Is high fructose corn syrup bad for you?
Before we get into the meat of today's episode, I wanna just put a little disclaimer out because we never want to give people the wrong impression or miscommunicate science. Our aim, my goal in life, really, is always about getting the most accurate information that I can. And so I just really wanna say a few things about this that episode, about the sugar episode before we get into it. So first, please, please, please always listen to the whole episode before you're making judgment calls that impact your everyday life. Because if you listen to maybe the first half of the episode, you could walk away with just the message that sugar isn't bad when really that's not the full message of the episode.
Melissa:And also, second, We primarily in this episode, we're aiming to cover the difference between high fructose corn syrup and table sugar. The other bonus facts that I gave were not intended to cover the full depths of how the human body processes sugar. There is so much to cover there. There's so much to talk about with insulin and metabolic processes. I don't even really feel qualified to discuss that.
Melissa:So what I was sharing was what I learned from a reputable source that I found interesting, but we are not medical professionals, and we do not want you to take this advice over the advice of your health care professional, especially for those with some kind of diabetes or insulin resistance. And then 3, when I stated that sugar wasn't bad for you, I really was specifically talking about glucose, which gives power energy to ourselves. And you can get glucose, which is classified as a sugar according to science from a number of sources that aren't table sugar. So that doesn't mean you need to go out and eat table sugar or high for just corn syrup. Please don't use what I said as a license to eat all the sugar you want because that's dangerous.
Melissa:Consult with your medical professional and Know that you can get glucose from fruits. I think even from veggies, there are a number of sources you can get glucose from that is not table sugar. And, 4th, thank you guys so much for reaching out to us and sharing that you had concerns about this episode, specifically, Lan, Howard, and Sam. We want to give accurate information. And if you ever find anything in this episode or any episode to be inaccurate, write into us, and we will correct this information as soon as we can confirm what you're saying with peer reviewed journal articles because we are doing the best we can with the information we have, and we need y'all's help to stay accurate on top of things.
Melissa:So I just wanted to share that with you guys, and I hope that clears some things up. And if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. And now on to today's episode. Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay, Jim.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:This week's episode blew my mind.
Jam:Really?
Melissa:It really did, and it convinced me to change my lifestyle yet again.
Jam:Really?
Melissa:It really did.
Jam:Really? Interesting. I feel like that when that has happened to you, it's also sometimes happened to me once I hear The information that you share.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:So I wonder if I'll get brought on this brought down this rabbit hole as well. EMITE. Okay.
Melissa:It's rough.
Jam:So what is it about?
Melissa:Okay. So this is a question from Mary g.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:She wrote us on Instagram and asked why people say that high fructose corn syrup is worse than sucrose.
Jam:Oh, okay. Yeah. I've I've heard about that.
Melissa:Yeah. There I remember a campaign where high fructose corn syrup was trying to convince people it wasn't bad.
Jam:Yeah. And I remember people saying that too. Like, I remember Kind of being around people saying, like, no. It's not it's it's the same. Blah blah blah.
Jam:People are just kinda making a big fuss or something Right. Which It's hard to know when you're just a kid. I feel like it happened when I was a kid even.
Melissa:It was probably 10, 15 years ago.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Well, first, let's talk definitions.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:In science, sugars belong to a class of molecules that are known as carbohydrates.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:They are called carbohydrates because they are a long carbon chain that's bonded to some hydrogens and some o h or alcohol groups.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I realized I should probably start calling them alcohol groups because you thought o h was the name of the functional group. Yeah.
Jam:Although it did help me
Melissa:to know what's in there.
Jam:But Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So it's got some hydrogens and some alcohols. And hydrogen is 1 h, and alcohol as an oxygen and a hydrogen. And if you combine that, H2O.
Jam:Yeah. Gotcha.
Melissa:So you've got carbon, and it's hydrated, quote, unquote, like, so to speak.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So that's why it's called carbohydrates.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:So sugars belong to this class of molecules, these carbohydrates. And that's a name for carbon chains with a lot of o h groups on them or alcohol groups on them.
Jam:Mhmm. I
Melissa:don't know exactly what classifies something as a sugar as opposed to just a general carbohydrate. That's more of a biochemistry question.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But sugar is much more than just the white stuff on the table in science.
Jam:Okay. Right.
Melissa:The white stuff on the table so I'm gonna call this table sugar throughout because a lot of these words sound the same. Table sugar that we commonly refer to, which is just plain sugar, is actually sucrose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And sucrose comes from sugarcane or sugar beets.
Jam:Sugar beets?
Melissa:Yeah. I don't know exactly what sugar beets are, but I know that in regions where it's harder to grow sugarcane due to some embargo a long time ago, they had to figure out how to sugar another way. Uh-huh. And so I don't know if they identified this family of beets that's sweeter or if they modified beets to be sweeter, but they came up with sugar beets.
Jam:Wow. That is impressive.
Melissa:Yeah. And you can't really tell the difference between cane sugar or sugar beets chemically. They'll, a lot of times, label it as 1 or the other, beet sugar, cane sugar, but, I mean, at a chemical level, it's exactly the same.
Jam:Okay. Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So high fructose corn syrup is made by using enzymes to break down cornstarch.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Cornstarch is a carbohydrate.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So they use these enzymes to break it down to the smallest pieces that end up being sugars.
Jam:Okay. So but cornstarch Doesn't taste sweet. Right?
Melissa:Corn search doesn't taste sweet.
Jam:That's after this process with that enzyme, then it Mhmm. Tastes sweet.
Melissa:It. I think because it breaks it down into smaller units that Yeah. Hit our sweetness receptors.
Jam:Interesting. I know. That's crazy. I was
Melissa:I know.
Jam:At to be taken to process that, like, mom, cornstarch, I've used that and been around it and not sweet.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:That's kinda crazy.
Melissa:Yeah. So cornstarch is made up of basically a lot of sugar molecules all bonded together, and your body can break that down, but it doesn't hit your taste buds the same way.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:And we've talked about that, about how changing something just a little can drastically change how it interacts with our sweetness receptors or any kind of receptors in our body.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So these enzymes break it down into its base pieces that are sweet, the r sugar.
Jam:Yeah. Wow. Awesome.
Melissa:So that's the difference between the 2. That's how they are made. Okay. But here is the big important thing. According to the medical world and really according to the chemistry world, there is essentially no difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose.
Melissa:Okay. Now I'm saying essentially because there's a slight difference, and I'm gonna explain what that is. But it in practice, it has no practical difference.
Jam:Okay. Gotcha.
Melissa:Sucrose, table sugar, is made up of 2 small molecules linked together.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:These molecules are glucose and fructose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So I'm saying table sugar because sucrose, glucose, and fructose all sound really similar.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So glucose is a 6 membered ring.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So it has 5 carbons and 1 oxygen. K. And it has several alcohols and hydrogens bonded all around the carbon ring.
Jam:K.
Melissa:The carbohydrate.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:It's a sugar. Fructose is a 5 membered ring. It's made up of 4 carbons and 1 oxygen, And it also has several alcohols and several hydrogens bonded to
Jam:it. Okay.
Melissa:Okay. In sucrose, Glucose and fructose are bonded together by an oxygen.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:When that goes into our body, there's an enzyme that we have in our body that breaks it down into essentially 50% fructose, 50% glucose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That's the chemical makeup of sucrose is once it gets into our body, table sugar is essentially 5050 glucose fructose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. Now high fructose corn syrup is also made of glucose and fructose.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But it's not bonded together. Oh. But that doesn't really matter in our body because the bond gets broken really quickly.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But it does account for it looking different than table sugar
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And having different properties.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:After the cornstarch is broken down to make high fructose corn syrup, it's usually 42% fructose and 58% glucose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's a little less fructose than table sugar.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:They can break that down further with more chemical purification techniques. I don't think I need to get into it exactly, but they can concentrate that to a 90% fructose, 10% glucose. And that'll be sweeter than the 42/58 breakdown.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And then what they do is they'll add that 90% syrup back in
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:To the original 42% fructose syrup and make it 55% fructose, 45% glucose.
Jam:Okay. Dang.
Melissa:So on the market, generally, there will be the original 42% fructose syrup
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Used in foods and beverages
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Or the 55% fructose used in food and beverages.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:They have a little bit sweeter properties at the higher percent of fructose is my understanding.
Jam:Okay. Okay. Okay. So you said they're really similar Mhmm. On a chemical level.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Is that kind of Just totally separate from how they do taste different for people, like, having a cane sugar and soda for instance, people are like, oh my gosh, it's so much better. And you can actually tell the difference of the taste? Is that a totally different like, not like the chemical, but that not the chemical makeup of it.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:But that they could have different slight different tastes to them?
Melissa:I think they have different tastes because one's bonded together and the other one's not.
Jam:Okay. Okay. That's something that we could be able to tell on our on our taste buds.
Melissa:Yes. Nice. Actually, we learned in class that high fructose corn syrup. In my polymer chemistry class I took a long time ago Uh-huh. High fructose corn syrup is sweeter than table sugar.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:So you can actually make sodas sweeter using that
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:With less of it than this than you would with table sugar.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Got it. It actually is a slightly healthier option if you're trying to get something sweeter with less syrup.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Okay.
Jam:Sweet.
Melissa:But that's not usually how soda companies do things, so it's kind of a bummer.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. That's true. That's not their biggest goal, really.
Melissa:Yes. So we interpret high our brands interpret high fructose corn syrup as sweeter than table sugar. Okay. And that is a fact. They taste different, and I think it's It's gotta be because of that bond or maybe because of the slight difference in percentages.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:I wonder if you have the 42% or the 55% fructose, how different those would taste.
Jam:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:It's about a 13% difference.
Jam:Yeah. Interesting.
Melissa:So I don't know. Okay. So that's the chemical difference. And just to kind of wrap it up quickly, what instead of using these big words, sucrose, fructose, glucose, table sugar has 50% of molecule a and molecule b.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And high fructose corn syrup as either a little less than that, 42% of molecule a
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And 58% of molecule b, or Mhmm. 55 a little bit more. Fifty 5% of molecule a, 45% molecule b.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:So that's the difference between them is it's essentially just Once it gets into your body, it's just the percentages of which sugar you have.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:So medically, pretty much everyone agrees that there's not a difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I think why people have said it's worse for you is because people don't always trust, quote, unquote, processed foods.
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:So high fructose corn syrup is more processed in their minds, then sucrose, and so it gets the bad rep.
Jam:Okay. Yep. I see that.
Melissa:Or High fructose corn syrup is cheaper and easier to make than table sugar.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And so It started to be in a lot of foods that sugar wasn't in before. Okay. And those foods are not as good for you as a sugar free option. We'll talk about that more in a little bit. Mhmm.
Melissa:But those foods aren't as good for you as a sugar free option that it was naturally before we started adding sugar to everything to make it taste better.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And high fructose corn syrup being cheaper and easier to make and easy to put in those foods could be associated with these foods are now less healthy than they were before. That is my theory on the answer to Mary g's question.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Because medically, there isn't really a difference. They have the same impact on your body if you have table sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Jam:Right. Okay.
Melissa:So that's my suspicion. That's the basics here.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And so I kind of want you to try to explain all that back to me. Okay. Which it's hard, I know, because it's not a traditional chemistry lesson.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But it is all chemistry. It's just different than some of the other ones we've done. And then I wanna talk to you about what is not great for you about both of these things.
Jam:Nice. Okay. Cool. Cool. Okay.
Jam:So I'll just kinda tell it back in my own words because it's not like a like you said, there's not really a lesson to need to Analogized, so to speak, but sugar's been around for a long time, and table sugar as we know it is sucrose
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Which is made up of Fructose and glucose
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And lots of osis. And they are both they're similar. They're both sugars on their own. Mhmm. Which is and they're made up of rings of atoms.
Jam:Right? And, obviously, cane sugar sucrose has been around for a long time.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And then this hot new Syrupy version came on the scene Mhmm. And freaked people out.
Melissa:Yeah. That is, I think, really what happened.
Jam:But it's not that different. No. It is kind of impressive that they took cornstarch Mhmm. Did some chemistry mumbo jumbo to it
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Broke it down into simpler molecules and pieces, which
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Allowed it to become where we can actually taste the sweetness in it.
Melissa:Yes. Basically, corn syrup is a big carbohydrate with 5 or 6 rings in 1 unit. Uh-huh. In these enzymes, break it down to have, like, 1 ring.
Jam:Okay. Okay. And
Melissa:That's a very simplified version. So any chemist out there, if you've got beef with that.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:I'm sorry. Yeah.
Jam:And so they figured out how to make that which was nice and cheap. Simpler process to make and was very, very sweet. The biggest differences between Table sugar is that it is did you say basically equal parts?
Melissa:Yes. It's 5050.
Jam:5050 Of glucose and fructose.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:High fructose corn syrup at its most basic version At the start, has 42% fructose Mhmm. 58% glucose.
Melissa:Right. So it has less fructose than table syrup sugar. I almost said table syrup.
Jam:Table syrup. And the fructose tastes a lot sweeter to us. Right? Like
Melissa:I think so. Although, I would have to double check. I did the research for this, about 2 weeks ago. I think fructose does take sweeter to us.
Jam:And well, that would makes make it make sense why they've gone the extra mile to then Process the hematopoieticosteroids more to Mhmm. Allowed to be 55%
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Fructose.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And then 45% glucose.
Melissa:Right. But I think they use both of those commercially.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:The 42% fructose and the 55% fructose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So really you have a high fructose corn syrup that's less than sugar, less fructose than sugar, and one that's more fructose than sugar.
Jam:Okay. Okay. And also one of the big differences that I failed to mention earlier is that the fructose and the glucose and high fructose corn syrup are not Stuck together
Melissa:Right.
Jam:By an oxygen atom. Right. But in table sugar, they are.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:But it doesn't make a huge difference because our body breaks that, Like bond, that linkage of those 2 pretty quickly when we start processing it and digesting it.
Melissa:In our metabolism. Yeah.
Jam:And Other than that, those are basically the differences Mhmm. Between the 2, and none of those differences make a huge difference in our bodies.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:They might taste a little different, But there's no real difference between the 2 on our bodies. Like, high fructose corn syrup does not seem to be Worse for us than table sugar.
Melissa:That's exactly right.
Jam:Sweet.
Melissa:You nailed it. It's kind of a harder lesson, you know, but I think you taking the time to explain it back kind of can help solidify it in your mind.
Jam:Yeah. Definitely helped me to have to do it. Right. To listeners. Yeah.
Melissa:You wanna pause it and explain it yourself real quick? Because I think all the glucose and fructose and sucrose, all these words are just thrown around. And Yeah. Fructose is different than high fructose corn syrup. These are 2 different things.
Melissa:You know? It's like Right. Kind of. Yeah. So the thing is there's not a difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But there is a difference between glucose and fructose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the 2 components that make up both of these sugars just in different proportions
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:There's a difference between them.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So glucose can be used by any cell in the body Okay. To provide energy.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Our cells need energy to run. We need energy to function.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:My biochemistry textbook said, this is direct quote, for some tissues, such as brain, kidney, medulla, an rapidly contracting skeletal muscles and for some cells such as erythrocytes and sperm cells, Glucose is the only source of metabolic energy. In addition, the product of glycolysis, So it breaks down glucose in the cells Mhmm. Is a versatile metabolite that can be used by our bodies in several ways. So there are cells that need sugar to live.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:I'm pretty sure glucose is the only form of energy that can pass through the blood brain barrier.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So glucose is really important for our bodies.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:I think a lot of times people say sugar is bad for you, period. But what does that even mean? Because glucose is not bad for you, and it's in sugar.
Jam:Yeah. And a lot of things have sugar in it already. Like Yeah. Like, the broader version the broader definition of sugar. Not like somebody added it, but, like, fruit has sugar in it.
Melissa:Fruit. I think fruit has sucrose in it even.
Jam:There we go. Woah.
Melissa:I'm not positive, but I think. And then I'm pretty sure a lot of grains have glucose in them.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the idea of cutting out sugar there's even carbohydrates in, like, vegetables.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So the idea of cutting out sugar completely is nearly impossible, and sugar is not bad for you.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Fructose, however, and basically only be metabolized in the liver.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And it makes primarily waste products
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That eventually turn into fat. It can suppress your signs that you're full. Mhmm. And some of the waste products it make, it makes seem to lead to high blood pressure.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:There's really not anything good that I could find about fructose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's almost as if Sucrose is made up of half something that we desperately need to survive and half something that 1 endocrinologist basically characterized as a poison. Wow. Because all it does is go to our liver and get processed in our liver and make waste products and fat.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Which isn't great.
Jam:Dang. But it also is in stuff on its own already. Like, fructose is in things without us adding it. Some things.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:So
Melissa:Yes. It's in anything, I think, that has naturally occurring sugar. I think fruit has fructose in it.
Jam:The reason I asked that is because it's not it's not like the story goes that we created a monster Right. By doing all this stuff and processing stuff. It's that it already exists like that.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And fructose, wherever it can be found in nature Or if we make it is not something we need. And even beyond that, it's not good for us.
Melissa:That's what I could fine. There's always more information, you know, to learn about how our bodies function and stuff like that.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:But fructose, which already existed
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Before we got it out of cane sugar, before we got it out of beets, or before we got it out of cornstarch, fructose It usually comes packaged in nature with glucose, and glucose is necessary for survival, and fructose doesn't seem to do much good for us today.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:Maybe if you need a lot of fat, I guess, to survive, that would be useful. Yeah. But I think we don't. Most Americans don't need a lot of fat to survive.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Most Americans have more than enough
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:That they need. So it's just kind of weird.
Jam:Yeah. Seriously.
Melissa:It's just so strange to me that these things that naturally occur have glucose, which we need to survive, and the thing that it doesn't seem to do us much good, which is fructose. Yeah. I mean, I watched, it's a 2009 video, so older. Mhmm. But a video of this endocrinologist just laying out how essentially fructose is processed in our body the same way as alcohol or other things that just go straight to the liver are pretty much considered poisons.
Jam:Yeah. Wow. Man, that's crazy.
Melissa:It's a little extreme. I'm sure that somewhere at some point, this is beneficial to us as a species is what I think. Yeah. Otherwise, I don't think it would be there, but it's just weird
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And very compelling. It really makes you stop and think. We all probably eat excess sugar of what is required in our diet Yeah. Which means we're eating excess of something that really doesn't do us any good.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So I thought that was really interesting.
Jam:Yeah. And it kinda breaks it down because, like, we all, I think, have some idea that sugar isn't great for us. Right. Right?
Melissa:But
Jam:it kinda breaks it down like, well, here's the part of it that isn't.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And also it just goes straight to your liver. Instead of just thinking I think most of us just think sugar equal bad Instead of knowing how it is
Melissa:bad Yeah.
Jam:And where where in our body it's kind of going and then what happens after that. And, like, just knowing there's nothing Really, our body can do with the fructose
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Is interesting, I think. Yeah. Oh, that makes sense. Like, it's not just that Too much or too little is a thing. It's also just that any amount of it is not necessary
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:For that part of sugar.
Melissa:Yes. And That's right. There's part of sugar that's really good for you.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:Your brain functions off of glucose, which is 50% Yeah. Of table sugar in 45% or 58%, depending on which one you have, of high fructose corn syrup. Yeah. So we can't just paint with this broad brush that sugar is terrible for you. We have to really think about what it means.
Melissa:Yeah. So here's the thing. Sugar is not bad for you. Right. Too much sugar is bad for you.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:It can be habit forming. It can cause high blood pressure, like I said. In fact, it can lead to diabetes and obesity. And this this endocrinologist that I watched his video, he put up the long term effects of habitual alcohol use and the long term effects of habitual fructose use. Yeah.
Melissa:But that means sugar, really.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And they had 8 out of 12 of the same long term impacts.
Jam:Wow. Interesting.
Melissa:And you would never encourage someone to use alcohol, you know, all the time. Yeah. And but we do that with sugar. Yeah. Sometimes I'll say, I don't really want a dessert, and people push me to eat it.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that weird? Yeah. So I thought that was really interesting.
Melissa:And the other thing he said is part of why so many Americans are likely struggling with obesity
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Is because a while ago, the big food enemy was fat.
Jam:Yeah. Mhmm.
Melissa:And so the CDC said fat is linked to heart disease, which is it is. Yeah. But if you're cooking at home, you can control how much fat is in your food, and you're not increasing anything else. You can just use less butter or whatever.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:In packaged processed foods, if you take fat away, it tastes bad. Yeah. So they added sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup because it's easy to transport, cheap to make Mhmm. Into a lot of our processed foods to give a longer shelf life. They reduce the fiber to give it longer shelf life, to make it taste better, and that has been a huge problem in the American diet.
Melissa:It.
Jam:I see. I see. That makes sense. Dang. And then I also remember hearing a big thing about how I don't know the details here, but just that the the downside of sugar were very underplayed Yeah.
Jam:On kinda on purpose by people who wanted that to be the case. Yeah. And that the fat problem was overplayed. So it's
Melissa:like Yes.
Jam:Okay. We took the fat out and put in the thing that It's also bad for us that Yeah. People didn't wanna talk about or whatever, and so we didn't really get anywhere with that.
Melissa:Yeah. He sort of talked about that and how there at the same time that research came out about fat, then research also came out about sugar, but the guy who wrote the book about fowl is more compelling. And so that kind of, you know, took over.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:But, really, sugar and fat are so interlinked in our diets that it was kind of looking at 1 problem without looking at the other side of it.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So this endocrinologist, he works at a clinic for our back then work. I don't I guess I don't know what he's doing now, but he worked at a clinic for, childhood obesity.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And I appreciated this. He gave 4 main takeaways.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I'll just to help you with your sugar intake.
Jam:Nice. Nice.
Melissa:Get rid of all sugared liquids. This was for children, so he said only water and milk. I would think for adults, coffee in water. Mhmm. I also drink almond milk, you know Yeah.
Melissa:With no sugar in it. So you should not have sugared liquids in your home or drink them regularly.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:They don't provide any nutritional benefit.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:You should eat your carbohydrates with fiber. A lot of processed foods have removed the fiber and added extra carbohydrates like high fructose corn syrup.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:So you need to pay attention to that.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:One thing I did recently is I was eating some cake, and I remembered this. And I dumped some fresh fruit on it, and it was delicious. Yeah.
Jam:I will take that. I actually have For me, I already prefer that taste combo anyway. Right. So that is perfect.
Melissa:And what fiber does is it slows the release of glucose and fructose into your blood. So I think that that I think it just helps with insulin production. It's more complicated. But, basically, His joke was that god made the poison and packaged it with the antidote, so most naturally occurring sugar comes with fiber already like fruit.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:And that frustrates me about diets that say you can't eat any carbs. You can't eat fruit because fruit is good for you. Yeah.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Its sugar delivered in a healthy way. And, again, sugar is not bad.
Jam:Yeah. Totally.
Melissa:He also recommends that you wait 20 minutes for 2nd portions because high fructose corn syrup can suppress that that hormone that tells us that we're full.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And he also encourages people to buy their screen screen time minute for minute with physical activity so that we're burning the energy that we're consuming rather than letting it turn into fat.
Jam:By our what time today?
Melissa:Our screen time.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That's hard today, I think, but maybe, like, recreational screen time.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Go for a walk before you
Jam:Yeah. I see.
Melissa:Watch TV or something like that.
Jam:Gotcha. Gotcha. I like that.
Melissa:It's hard because screen time is my whole job now, which is different than it used to be. But I think he means when you're
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Especially with children, but also with adults when you're on your recreational screen time.
Jam:Yeah. And I think, in, like, pediatrics Kids use the same phrase. I think that screen time is just kind of their way of talking about nonessential Screen use Yes. Entertainment or whatever for kids. And they have recommendations about that for ages different age groups and stuff.
Jam:But, Okay. I'm tracking with you.
Melissa:So that was his tips for limiting excessive consumption of sugar and battling specifically childhood obesity, but I think all of us could benefit from this.
Jam:Yeah. Totally.
Melissa:But then I also have 4 main takeaways. Nope. But then I also have 3 main takeaways that I wanna leave you guys with from a chemistry perspective.
Jam:Okay. Sweet.
Melissa:Okay. One, I want you to remember that table sugar, sucrose, and high fructose corn syrup are essentially the same. They're made up of the same things in different percentages, but once they get into our body, they have similar negative and positive impacts.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:2, one of the components of table sugar and high fructose corn syrup is glucose, which powers our body. We could not live without glucose.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Fructose does not seem to have any nutritional value that I can find. If you're a nutritionist, please reach out to me if you know more about this. 3, high fructose corn syrup and sucrose slash table sugar or both equally bad for you. So if you're having too much of it, then you're going to be essentially poisoning your body. Sugar is dangerous when it's used chronically in excess.
Melissa:Mhmm. And long term health effects of sugar are linked to high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and a bunch of other health concerns. So those are the things. Sugar, 50% good, 50% bad.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:It's not about what form of sugar you're taking in. It's about the amounts of sugar you're taking in.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:That's what I want to leave you with today.
Jam:Nice. I like it. Very interesting.
Melissa:It is very interesting. And it Made me really think about what I was eating, and that leads me into my fun thing for this week.
Jam:Nice. Good transition.
Melissa:Thank you. I'd been noticing that I was feeling really, like, down Uh-huh. And kind of lethargic, which has happened to me before. I don't think my thyroid works the way it's supposed to based on previous blood work.
Jam:And the
Melissa:thing that seems to make me feel a lot better and make everything work a lot better in my body is really limiting sugar.
Jam:Nice. Okay.
Melissa:So I started a health challenge with my brother, and I'm really excited about it. Uh-huh. And it's not focused on restricting anything, but a kind of on thinking about what I'm eating before I eat it. Uh-huh. And I've really tried to keep these sugar reducing ideas in mind when I'm doing it.
Melissa:So I'm really excited about that, and I already feel better after just a week.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Isn't that crazy?
Jam:That's great. Yeah.
Melissa:After just a week of really I feel like I haven't done anything crazy. I had chocolate one day. You know? Uh-huh. Try to not eat too much stuff that has sugar in it that shouldn't like pasta sauce, I get the kind of that sugar.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. You know? But After just a week, I feel better. I'm able to wake up on time more.
Melissa:Uh-huh. It's crazy how quickly I've seen the health benefit.
Jam:Dude, yeah. That's awesome.
Melissa:That's my fun thing for this week. What about you, Jam?
Jam:So mine is that I it starts with this a tragedy a little bit.
Melissa:Oh, I think I know.
Jam:Yeah. Most already knows this because I had to tell her and Mason quickly, but I left both. We've talked about cast iron a lot. If you are confused about what I'm about to say, then go listen to our cast iron episode. Mhmm.
Jam:But I
Melissa:Another episode that changed both of our
Jam:ice. Yes. Definitely. So I left my cast irons on the burner to get some after I'd already used them and cleaned them. I put a layer of oil in them Mhmm.
Jam:And was getting that oiled smoke point.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:I walked away, and it is common for me in a lot of things in our house. Forgot what I was doing.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:I I can't remember exactly what happened, but that's a common thing. I'm like, oh, I'll go grab this or real quick or, like, Especially having a kid. That happens all the time.
Melissa:That happens to me all the time too.
Jam:But I came came back. I can't remember how long I've been at all, honestly. And The seasoning had started to flake away. Oh. Could've gotten way too hot.
Melissa:I think this is a rite of passage of cast iron users because it's happened to me. My friend Esther had this happen to her. I just if you're new to cast iron and didn't grow up on it, I think that just happens.
Jam:Yeah. And it's tough because I've, like I really have had almost no downside so far, and it's been, like, Since February that I started using a cast iron exclusively. Mhmm. So pretty good track record before I made a huge mistake, But that meant that there's a huge chunk on on the smaller pan. About half of of it had come off once I scrubbed it away and tried to see what the damage was.
Melissa:Oh, heart breaking.
Jam:On my larger pan, it was a smaller area, but still was like, man, I I consulted with Melissa, and it kinda just seemed like the best move was to strip the pan completely so that there wouldn't be 1 area that's that's not as as seasoned and not as nonstick and stuff. So
Melissa:Oh, I hate that. It's the worst.
Jam:Yeah. So I did a whole stripping of the seasoning in the oven on the Clean oven setting.
Melissa:I didn't know that you could do that. I've never had a self clean cleaning oven since I started using cast iron, but I didn't know that was a method you could take, and I I was Impressed by your success.
Jam:Yes. It worked great. I think it's not necessarily the best thing if you find an antique one. That's the what I found because they might have multiple layers of seasoning and also just Some misuse has happened. Yeah.
Jam:But the fact that I've only had these since February, and I'm the one who's used them, And I've followed practices pretty well. I haven't messed things up too badly until now, and so all the seasoning came off, even the factory seasoning. And it I just had these gray pans. It was so weird.
Melissa:I love that.
Jam:Yeah. And so I started over, And that's and it worked, and it's do doing great. And I made some eggs yesterday, and I sent most of video that I will post, where I had the fried egg just sliding around, not sticking to my cast iron.
Melissa:Amazing.
Jam:So So that's my thing.
Melissa:Maybe we can post that.
Jam:Yeah. We I think we should. Why not?
Melissa:Yeah. The way that egg slid around, I was like, dang. Should I gonna come over and borrow your
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Your your yourself cleaning oven, but I use an antique
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:One for my little egg pan that I make eggs in for breakfast every day. I do think it's due for a seasoning, though, because I it sticks Yeah. More so than the picture you sent. So
Jam:Well, anytime you need to, you can.
Melissa:Very exciting.
Jam:I've never used that setting, and my ovens have always had it. I've never needed to. I've just not thought about it. I'll wipe an oven out or something, but I haven't really thought about using it, and especially just sticking a pan in there and using it. It's kinda cool that cast iron's that versatile.
Melissa:Yeah. I love that both of these were about food. Yes. Seriously. Yep.
Melissa:Yeah. Also, I just wanna say, healthy food is also delicious. You know? Mhmm. I mean, so is processed food, but Yeah.
Melissa:When you're like, I'm gonna try to be healthy, don't think that
Jam:that's, like,
Melissa:bad for you. Yeah.
Jam:It's
Melissa:gonna taste terrible. Yeah. We've been making ceviche, and it is good. And it is easy, and it is delicious. So I love I love that we can share our love of food.
Jam:Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. I'm glad that chemistry is part of it. It's like
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:Works right in there. It's perfect.
Melissa:Chemistry is definitely part of it. Well, this is fun. I hope that you guys enjoyed learning about sucrose and fructose. I really enjoyed learning about this. I thought this was fascinating.
Melissa:Yeah. And it really impacted me a lot, and I was like, this is crazy and amazing. Yeah. So thanks, Mary g, for that question, and thanks, Jim, for coming to learn about it. Thanks to all of you listeners for coming to learn about it as well.
Melissa:I love that we get to do this each week.
Jam:Oh, yes. A 100%. Thanks for teaching us, and thanks for, Yeah. Demystifying a very confusing topic a little bit, and forgive me some practicals to take away with this. That's really helpful.
Jam:And if you have ideas like this, questions you have about your everyday life that you think might be chemistry, please ask us Like Mary g did, reach out to us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or email at chem for your life. That's If you like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, go to kodashfi.com/kim for your life, and donate the cost of a cup of coffee. But if you're not able to donate, you can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app and rating and writing a review on Apple Podcasts. That also helps us to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of chemistry free life was created by Melissa Collini and Jam Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes or on our website. Jim Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to a Colini and v Garza who reviewed this episode.
