. Because I want some of that water. Yes. I am gonna order some of that too. Okay. Topic today we are talking about high fructose corn syrup. Yeah. Kind of a random one, but I mean, we get asked all the time like what to look for on label. Here's something I would look for. Yeah. High fructose corn syrup. Well, at first, do you wanna go over like what it is? Do we need to clarify what it is? Yeah, I think that's a good idea. So it is, it's a derivative of corn, so it's a sweetener that we make from corn and God, what enzyme do we put into it? Hold on. So, yes, yes. It's from corn starch and then part of that. Glucose is converted into fructose. Fructose, yeah. Using glucose. Is it iso? Yeah. And. Yeah, and so it just turns it into like instead of being one, a couple sugars. Yeah. One type of sugar. It's two type of sugars and it's cheap. It's really cheap. I mean, I know there's like a lot of debate going on right now, like what is better, like refined white sugar or high fructose corn syrup. I mean, they're both highly processed, but I will say the high fructose corn syrup, it's more easily metabolized by the liver. So you. Store it a little bit easier as like fat or like, like fat around your liver. So both in excess. Not good. Like I wouldn't, I guess technically I would have something that's sweetened with normal sugar, maybe a little bit more than high. I would agree. But they're both, I mean they're both highly sugar. Sugar, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Really it was made because it was cheaper than sugar. Yeah. Corn, a sheep it's easy to use. Makes it a little bit more. Shelf stable and a major food case. Good. Yeah. So people started using it, but there are effects of high fructose corn syrup. Number one. I mean the increased risk of obesity because fructose is metabolized primarily in the liver and can be converted to fat easier than like just glucose can. Yeah. So. It may not stimulate insulin or leptin as effectively as just pure glucose would. So like when we are thinking about glucose, like if you use the cgm, you're looking at a glucose response, you're not seeing the fructose response. So I would say with that, like, couldn't you notice like less of a response if you sweeten something with the high fructose corn syrup compared to glucose? I feel like in theory, yes, like a cgm because like fruit has more fructose, for example, right? Mm-hmm. Which is why like fruit in its normal form is actually not as bad as everybody thinks, but it's, I think it's like how much it's concentrated, right? Like soda. Typically has high fructose corn syrup, you will see your blood sugar up, but it's just so much of it. Right. As opposed to like if you had a maybe equal amount of sugar and equal amount of high fructose corn syrup, you'd probably have a blood better blood sugar response with the fructose. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And this is what can lead to fatty liver. Mm-hmm. So excess fructose can increase that liver fat and contribute to insulin resistance over time. This what leads to type two diabetes, high triglycerides, and even more abdominal fat. Yeah. It's also like causes an increase in uric acid. So fructose metabolism can increase uric acid production, which is linked to gout and may also affect blood pressure. So this is just another reason why. We're always encouraging to limit the highly processed foods.'cause again, it's mostly with high fructose corn syrup, it's cheaper, it's easier to grow, it's way more shelf stable. But if you're having issues like gout or high blood pressure limiting, limiting your amounts of high fructose corn syrup can be really helpful to help minimize those side effects. Yeah. And then overall, like increased risk of more inflammation. Mm-hmm. So. Lots of studies show that diets high in added sugars, including high fructose corn syrup, may promote more systemic inflammation. Yeah. Which is linked to chronic diseases like heart disease. Yeah. So really what we wanna do, number one, limit added sugars in general, I would say under 25 grams. Yeah, I say that for everyone I know. Technically men, there's a, a, it's a, they're allowed more, but that's mostly just because in theory, men are eating more calories and it's a certain amount a year. Percentage from calories shouldn't be from added sugar. I just say 25 because that starts to make me really mindful and choose, okay, where am I gonna have my added sugar from? Because there's sugar in a lot of things, but 25 grams is, that's just what I say. Start looking at those labels. I have a lot of people that are like, oh, I hardly do any added sugars. And then we start looking at things like creamer. If you're getting five grams of added sugar from your creamer and then you're like, oh, I'm actually doing three servings of this. Yeah, you're starting your day with 15 grams of added sugar. So look at those labels. Choose more natural sweeteners and moderation. Yes. So this is the thing too, like just because you're using honey or maple syrup or Stevie or monk fruit, it doesn't mean that like, oh, it doesn't matter, just sweeten it. Even like with Stevie or Monk fruit, like mm-hmm. I typically don't buy a lot of this like to sweeten my foods because my taste buds have now adjusted to where I don't need super sweet things. Yeah. So. Not that these are just like a free for all. They're just a better option to use. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And like I know, and I think this is probably where like going back to how we metabolize, fructose, how we absorb it.'cause it's, we absorb it different than glucose. Agave and honey are both higher in fructose than glucose. And this is why it's like, oh they're better if you have diabetes or you're better this, or like a better sugar. They're more natural sugar. All sugar is natural. It's just where it's coming from. But again, it's the dose, right? Like you can't just go have like a quarter cup of honey and be like, oh, well because it's honey and it's higher in fructose. I have better blood sugar response. I mean, a quarter cup of any type of sugar is gonna be a ton. So thinking like, yeah, sugar is sugar at the end of the day. Yeah, but I like it. Like, I mean, honey in agave, I'm like, yeah, I of course do that before high fructose corn syrup because it's still less. In fructose concentration. Yeah. I don't know how much, don't quote me. I would say it's like a little bit more natural. Like it's not really processing, it's less processed. I think that's like the major one. Yeah. It's less processed like honey is Honey. Mm-hmm. Bees have to throw it up. That's about it. It's, yeah. And I get the raw, like local honey too. So then you get benefits from it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's kind of your like really quick rundown on a high fructose corn syrup. Basically not, not great for you, which I think most of us already knew, but something to look at and this is why it's not great for you. Work to increase more, well, not increase more. Swap with more natural sweeteners. Look at your labels. Decrease outta sugars. Eat more whole foods. And there you go. Yeah, you're good to go. Butter baboons. Yes. Done. We're not gonna miss a week, so some weeks, you know, if we need an eight minute episode, we will do that. Oh, you're welcome. I like these. It makes us stay on track. It's fun. Yes. Alright, everyone, have a great rest of your week and we will be back next week with probably, hopefully a longer episode because we're gonna be like better at cleaning ll no matter.