I appreciate your comments on sugar, but I have a couple of questions:

How is high fructose corn syrup different? Is it more concentrated than plain table sugar? Why is it listed separately from other sugar ingredients on nutrition labels if it is the same? I know that corn producers have been advertising lately to combat the bad press that HFCS has gotten, but there's got to be more to this than just politics.

I have a handicapped grand-daughter who has some food sensitivities (they don't rise to the level of allergies, but her parents see a direct correlation to her behavior, particularly motor skills), and they avoid feeding her any corn products, including HFCS. If it's just sugar that has been so thoroughly refined that there's nothing else but the bare sugar molecules, why should its source matter (or be detectable)?

If it's all just sugar that the body can't distinguish, why is agave syrup given a lower GI index number? And how does invert sugar differ in its use by the human body?

These things puzzle me. Any light you can shed will be appreciated.

Nancy Hardman

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Hi Nancy,

Without going into too much complexity, I'll tell you what I do in feeding my family. I recently learned that much of the High Fructose Corn Syrup created in this country is from genetically modified corn. These genetically altered foods have a freebie in the food market due to limited government regulations. The theory is, if we don't ask if these are hurting us, we don't have to find out the answers, and thus they are safe. Other countries require that GM foods are labeled and traceable to determine if there are devious effects. Not so here. Without any tracers, there is no way anyone can know whether these foods are causing issues for the people eating them. It has been shown in other international studies as well as by scientists in our own country that many of these altered genes can act like allergens to the body. I was curious to find out what your granddaughter is experiencing. I used to avoid HFCS because it is usually in highly processed foods that are just junk, no matter how marketers swing it. Now I avoid it because I fear it is genetically altered and unregulated.

We raise bees without chemicals, and we get the benefit of their natural honey. We also use beet sugar, because I grew up with a Dad who worked in the sugar beet industry and thus have an inherent bias. I use black-strap molasses, as well.

I try to moderate my sugar intake, no matter what the source. I avoid all man-made sugar alternatives. I don't worry about the glycemic index of foods. There is some real junk out there that has a low glycemic index, and some really nutritious foods that have a high index. What you eat with a food will determine how quickly the glycemic index will come into effect anyway.

In the end, your body breaks down all sugars into glucose, no matter what the source, it's true. I'm concerned about what the body has to do to get it to that point. Process chemicals? Get rid of toxins? Fight a Genetically modified gene attached to E. coli, etc? I'm to the point where I only want to support and sustain Organic farmers.

For an awakening experience, see the documentary, "The Future of Food."

Hope this helps,

Desiri Wightman, R.D.

email: desi@dvo.com