What's So Bad About Corn?

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Q: I thought corn was a vegetable, so why have I heard we should avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague?

A: Candy corn, corn chips and corn dogs prove this veggie isn't always good for you. As it turns out, our love affair with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may be linked to the obesity epidemic. The sweetener is made when fructose, a type of sugar, is added to glucose, the natural sugar in corn. HFCS is found in abundance in sodas and many processed foods, from cookies to yogurt. But HFCS has none of the healthy stuff found in corn, and studies suggest fructose is more likely to make you fat than glucose. If HFCS is listed as one of the first five ingredients on a food label, don't eat it. Our favorite corn? The kind you pop. Use an air popper. Popcorn is a healthy whole-grain food that will keep you full and satisfied -- as long as you don't fire-hose it with melted butter.

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From Reader's Digest - April 2006

 

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• 9 Simple Diet Changes
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• Beware of Corn Syrup
• The truth behind this source of empty calories.
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My mother is a cleaning fanatic. One Saturday she told me and my brother to get down to the playroom and straighten it up. We had had a party there the previous evening and she was none too happy about the mess. As she watched us work, it was clear Mom was completely dissatisfied with our cleaning efforts and let us know it. Finally my brother, exasperated with having to do it all over, reached for a broom and asked, "Can I use this or are you planning to go somewhere?"

-- Mark Berman