High Fructose Corn Syrup Controversy Resolved?

As long-time H&R readers know, some commenters have been suspicious of high corn fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Some studies have linked HFCS in carbonated beverages to diabetes.

Now a scientific review of HCFS in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition argues that the sweetner has been wrongly maligned. Americans are getting fatter because they eat more food, not because of HFCS. As the press release from the Corn Refiners Association* explains:

-- High fructose corn syrup contains the same sugars compositionally as
other fructose/glucose-based sweeteners like sucrose (or table sugar), honey
or fruit juice concentrates.

-- Fructose-glucose sweeteners are metabolized through the same pathways
regardless of their dietary source.

-- There are no known substantial metabolic or nutritional differences
between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose. Both have a composition of
approximately equal parts fructose and glucose.

-- High fructose corn syrup and sucrose offer equivalent sweetness and
both contain 4 calories per gram.

-- From 1970-2005, caloric intake in the United States increased by 24%.
This was not due to a disproportionate increase in added sugars (including
high fructose corn syrup), but rather an overall increase in calories from all
food sources including fats and all other nutrient groups.

-- Per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup has declined in the
United States in recent years, but obesity rates continue to rise.

-- High fructose corn syrup accounts for about one-half of sweetener use
in the United States but only 8% worldwide, yet obesity rates are climbing in
countries that use little or no high fructose corn syrup. Sugar remains the
predominant global sweetener.

Whole press release here.

*I will not impugn studies (and press releases) solely on the basis of who has paid for them. 😉

Comments

[Shadow of the Past]

some commenters have been suspicious of high corn fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

I don't think he comes here anymore.

[prolefeed]

You eat fewer calories and exercise more, you'll lose weight. Not rocket science. I've dropped about 20 pounds in two months doing that.

[MadBiker]

I try to keep the stuff out of my diet, but for the sake of added sugar-and-calories sake, not just because I have issues with Big Corn Syrup. The stuff can work wonders for baked goods, though. And think of all the naked pancakes people would be forced to eat if it were not for the 98% corn syrup with 2% maple flavoring wonderment served in diners and IHOPs across the land.

Let's not forget that as a society, we have tended to become less active and that standard restaurant portion sizes have nearly doubled (and then some) in many cases in the past 25 years.

I'm glad HFCS is no longer being scapegoated for the diabetes/obesity crisis. What will the CSPI and their ilk turn to next in the quest to save us from our taste buds?

[Helen Lovejoy]

Won't somebody please think of the children!

[libertarian democrat]

Although they aren't very good, I really enjoy the HFCS ads on TV lately. It's just nice to see someone (even with a vested interest) defend it.

[Episiarch]

I don't think he comes here anymore.

He does, but rarely. This type of clarion call should get him here.

There is no chemical reason HFCS would be any different than sugar, which this study emphasizes. But it's just such a perfect "reason" for obesity, etc. that people can't resist scapegoating it.

[J sub D]

Paging Dave W., resident HFCS dumbass.
Paging Dave W.

He's a troofer too. Eight lbs of idiocy in a five pound sack.

[thoreau]

Eh, it wouldn't be entirely crazy to do some biochemical research to see if there are differences between the sweeteners. It is, however, crazy to assume that the difference is large, that it is the primary cause of obesity, and that a physicist should devote his life to digging undigested food out of fecal matter to resolve this matter (yes, he actually insisted that I do this to demonstrate that I am a caring person not in the pocket of Big Corn).

[thoreau]

Most importantly, it's crazy to make these extraordinary assumptions without significant supporting evidence.

[MadBiker]

clarification: HFCS will likely still be scapegoated for a long time, but yjis seems to be the beginning of the tide turning.

some vegan acquaintances I knew were rabidly against HFCS and tried to get me turned on to brown rice syrup. I already consumed BRS on long rides and runs in the form of energy gels. I wondered what metabolic advantage I was receiving from the BRS vs. corn syrup. From Bailey's post, it seems like "none." The vegans were only able to point to HFCS as being an evil by-product of agribusiness as reason enough to vilify it indefinitely.

[Pro Libertate and the Rest of]

Dave!

[the innominate one]

thoreau - perhaps Dave W has confused physicist with physiologist

[mediageek]

Most importantly, it's crazy to make these extraordinary assumptions without significant supporting evidence.

C'mon, thoreau, that's what discovery is for!

[Egosumabbas]

Two problems with high fructose corn syrup:

1) Higher fructose than glucose levels. Glucose can be metabolized by any cell in the body, whereas fructose is metabolized in the liver, where it is converted to fat.
2) It tastes like shit compared to using plain old sugar in soft drinks. Try Coca Cola made south of the border or across the pond with that bottled in the US and you'll see an immediate different
3) The use of HFCS instead of sugar is due to the fact that it's been made cheaper through corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. I'm surprised there aren't more HFCS haters here for that reason alone.

That being said, banning it or taxing it is a preposterous idea. If people love their prolefeed, they should have as much as they want.

[Egosumabbas]

That would be three problems.

[sage]

Americans are getting fatter because they eat more food, not because of HFCS.

Gee, and here I thought that we had a massive hunger problem in this country.

[PJ Doland]

Go buy a decent boutique soda that still uses cane sugar (Jones, Cricket, etc.) and see how it compares to standard American non-Passover Coke or Pepsi. It isn't even close.

We shouldn't be at war with HFCS out of concern for our health. We should be against the stuff because it's ruining our the way our food and beverages taste.

[tarran]

and that a physicist should devote his life to digging undigested food out of fecal matter to resolve this matter (yes, he actually insisted that I do this

thoreau... and I thought my exchanges with him about FLT-93 and the threat posed by Cuba sending nuclear armed bombers disguised as civilian passenger jets to attack the U.S. was batshit insane...

You sir, are a far more patient man than I and I salute you with the Spaceballs salute to President Scrooge.

[Pro Libertate]

Honestly, why can't Coke sell Coke: Now with Sugar! in the U.S.? I'll pay the $0.10 a bottle difference in using tasty sugar instead of less tasty corn syrup.

[fresno dan]

eating too much causes obesity???
2 observations:
who knew?
and
Waaaahhh!!! Waaaaaaaaahhhh!!! I love my pizzas, twinkies, cholcolate sugar cereal, and super vente mocha whipped cream expresso with cheese danishes.

[martyred_cars]

Anecdotally, I feel so much better since I cut it out of my diet completely when I was pregnant. I did, to be fair, make a number of dietary changes that I've kept up. But I can totally tell when I've had HFCS now. The creepy high it gives me feels similar to nicotine. I just came back from vacation, where I ended up having it here in there on the go in airports, restaurants, etc. and I've felt generally unwell and weirdly buzzed the whole time.

Crackpots aren't always wrong about this stuff. I think the obesity issue is far more complex than just this, but I do think this stuff takes a toll on our overall health, especially in the fact that there's so much of it in so many different products. But there are plenty of great non-HFCS products on the market. I'm for choosing those rather than putting a ban on the stuff.

[Dark Helmet]

That's Skroob, Tarran.

[some fed]

The Sugar Quota/Tariff...
The Ethanol Subsidy/Tariff...
The Iowa Caucus...

The Curse of the Corn Lobby continues!

[JW]

It tastes like shit compared to using plain old sugar in soft drinks.

That's the one silver lining to the whole ethanol debacle: it's made sugar cost competitive again and it's starting to to show up again in BBQ sauces and the like.

[classwarrior]

Ronald, no one is asking you to impugn a study SOLEY on who paid for it, but as a factor to be considered along with whether the study underwent independent peer review, was considered worthy enough to be published in a respected academic journal, and the reputations of the authors within their community. Press releases on the other hand, are excercises in self-interested communication that should always be subject to reasonable scrutiny. This is the essence of critical thinking, and something that should be practiced rigourously by any serious reporter (especially in areas of scientific controversy).

[Episiarch]

The use of HFCS instead of sugar is due to the fact that it's been made cheaper through corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. I'm surprised there aren't more HFCS haters here for that reason alone

Hating HFCS because politicians get bought off by Archer Daniels Midland is stupid. Hating the politicians and ADM is not stupid.

Here's a solution to HFCS making you feel supposedly weird compared to sugar: aspartame and sucralose.

[Balloon Maker]

My physiology class did an unofficial survey of our blood sugar before and after consuming HFCS vs. other sugars (pure can sugar and whatever else) with about 60 people.

We found no difference when controlling for amount consumed (and we were all fasting before both measurements). Eating a Clif bar or consuming a "low glycemic index" sugar in the same quantities as HFCS came out about the same with that metric. Take it for what it's worth.

The problem is quantity. American's consume a lot of stuff, incl. high amounts of all sugars in everything.

[t3knomanser]

@Egosumabbas:
Marginally higher fructose levels. We're talking 5%. Sucrose is 50/50 fructose/glucose. HFCS is 55/45. Not a huge imbalance.

I'd like to see the taste issue confirmed via double-blind taste testings. I've had HFCS free iced teas that tasted the same as store-brand HFCS inclusive drinks.

The subsidy issue is the real problem with HFCS. The prices are artificially depressed by government intervention. HFCS is a cheap sweetener. Sweet products sell better than non-sweet products, which means manufacturers put HFCS into EVERYTHING.

My wife and I avoid HFCS only because we try and avoid getting too much sugar. Since HFCS is in so much, if you want to cut sugar intake, that's the quickest and easiest way to do it.

[domoarrigato]

1) Higher fructose than glucose levels. Glucose can be metabolized by any cell in the body, whereas fructose is metabolized in the liver, where it is converted to fat.

I love that Agave syrup is favored by a lot of the health nut community instead of HFCS - it's naturally almost all fructose - but they still love it... Full disclosure - I use it exclusively for making mojitos...

3) The use of HFCS instead of sugar is due to the fact that it's been made cheaper through corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. I'm surprised there aren't more HFCS haters here for that reason alone.

Too true

[Ska]

And think of all the naked pancakes people would be forced to eat if it were not for the 98% corn syrup with 2% maple flavoring wonderment

C'mon, that thick, sticky shit tastes like garbage. Real maple syrup is the only way to go.

That is all.

[domoarrigato]

Ska, your Canadian evil runs thick like maple syrup from the north...

[Vermont]

fuck Iowa, real maple syrup for life.

[Warren]

I'm with Egosumabbas. Plus, "Scientific" studies that essentially say "We can't possibly imagine any way HFCS can be any less healthy than sugar (and we're trying really hard, honest)" don't cut much ice with me.

[Episiarch]

And think of all the naked pancakes people would be forced to eat if it were not for the 98% corn syrup with 2% maple flavoring wonderment

C'mon, that thick, sticky shit tastes like garbage. Real maple syrup is the only way to go.

I don't understand how people can eat the fake shit. It's repulsive. IHOP is a purveyor of pure evil. Not that I care considering I don't eat pancakes, but still, it's the principle of the thing.

[Egosumabbas]

I never understood why people buy maple syrup made with corn syrup instead of the real thing. Is it really that much more expensive?

[libertymike]

According to Dana Flavin, MS, MD, Phd, in the December 2008 issue of Life Estension Magazine:

Excess fructose contributes to hypertension by inhibiting a key enzyme called endothelial nitric oxide, which is located in blood vessel walls and is essential for the production of the vasodilator, nitric oxide. Nitric Oxide is absoutely necessary for preventing hypertension, coronary artery disease and erectile dysfunction.

[von Laue]

HFCS probably isn't worse than cane sugar. Too bad each is poisonous shit.

[Johnny Nowhere]

I don't have a huge ax to grind with HFCS, but the first three bullet points in the press release are a bit misleading.

In order to metabolize sucrose, the body needs to go through a metabolic step called inversion. This step is not needed to metabolize HFCS. It's only after the molecules hit the bloodstream that HFCS is like all other sweeteners.

Based on this, I'm not sure I'll accept the other bullet points at face value.

[Ska]

I live in NY, the real shit costs about 6 bucks for something half the size of a bottle of Log Cabin you get for 3 bucks, so yeah.

And I don't drink Milwaukee's Beast or smoke shwag either.

[Stevo Darkly]

Anyway, some answers at last. It looks like some lazy scientist finally got off his ass and looked into this pressing matter of HFCS.

GOOD WORK, THOREAU!

[lunchstealer]

But T, what about the Precautionary Principle? That surely dictates that you have to abandon optics and devote your life to determining that HFCS could purposefully implode WTC 7 when gently bumped, doesn't it?

[Egosumabbas]

"I live in NY, the real shit costs about 6 bucks for something half the size of a bottle of Log Cabin you get for 3 bucks, so yeah."

Good lord. Maybe it's cheaper in the midwest, and so that's why I've never really noticed it.

Offtopic: Why do a lot of libertarians choose to live in such unfree places as New York, California, and Floriduuuuuuuuuh?

[Andrea]

I have to agree with Classwarrior. It seems odd to me that on a website for Reason magazine (where I look to for rationality when I can't find it anywhere else), a press release gets a pass without any scrutiny. I'd find it much more sensible for you to show us the scientific study itself rather than the corn industry's spin on it.

And sheesh, I almost never have any aspartame or sucralose. If I drink HFCS it's because I grab a juice, a plain old juice, without checking the label and later notice it's not 100% juice and has HFCS in it. And I get the weird feeling. Granted, I often see the HFCS and go "hm, there's that weird feeling." So, psychosomatic? Maybe. But I am 1000x healthier than I was before I started keeping track of these things, so to me it makes sense to follow my instinct instead of a press release.

I've read several of Michael Pollan's books, and I'm convinced by his argument that nutrition is a highly complex system, and that trying to point to one ingredient or nutrient as the cause or cure of anything (which seems to be the main objective of nutrition science in this country) is naive and reductionist, even though he admits doing it himself sometimes. But one of his main suggestions for eating a healthy diet out of an American supermarket is to avoid any product or ingredient your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize. This roots back to the fact that cultures eating traditional diets are far healthier than Americans with all of our science and food processing. It would seem [i]reasonable[/i] that, when a simpler approach works better, it's better to take a simpler approach, even if you can't fully explain it, and even if it means creating mythical demons out of things like HFCS.

Sorry if you've all hashed this out before with your usual kooks. I've never come across an HFCS article on this site before.

[Kwix]

Crap!!! This is bad news.

Not that I believed that HFCS was worse for you than sugar. I just like the clean flavor of sugar in my coke and was hoping this would be the klaxon call to repeal the corn supports and sugar tariffs in this country to allow them to be on a more level playing field.

Yeah, I know, pipe dream.

[libertymike]

According to Dana Flavin, MS, MD, Phd, in the same article I cite above:

In fact, the effect of HFCS on insulin resistance has been shown to have an impact on the prevalence of diabetes. In 2004, investigators conducted an ecological correlation study, in wihcih they compared the relationship between food consupmtion of refined carbohydrates and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the US from 1909 to 1997. They found that during this period, the use of corn syrup sweetners, which were almost non-existent at the turn of the century, increased by more than 2,100%. During the smae period the prevalence of diabetes skyrocketed. After controlling for total energy intake from other foods, proteins and fats, only the increase in corn syrup sweetners and a decrease in fiber intake correlated positively with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes.

What say you, Mr. Bailey?

[Egosumabbas]

"Yeah, I know, pipe dream."

This IS Ronald "Carbon Tax" Bailey we're talking about here.

[libertymike]

Part of being rational is to dismiss, on their face, studies, figures, conclusions, observations, etc. released by government or any person reliant on Caesar as so much poppycock.

Ron, you are not being rational.

[MadBiker]

Ska, agreed 100% Maple Syrup is the only way to go for pancakes and a plethora of other purposes. I was merely pointing out that what most people think of as "maple syrup" for their breakfast food is really HFCS with food coloring and maple flavoring. It doesn't seem to do much harm when you stack it up to the butter, shortening, and refined grain products upon which people pour the stuff.

Grade B maple syrup is the best imo, for pancakes, baking, and flavoring drinks (especially lemonade). At $58 a gallon, I use it sparingly. Grade A Light Amber is only a few bucks more per gallon, but doesn't have the same rich earthiness as B.

[Reformed Republican]

Why do a lot of libertarians choose to live in such unfree places as New York, California, and Floriduuuuuuuuuh?

Maybe it is the lack of freedom that drives more people in these areas to libertarianism.

[Egosumabbas]

"Ron, you are not being rational."

This is Ron's biggest problem. Studies with questionable methodologies should never be used in political discourse, either for or against big government. This is the failure of utilitarianism.

[Episiarch]

Grade B maple syrup is the best imo

Yes. Much more "maple-y". The light stuff is more expensive because it used to be used like sugar and wasn't supposed to have a particularly strong taste.

[DB]

Slightly off topic, but just wanted to add that since going Atkins back on June 1st, I lost 25 lbs in 3 months and have maintained my new weight ever since b cutting out almost almost all carbs. I've slowly reintroduced fruit and nuts. I feel far better, as well. So, at least for me, HFCS was bad, but only as bad as other sugars and refined carbs.

[libertarian democrat]

Libertymike,

Yes, any study funded by the DOD or NIH is poppycock. I agree.

[MadBiker]

Epi, if you are a drinking man, make a batch of lemonade sweetened with Grade B (about 1/2 cup per half gallon of water and juice of 4-6 lemons depending on desired sweet/tart balance) and throw in a jigger of quality vodka. Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Pure heaven on a hot summer day.

[libertymike]

Egosumabbas-

Yes, but the proponents of big gvt., including rent seeking private actors, are much mopre likely to tout some study or finding that is predicated upon questionable methodologies.

[Jordan]

But I am 1000x healthier than I was before I started keeping track of these things, so to me it makes sense to follow my instinct instead of a press release.

1000x? Really? How did you quantify this?

[affenkopf]

Who cares if it's bad - it tastes like crap. Cane sugar is the only sweetener that makes soft drinks taste "right".

[Egosumabbas]

@libertymike:

My point is that we shouldn't stoop to the statist's level either, unless you want a never-ending pissing match of stupid half-baked statistical studies.

The proper libertarian position on HFCS is one of agnosticism: the science is unresolved, and usage of it is a matter of taste. If it's a matter of choice, the government should not play favorites in sweeteners through subsidies and tariffs.

[martyred_cars]

Jordan -- I was just being cutesy. Obviously I'm not doing a whole lot of quantifying on this issue. Just eating healthy.

[capelza]

My dad used to pour Karo syrup into peanut butter and eat it. Karo (which is a combo of regular corn syrup and HFCS) is good for 2 things.

1) if you want to "harden" melted chocolate for molding..put a couple Tbs in the chocolate..it turns it into freaking tootsie roll material.

2) if you are constipated, three Tbs will take care of it within half a day.

Weird stuff.

It tastes like crap, I avoid foods that have HFCS or regular corn syrup in them...bake a pecan pir with cane syrup, you'll never go back.

Also, it isn't just in soda pop that HFCS is all pervasive. Check out any processed food you buy...there'll be HFCS in it.

Maple syrup is more expensive, but who needs to slather waffles and pancakes anyway? Good maple syrup lasts longer. the kids always knew it was more expensive and learned to go light on it. They appreciate the flavour of the food they eat more and eat less crap.

Just because the "dirty fucking hippies" are against HFCS..it doesn'[t require an equally knee jerk response to defend the absolutely shitty HFCS.

[EJM]

Go buy a decent boutique soda that still uses cane sugar (Jones, Cricket, etc.) and see how it compares to standard American non-Passover Coke or Pepsi. It isn't even close.

Along those lines, there's a Dr Pepper bottler in Texas that still uses cane sugar.

[thoreau]

I do gotta say, I'd rather see the peer-reviewed study than the bullet points from the company press release.

Not that the company is to be presumed wrong, but it's always good to (1) get as close to the original research as possible and (2) be extra cautious about statements from those with clear conflicts of interest. (Yes, yes, researchers and their government funders can have their own and often hidden conflicts of interest, but all else being equal I'd rather get as close to the original work as possible rather than trusting the synopsis from those with the most direct interest.)

[adriana]

libertymike,

The problem with that statistic, of course, is that it covers such a broad period: 1907-1997. People are living longer, going to the doctor much more often, and medical science (including the ability to diagnose illness) has improved dramatically. Some people become diabetic just from old age. Doctors are diagnosing diabetics who are symptomatic because of regular blood sugar screening, and these people wouldn't have known that they were diabetic in 1907. And, finally, people are just eating more and moving less because of advances in agriculture and transportation. We live further away from each other, from where we shop, and it's just not practical for many of us to ride a bike 10 miles to the store and lug back groceries. So we drive. The answer is complicated, but that study has some post-hoc problems. Just because one follows the other doesn't mean that one caused the other.

[adriana]

asymptomatic*

Pardon!

[Vanessa]

Was Dave W. the same guy who broke up with his girlfriend because she had never done a mathematical proof and refused to do one to satisfy him?

[Jon H]

"Go buy a decent boutique soda that still uses cane sugar (Jones, Cricket, etc.) and see how it compares to standard American non-Passover Coke or Pepsi. "

Unfortunately the cane sugar sodas are often kinda weak, in terms of flavor and carbonation. They taste a bit flat.

[D.A. Ridgely]

Was Dave W. the same guy who broke up with his girlfriend because she had never done a mathematical proof and refused to do one to satisfy him?

The version I heard was that she broke up with him when she discovered it was mathematically impossible for him to satisfy her.

[libertymike]

Egosumabbas-

Agreed.

[martyred_cars]

Jon H,

I just had some Jones Soda on Alaska Airlines that looked like a new line, and it was divine. Good carbonation and flavor. I heard other people raving to the flight attendants, too. I had their lemon-lime, which was a Sprite type soda. When I see their sodas for sale at the store, I usually see trendy flavors which I'll agree, tend to be lacking. But this line looked to be all classic soda flavors, just made with cane juice. It's worth a try.

[Da Souff]

I am quite skeptical of second hand smoke and global warming, but I don't drink it. Brain uses glucose and fructose becomes adipose tissue too readily. Not to mention all the purported isde effects...

[Colonel_Angus]

""Go buy a decent boutique soda that still uses cane sugar (Jones, Cricket, etc.) and see how it compares to standard American non-Passover Coke or Pepsi. "

Unfortunately the cane sugar sodas are often kinda weak, in terms of flavor and carbonation. They taste a bit flat."

Jones is alright. I only buy it when I pick up pizza at this place, and I don't get the trendy wierdo flavors. I decided to buy this stuff called Jaritos, after I saw construction workers leaving empty bottles all over the place. Jaritos has different flavors of soft drinks similar to 7up or Crush, but made with cane sugar. Bottles are about 85 cents and are in the ethnic area of regular grocery stores. Mainly though, I just drink plain HFCS Dr. Pepper. Still want to try that cane sugar Dr. Pepper you can order on the internet.

I agree with the weak flat taste in a lot of cane sugar sodas.

[lunchstealer]

Picked up a bottle of the cane sugar DrP in Hico, Texas. Only decent bottle of DrP I ever had. May just have been thirsty, though.

[DannyK]

Sheesh. You actually wrote the whole post based off a press release, didn't you? Did you even check the study to see if it, you know, said what the PR guy said it did?

[Neu Mejican]

It has been clearly demonstrated that the MORE important factor is the increased caloric intake...Despite the fact that there ARE clear differences in how the sugars are metabolized.

Lots of peer reviewed research on the topic.

The press release gets it BOTH wrong and right.
Ron should be ashamed of posting the press release. Reason has, perhaps, the worst science reporting on the web. Why is that?

[David E. Gallaher]

Hysteria is hysteria.
Reminds me of the myth that red wine is more likely than white to cause headaches the next day.

[Kaiser]

Americans are getting fatter because they eat more food, not because of HFCS.

It's not even that, it is because we are eating more, and moving less. I mean didn't we all see Michael Phelps diet. He eats 12,000 calories a day in hight fat, high carbohydrate diet and yet he is skinny as a rail. As someone else pointed out it isn't rocket science. Just burn more calories than you take in and you lose weight.

As for HFCS, it is essentially just sugar. I think the blame comes from more and more people aren't willing to accept responsibility for themselves. "It's not my fault im fat, it's McDonalds fault and their pretty colors and delicious hamburgers." "It's not my fault I'm fat, it's the HFCS in my sodas fault." etc etc you get the point.

@ David E. Gallaher

I don't think that is a myth. I believe hangover strength has something to do with the tanin(?) or something like that. (basically the color) The darker the color the worse the hangover is. I believe Brandy is the worst then descending down to Whiskey, then red wine, then clear liquors, then white wine etc. I could be wrong here, and of course, everyone reacts differently to different substances.

[dersk]

Yes, Kaiser, you're wrong. Though I've read that nobody's absolutely sure of the contribution of all the components to a hangover (alcohol, extra chemicals, plain old dehydration, vitamin deficiencies, etc.) I'm pretty sure it's just the alcohol.

The fact that brown liquor has a worse rep is simply that one tends to drink more (less total beverage volume, but more ethanol) when drinking a straight liquor (40%), as opposed to a white liquor (typically mixed, so call it 20%), as opposed to wine (12%?) or beer (5%, as lest if you live in a civilized country)...

[Neu Mejican]

Yes, Kaiser, you're wrong. Though I've read that nobody's absolutely sure of the contribution of all the components to a hangover (alcohol, extra chemicals, plain old dehydration, vitamin deficiencies, etc.) I'm pretty sure it's just the alcohol.

Wait, he's wrong because you have a different opinion with no evidence or support from science. And you cite the fact that as far as you no one knows better?

I believe Kaiser is closer to correct. WebMd agrees with him. Tannin in chocolate also gives some people headaches, for instance. Tannins also impact how you metabolize sugars, which may be a contributor to the hangover via changes in blood sugar.

[Patrick]

""Go buy a decent boutique soda that still uses cane sugar (Jones, Cricket, etc.) and see how it compares to standard American non-Passover Coke or Pepsi. "

Jones does taste good, but I don't know if that is due to the sweetener or to some other factor. In fact, I would suspect that it is not the sweetener that makes the difference, since Jones soda (as the labels state) is made with INVERTED cane sugar. Inverted cane sugar, of course, is no longer sucrose at all, but rather a 50/50 mixture of fructose and glucose, and is compositionally essentially the same thing as HFCS.

http://www.jonessoda.com/files/products-glass.php

[The Pale Scot]

The issue the granola groupies and some nutritionists have with HFCS isn't the sugar, its that the syrup is known to have chemicals that may/are endocrine antagonists. For those here that say they feel weird after consuming them, your not alone. When I looked at this years ago, there were some studies being done that attempted to measure the endocrine disruptions of HFCS, but I'm not up to date.

For good tasting sodas check out the larger natural food stores, cream soda made with real vanilla and cane sugar is excellent!

[KD]

Any argument I would make to this article and some of the comments here have been done in "Good Calories, Bad Calories."

Despite the title, it's not a diet book, it's a history of how nutrition became government regulated and how un-scientific nutrition studies are today. Even if you're not particularly interested in knowing how sugar affects your body the first few chapters of the book are rather interesting. He doesn't directly imply a government conspiracy of anything, but it's easily seen from evidence that he provides that government bureaucracy has contributed to the downfall of good science.

[Kevin]

In addition to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study and our press release referenced above, you can get more high fructose corn syrup facts at http://www.sweetsurprise.com.
-Kevin, on behalf of the Corn Refiners Association