Originally posted by starcraft
"A sugar is a sugar is a sugar."

Umm, no. Sugar, as we know it, is an artificial construct. You'd have to eat quite a bit of sugar cane to get as much *sucrose* as there is in a couple of spoonsful of table sugar, and even then it doesn't have exactly the same composition (or effect on the body) as table sugar.

Refined carbohydrates, be they HFCS, table sugar, white flour, etc. are not natural and are not anything that the human body was ever intended to cope with.

HFCS may not be any worse than sugar, but then sugar isn't good for us, either. The sugar industry has made sure that the MSM will never tell you that sugar causes health problems in rats at much lower "dosages" than those used to induce cancers in rats using saccharin. The sugar industry got cyclamates (an artificial sweetener which tastes pretty good and doesn't have an aftertaste) banned in the USA, and even though they've continued to use cyclamates in other countries without problems for over 30 years, it's still banned in the US.

It's all about profit, and the companies making this stuff don't care if it's good for us or not. In fact, time and time again they have proven that they will suppress information about negative side effects and health consequences as well as blatantly lying to us to keep us using their products.

Everything that isn't "synthetic" is extracted/refined/processed from "natural" ingredients, and plenty of things that are 100% natural aren't good for you. Try munching on some oleander leaves or eating holly berries or mistletoe. "Natural" does not equate to "harmless" or "good."

I am actually somewhat encouraged to see that enough people have started to be concerned about the safety of HFCS to make the industry worried enough to make these commercials. Hopefully the commercials will have the opposite effect from what is intended and make even more people stop to think about why they are necessary.