Nutrition experts. I have a question about corn syrup :)

[miss_thenorth]

I just got done stripping 5 dozen cobs of corn for the freezer. I sat down to take a break, and came across a recipe for home made cornsyrup made from cobs of corn. The ingredients are cobs boiled in water, an then sugar. You reduce it to a syrup consistencly, much the same was as when making apple butter, (but with less sugar!).

So, what creates the "high fructose" in HFCS. and will this homemade stuff be bad for you like the illfated HFCS. and then, if it is bad for you , why would apple butter not be lumped in the same category with HFCS.

I am going to boil the cobs right now, and hoepfully there will be an answer before I add the sugar.

Here's the recipe:

corn cob syrup

Yield 1 Batch



Ingredients

1 peck raw Corn cobs

Water

Sugar

Take a peck of nice, clean corn cobs after the corn has been cut off of the cob.

Put cobs in a large kettle of water, enough to cover cobs.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 hours, then strain off juice.

Make a syrup of brown sugar for dark syrup or white sugar for light syrup. Mix 1 part sugar to 2 parts juice.

Cook slowly until it becomes slightly thick.

Bottle tightly.



SOURCE: Grandma Anna Hoffman Notes: You can add butter flavoring, maple flavor, blackwalnut, ect., or just leave it plain.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I'm no expert, but what I know is the more you refine something (like fructose or sucrose) the worse it becomes for your body. The example given that makes the most sense is eating an apple vs drinking (even homemade) apple juice. The apple is much better for you than apple juice, as the sugars from juice hit your bloodstream allatonce, while the apple is more slowly absorbed and doesn't spike your blood sugar levels. I learned this from the numerous Docs my mom has seen over the years for her diabetes and have had it confirmed by knowledgable souls most recently.

What is good for people with diabetes to control their disease, is good for those of us trying to prevent developing it in the first place.

That being said, and I'm sure others who are more knowledgeable will agree, this is probably a ton better for you than HFCS, but still not as good as plain old honey, maple syrup, cane juice or stevia.

Just my 2 cents

 

[miss_thenorth]

Thanks, while I agree with you, this is a much cheaper option as compared to maplesyrup, stevia(hard to find) and honey. Also, I was thinking along the lines of a substitution for our pancake syrup.

But, still the question remains--what really makes it "High fructose" corn syrup, and how might this be different. If it's not different, then things such as apple butter would be just ab "bad" for you. Yes? No?


(fully acknowledging its still sugar )

I have googled it but got nothing so far.

 

[Wifezilla]

The high fructose refers to the percentage of fructose in the syrup. The body reacts MUCH WORSE to high concentrations of fructose than it does to fructose with glucose, which is what regular sugar is comprised of (sucrose is a fructose molecule and a glucose molecule bonded together).

"High-fructose corn syrup is produced by milling corn to produce corn starch, then processing that corn starch to yield corn syrup, which is almost entirely glucose, and then adding enzymes which change the glucose into fructose. The resulting syrup (after enzyme conversion) contains approximately 90% fructose and is HFCS 90. To make the other common forms of HFCS (HFCS 55 and HFCS 42) the HFCS 90 is mixed with 100% glucose corn syrup in the appropriate ratios to form the desired HFCS. The enzyme process which changes the 100% glucose corn syrup into HFCS 90 is as follows:"

With your recipe, I think yours would be mostly sucrose.

 

[freemotion]

The "high fructose" refers to the type of sugar, HFCS has more fructose than glucose in it. Fructose in a syrup or liquid form creates advanced glycation end products throughout your body. As these build up over time, you will end up with diseases such as Type II diabetes, alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease, peripheral neuropathy, deafness, blindness, and ...... wrinkles! And much, much more. This is one big reason why we are seeing children with diabetes and second graders with markers of heart disease. Type II diabetes was called Adult Onset Diabetes when I was a kid and was most often found in people in their 50's and up, when HFCS became so cheap and available and ubiquitous, they had to change the name of the disease and it is now frighteningly common in young children.

This information will not hit the major news outlets, because they get the bulk of their income from the food industry and big pharma advertisements.

Make a nice fruit sauce for your pancakes, with a little sugar or honey or maple syrup to sweeten it. Sometimes cheap things have hidden costs that are just too high.

We do need glucose to fuel our cells, but when it hits the bloodstream too fast, it cannot be used, and must be stored as fat. Meanwhile, AGE's are formed when there is a lot of sugar in the bloodstream. We were designed to get all the glucose we need from fruits and veggies, at a speed that our body can handle and use, rather than storing it.

Here is an illustration:

If the local gas station said it would give you 100 gallons of gas for free, but you had to have whatever doesn't fit in your gas tank poured into your back seat, that is like eating HFCS.

If the local gas station said it would give you 100 gallons of gas for free, in the form of a gas card with no expiration date, that is like getting the glucose your body needs from your fruits and veggies, as you need it, on an ongoing basis.

 

[miss_thenorth]

So, I guess, I'm not making hugh fructose corn syrup by following this recipe, correct?

I know all about the devastating effects of HFCS. That's why I am questioning this recipe. But, in the grand scheme of things, this recipe is better than HFCS?

I do make fruit syrups for myself, but kids would prefer to have syrup, and so would hubby. Not to mention, there are other recipes tht call for corn syrup. So this might be a safer alternative? (I dont even own a bottle of corn syrup, havent for probably 20 years), but waste not want not and all that

 

[me&thegals]

Your version would have to be better than the commercial one, which has mercury somewhere in the process. Sounds interesting!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Well, I am making it. I thought too it had to be better than the manufatured stuff, seeing this came from an old timers recipe journal.

I want to try it just b/c I can,and I want to see how well it turns out. If it turns out to be the killer cornsyrup, then I will be all the wiser. But I seriously think, besides the fact that it is from corn, which we eat, the process is the same, and actually takes less sugar than the pear butter I made the other day,--that and it doesn't reduce as far down as the butter did.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Ok, I just googled sucrose and HFCS, and while not ideal, it is better than fructose. I'm comfortable with that.
Thanks guys!

 

[reinbeau]

Your version absolutely isn't the same as high fructose corn syrup. It's a simple syrup that's been used for a long, long time and long before HFCSs came into being. I would use it and not worry about it (now Wifezilla, don't jump up and down and get mad at me, people are going to use sugars, as long as they're close to what nature intended it really isn't a problem for most people - everything in moderation!).

I'm going to post a paragraph that caught my eye from Nourishing Traditions that tangentially pertains to this, I'll do it in the book thread.