Eat Any Kind of Sugar You Want, Just Don’t Eat Too Much of It

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From Susan Raatz, a research nutritionist at the USDA who recently conducted a test of cane sugar, honey, and high-fructose corn syrup:

The marketers “made a big mistake when they called it ‘high-fructose corn syrup,’” said Raatz.

Now, now. Let’s not blame the marketers. They had no hand in this debacle. And they did try to rename it “corn sugar” a few years ago, but the FDA turned them down.

Anyway, Raatz concluded that HFCS, honey, and cane sugar all had similar effects on the human body. This should not come as a big surprise, since all three are basically 50-50 mixes of fructose and glucose.

So why is HFCS high fructose? Because it has more fructose than ordinary corn syrup, not because it has more than most other sweeteners. But the damage has been done, and now concerned parents everywhere are making sure to feed their kids only cane sugar or honey, in the misguided belief that they’re somehow healthier and more natural.

Sorry. Sugar is sugar. Eat any kind you like. Just don’t eat too much of it.