Is it the corn that's making us fat....?

[Flowerluver]

These conversations bring me back to the original point...people don't want to
Look at calories, portion sizes and how much one moves around in a day.
One research into eating trends show that Americans consume 525 more calories DAILY than just a couple decades ago. Of these, 47 calories come from added sugars such as fructose. That's around 9%. So blaming corn for our situation is a cop out.

The vast majority will not do a reality check, find out the amount of calories they need in a day, measure their foods even for a week. Or eat what you normally eat, including restaurants, add up the calories and see just how much excess is consumed.

[RozieDozie]

Originally Posted by Flowerluver

These conversations bring me back to the original point...people don't want to
Look at calories, portion sizes and how much one moves around in a day.
One research into eating trends show that Americans consume 525 more calories DAILY than just a couple decades ago. Of these, 47 calories come from added sugars such as fructose. That's around 9%. So blaming corn for our situation is a cop out.

The vast majority will not do a reality check, find out the amount of calories they need in a day, measure their foods even for a week. Or eat what you normally eat, including restaurants, add up the calories and see just how much excess is consumed.

I'll agree with you that many people don't realize how many calories they are consuming, especially when their diets focus mostly on processed foods.

High-fructose syrup, the sweetener/additive found in most processed foods, is made from corn. That's why people are concerned about 'corn' adding empty calories to our diets we don't need.

Have you ever seen the movie King Korn? It really explains this all in a nut shell. And when High Fructose Corn Syrup started to be added to almost every processed food we eat, we started getting fatter and less healthy.

Here's a link for a King Korn clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDurZc5Yr6c

And yes, High Fructose Corn syrup is definitely part of the problem. As is consuming too much food. But you can consume HUGE portions of whole grains, fruits, veggies, and not worry.

[gulfcoastguy]

They also add corn starch sometimes known as modified food starch to thicken things that don't need it, maltodextrine is made of corn, fructose is made from corn, vitamin C (unless otherwise stated) is made from corn, most "glutein free" products are corn based. Really people need to research the health of central american indians before and after the introduction of corn. I'll let you google it yourselves but you'll be surprised at the difference in cavities, osteoarthritus, and age of death.

Really though haven't people heard of the expression "corn fed".

[Flowerluver]

I fully understand where the fructose comes from. It was an alternative to more expensive refined sugar.
I also saw king korn and found it to contain its share of propaganda.
All sugar is broken down into glucose, sent to the liver, then distributed.
Many studies show this, so the idea that fructose is somehow different is hype. Highly controlwithstood with persons trying to lose weight eating foods with table sugar vs food with fructose show absolutely no difference in how the persons lost weight.
I'm not advocating a diet of cake, cookies and I've cream, just for people to watch the amount of food they are eating.
And move.

[fugacity]

Originally Posted by gulfcoastguy

They also add corn starch sometimes known as modified food starch to thicken things that don't need it, maltodextrine is made of corn, fructose is made from corn, vitamin C (unless otherwise stated) is made from corn, most "glutein free" products are corn based. Really people need to research the health of central american indians before and after the introduction of corn. I'll let you google it yourselves but you'll be surprised at the difference in cavities, osteoarthritus, and age of death.

Really though haven't people heard of the expression "corn fed".

Are you saying that somehow vitamin C from corn would be bad for you? Just the fact it comes from corn is not very pertinent is it?

[susie2u]

The real answer here is eat fresh vegetables and fresh fruits and not rely on a "processed " product. Buy or grow heirloom seed ,fruits and vegetables and you will get all the nutrients that anyone needs, my grandmother never took vitamins and she lived a very long time ,I never heard her mention arthritis,there was no carpal tunnel,no ADD,no Autistic and she had a very strong heart. We need to get back to the older way of eating of whole grown fresh foods for better health.

Is it the corn that's making us fat....?

No, it's the donuts, Twinkies, and eating fast-food twice a day.

[gulfcoastguy]

Originally Posted by fugacity

Are you saying that somehow vitamin C from corn would be bad for you? Just the fact it comes from corn is not very pertinent is it?

An example of the misleading labeling of food and the way corn permiates the market place. To bad you focused on it and not the massive quantities of HFCS and "modified food starch" in all most any packaged food. I challenge you to find a frozen lasagna that is corn free. The amount of corn in the vitamin C would be small relatively I do concede. If you are asking if I think corn is bad for people, the answer is yes. My opinion and that of many others. I've stated it and am under no obligation to try change your mind.

[Colleen27]

I think there's an additional variable at play in the US that doesn't get nearly enough attention: stress. Chronic stress and inadequate sleep both factor heavily into metabolism, and complicate any effort to lose weight that doesn't involve changing those stressors (something that isn't practically possible for many Americans).

The added calories don't help, for sure. And that's my main issue with HFCS - not any specific nutritional risk but the fact that it has been added to so many products, boosting the calorie content and manipulating the biological tendency to prefer sweet foods. If it were a one-to-one substitute for sugar I probably wouldn't care, but that's not how it has been used. Portion distortion doesn't help either. Neither does the fast food tendency to consume foods that fill our stomach but leave us lacking real nutrition and thus craving more. But I don't think the story ends there when we have millions upon millions of people living in conditions that are signaling their bodies to go into "conservation" mode.