Moved from the Budget Board: anyone else eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup

[DisneyBeagle]

I envy you. I need to do this. I love Pepsi. Some people drink coffee in the AM, I drink a 20 oz bottle of Pepsi..has to be ice cold. Did you find that you got headaches when you stopped?

I am trying to give up my precious diet coke. I have been trying to only drink one a day and switch to iced tea instead. I do drink quite a bit of water too, but that just doesn't cut it for me. I am slowly getting used to the flavor of iced tea with lemon, but it sure is taking some time.

 

[DisneyBeagle]

Sorry I was stressing that sugar is a "natural" ingredient, HFCS is not. It is a manufactured ingredient. So, yes, we are putting the food with HFCS back on the shelf and possibly choosing something with sugar in it. This topic isn't about eliminating sweeteners. Only artificial ones. Hope that helps!

I am not only trying to eliminated HFCS but also items with sugar in them that don't need to be there. I bought some natural peanut butter and it tastes good. I was comparing to the bottle of regular peanut butter in my cupboard...why does regular peanut butter need to have sugar added? They add sugar or sweeteners to everything now like pasta sauce. No wonder a good portion of the population is obese. You expect to find sugar in cookies and candy, but not in peanut butter, pasta sauce and mayonnaise. I bet a large percentage of Americans don't realize that there is sugar/sweeteners in so many products now. Take a look at some of the products in your pantry and you'll be shocked. I was.

 

[bumbershoot]

I am not only trying to eliminated HFCS but also items with sugar in them that don't need to be there.

That's a REALLY good way to put it.

I bought some natural peanut butter and it tastes good. I was comparing to the bottle of regular peanut butter in my cupboard...why does regular peanut butter need to have sugar added?

We love using the peanut grinder at the health food store. Tastes SO good. But we also love the Safeway O Organics peanut butter, though I think they add some oil to it for the smoother texture.

They add sugar or sweeteners to everything now like pasta sauce. No wonder a good portion of the population is obese. You expect to find sugar in cookies and candy, but not in peanut butter, pasta sauce and mayonnaise. I bet a large percentage of Americans don't realize that there is sugar/sweeteners in so many products now. Take a look at some of the products in your pantry and you'll be shocked. I was.

Well now, lots of spaghetti sauce recipes include a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomato, so I'm not THAT surprised that they contain sugar.



The almond joy recipe! Go searching on "raw food" forums and you should be able to find a recipe for it. It's a very common treat amongst the raw foodists.

Where do you live? (oops, I can see you live in Atlanta!) My box of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats DO have HFCS, the list is Whole grain wheat, sugar, HFCS, gelatin, vitamins and bht! My box is orange ish in color, with blue letters! (It's unopened and going to our local food pantry!)

So, based on where the product is manufactured, could there be differences?!

gelatin?????? I know this isn't the no-gelatin thread, but it is sort of the *why is that in there* thread, lol, and that's just nasty! Hope those who eat kosher are aware, along with vegetarians....ugh.

 

[mom2grace]

Originally Posted by tbrenk
I envy you. I need to do this. I love Pepsi. Some people drink coffee in the AM, I drink a 20 oz bottle of Pepsi..has to be ice cold. Did you find that you got headaches when you stopped?

I am trying to give up my precious diet coke. I have been trying to only drink one a day and switch to iced tea instead. I do drink quite a bit of water too, but that just doesn't cut it for me. I am slowly getting used to the flavor of iced tea with lemon, but it sure is taking some time.

I quit cold turkey and I did have a headache for a day or two. And I craved it for several days, then had one and felt

Well worth it though! I also do grapefruit juice and sparkling water, I also like the Izze sodas and italian sodas, they have sugar, but no HFCS or caffeine.

But, be careful, a lot of the frozen "juice" concentrates have HFCS. Meijer has an organic lemonade in their juice aisle that's pretty good.

 

[Belle2667]

I envy you. I need to do this. I love Pepsi. Some people drink coffee in the AM, I drink a 20 oz bottle of Pepsi..has to be ice cold. Did you find that you got headaches when you stopped?

I am, or was, one of the biggest Coke (a-cola) fans. I have a Coca-cola bathroom and numerous other items. Everyone knows not to bring Pepsi into my house! But....alas.....not only are the sweeteners and HFCS in the colas bad for you, but the acid in it can't be good either!

So....I've hit the big 4-0 this year and it is well past time to really take care of myself. So out went the Coke....and all artificial sweeteners and HFCS.

You know, the caffeine withdrawal wasn't so bad this time. I'm still getting some in my green tea in the AM, but that's all I'm really getting. I've quit caffeine before and I was dreading it, but now looking back, it wasn't too bad.

Maybe weaning yourself would be better. And keep in mind that your body will thank you later!

 

[Glenn]

I dont think I can totally erase HFCS from my diet but Im trying. Here are a couple things Ive found.
TRADER Joes Organic reduced sugar preserves, they have strawberry, raspberry, blue berry & added blackberry. Ingredients of the blackberry, Organic blackerries, Organic Sugar, Water, Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid, Calcium Chloride. Tastes great & priced at 2.99-3.29 for 18 oz. Sorry no grape yet for the grape jam kid.
SPICE Islands Pure Vanilla, Ive had this a little while so I forgot the cost. Contents: Water, Alcohol, & Vanilla Bean Extractives.
I also found that you can sometimes get PEPSI from mexican supermarkets made in Mexico that uses only sugar. I think it tastes better but just not as cheap. Good luck to all. Still havent kicked the soda habit but ice water with lemon or lime is tasting better to me.

 

[KristiA]

What brand was it? I looked at Kroger yesterday and could not find any. Ketchup is still a major food group for my DS10.

At King Soopers, it was their Private Selection brand of ketchup I found (it was on very top shelf). Not sure if it is their generic or what. It had the Good Housekeeping endorsement on it, so can't be too bad right? Still haven't tried. My DS spend night with grandma last night so he hasn't been here to eat yet.

 

[javamoma]

I am, or was, one of the biggest Coke (a-cola) fans. I have a Coca-cola bathroom and numerous other items. Everyone knows not to bring Pepsi into my house! But....alas.....not only are the sweeteners and HFCS in the colas bad for you, but the acid in it can't be good either!

So....I've hit the big 4-0 this year and it is well past time to really take care of myself. So out went the Coke....and all artificial sweeteners and HFCS.

You know, the caffeine withdrawal wasn't so bad this time. I'm still getting some in my green tea in the AM, but that's all I'm really getting. I've quit caffeine before and I was dreading it, but now looking back, it wasn't too bad.

Maybe weaning yourself would be better. And keep in mind that your body will thank you later!

I too was a big Coke fan. I even had a Coca -cola Christmas tree! I use to drink several diet cokes a day but quit in college while studying to be a dietitian. That was many years ago. I have tried a couple of times to take a sip of other people's coke's since then and it almost makes me sick. I don't miss it a bit now. Just learning about nutrition in school prompted me to make several dietary changes and it wasn;t really hard once I learned how bad the stuff was (meaning all bad stuff, HFCS, hydrogenated oils, pesticides, etc...)
Eating healthy gets easier and you soon learn natural, whole foods taste so much better!

 

[kfeuer]

Where do you live? (oops, I can see you live in Atlanta!) My box of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats DO have HFCS, the list is Whole grain wheat, sugar, HFCS, gelatin, vitamins and bht! My box is orange ish in color, with blue letters! (It's unopened and going to our local food pantry!)

So, based on where the product is manufactured, could there be differences?!

Okay, I've got the box right in front of me for the Kellogg's Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini-Wheats (incidentally, I think these are gross but DH loves them):

Whole grain wheat, sugar, strawberry flavored crunchlets (sugar, corn cereal, corn syrup, modified corn starch, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and/or soybean oil, citric acid, glycerin, natural and artifical flavor, red #40, blue #2), natural and artificial strawberry and creme flavor, sorbitol, gelatin, reduced iron, blah blah blah some vitamins and chemicals.

So, no HFCS in these. And like I mentioned earlier, I didn't see it in any of the varieties I looked at.

If the formulas are different in various parts of the country, it's going to be extremely difficult to maintain any kind of accurate list of what has HFCS and what doesn't

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I found this great site (no, it's not mine ) that lists nutritional info and ingredient lists on a ton of different brands.

http://www.dietfacts.com/list.asp

they also have a menu section, but that is limited to just nutrional info and does not appear to have an ingredient list.

 

[mom2grace]

Okay, I've got the box right in front of me for the Kellogg's Strawberry Delight Frosted Mini-Wheats (incidentally, I think these are gross but DH loves them):

Whole grain wheat, sugar, strawberry flavored crunchlets (sugar, corn cereal, corn syrup, modified corn starch, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and/or soybean oil, citric acid, glycerin, natural and artifical flavor, red #40, blue #2), natural and artificial strawberry and creme flavor, sorbitol, gelatin, reduced iron, blah blah blah some vitamins and chemicals.

So, no HFCS in these. And like I mentioned earlier, I didn't see it in any of the varieties I looked at.

If the formulas are different in various parts of the country, it's going to be extremely difficult to maintain any kind of accurate list of what has HFCS and what doesn't

Mine are just the original flavor, that's probably the difference!

 

[wowsmom]

I haven't read all the pages of this post, so don't know if this is redundant.
Vanilla extract (yes, even the real thing) has HFC in most brands.
I paid 3x's as much as the well known brand to get it without HFC.
Where does this additive not appear!

I just checked my bottle of Penzey's vanilla...it has sugar in it. That surprised me!

I envy you. I need to do this. I love Pepsi. Some people drink coffee in the AM, I drink a 20 oz bottle of Pepsi..has to be ice cold. Did you find that you got headaches when you stopped?

A few years ago, I quit Coke cold turkey - this was back when I was drinking 5-6 cans a day. I had a headache for about 5 days straight, then it went away. Unfortunately, I went back to drinking Coke after a while - although now it's one or two a day.

I too was a big Coke fan. I even had a Coca -cola Christmas tree! I use to drink several diet cokes a day but quit in college while studying to be a dietitian. That was many years ago. I have tried a couple of times to take a sip of other people's coke's since then and it almost makes me sick. I don't miss it a bit now. Just learning about nutrition in school prompted me to make several dietary changes and it wasn;t really hard once I learned how bad the stuff was (meaning all bad stuff, HFCS, hydrogenated oils, pesticides, etc...)
Eating healthy gets easier and you soon learn natural, whole foods taste so much better!

I wish I could lose the taste for Coke! I went cold turkey about 6 years ago, then went back to it and then 4 years ago, did the South Beach Diet and stopped eating sugar altogether. I was off my Coke for about 3 or 4 months, but still thought about it every day and wanted it - even though I didn't want anything like cookies or candy.

I am considering quitting again though...but it'll take me a while to accept that I need to.

 

[kfeuer]

Mine are just the original flavor, that's probably the difference!

I had to run into Publix this morning so I took another look. I checked the original version and I did see the HFCS. However, I rechecked all the other varieties and they didn't have it. Just goes to show they could make it without the HFCS if they wanted to.

I also took a look at Smart Start cereal, and it has HFCS, too! It promotes itself as being so healthy, yet it has that junk in it. No wonder people are confused.

 

[JoiseyMom]

I had to run into Publix this morning so I took another look. I checked the original version and I did see the HFCS. However, I rechecked all the other varieties and they didn't have it. Just goes to show they could make it without the HFCS if they wanted to.

I also took a look at Smart Start cereal, and it has HFCS, too! It promotes itself as being so healthy, yet it has that junk in it. No wonder people are confused.

Kashi cereal is good. And is Smart Start the weight watchers brand? I was shocked when I looked at their frozen entrees, it has HFCS or trans fats. I started buying Lean Cuisine, no HFCS or TF. And they taste yummy too.

 

[Sehsun]

I had to run into Publix this morning so I took another look. I checked the original version and I did see the HFCS. However, I rechecked all the other varieties and they didn't have it. Just goes to show they could make it without the HFCS if they wanted to.

I also took a look at Smart Start cereal, and it has HFCS, too! It promotes itself as being so healthy, yet it has that junk in it. No wonder people are confused.

I used to like Smart Start, but it has too much sugar (per serving) than I would like.

I used to buy the Publix brand of Bran Flakes all the time, but recently I noticed that they had HFCS in them!! I had an unopened box at home and returned it on my last trip.

Also you mentioned Kellogg's Mini-Wheats in an earlier post. I noticed that the bite size kind (orange box) have HFCS but the Maple and Brown Sugar kind do not have HFCS. I usually buy the Publix brand Shredded Wheat, which is not frosted.

Kashi cereal is good.

I agree! My favorite is the Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat and Go Lean (just the regular, not the Crunch variety).

 

[IluvKingLouis]

Our family loves the Kashi products too.

Their site, www.kashi.com, lists all the ingredients of all their products. I have yet to find any HFCS in their product line.

 

[kfeuer]

And is Smart Start the weight watchers brand?

Smart Start is a Kellogg's cereal (Smart Ones is WW frozen brand).

I used to eat Kashi cereal, but I had an extremely vile experience with it (which I will not share the details of since I don't want to ruin it for anyone else) and will not ever buy one of their products again.

I bought a couple new types of cereal at TJ's to try. One was the Oat-Bran swirl which I liked the taste of dry but it got soggy too quickly in milk. I'm just going to eat those for a snack.

 

[TwoOwls]

I was reading the side of my Hansen's Soda today. And noticed it had glucose-fructose syrup in it. I don't suppose anyone knows the source? I would think if it was corn based they would have to label it HFCS...but then again maybe I am giving them too much credit.

 

[tc's disney mom]

I just got back from Walgreen's, and they had a sale display of sodas near the front register. The brand is called Deerfield Gourmet Soda, and right on the front of the bottle, it is labeled "no high fructose corn syrup". I have never heard of this brand before, but I bought an orange cream and a root beer to try them out. They also had black cherry and cream flavors. The sodas were on sale, priced at $1 per bottle. My husband and I are trying to cut way back on sodas, but when we do have one, we'd prefer no high fructose corn syrup.

 

[mumto2]

So I went to Whole Foods last week, and then on to Costco. DH has agreed that the ketchup (365 - Whole Foods brand) is as good as, if not better than, his regular brand, which is also good news for DS2, who has to have things just like Daddy.

Found some great waffles for DD9 - 7g of protein per serving. We have found that bumping up her protein in the morning helps her with concentration at school. We have always used real maple syrup (grew up in New England and didn't know there was an alternative until I went to college, ).

Clif bars for kids are great - my 2 like the brownie bites and the chocolate chip. A great cereal in our house is Optimum power with flax soy and blueberry. High in protein and Omega 3's. For convenience foods for those nights when things are nutty, I get the family size of Amy's Mac and Cheese - yummy!

Still in search of a cola alternative for DH - bought a six pack of 365 all natural, then got home and noticed it had no caffeine, so DH definitely wasn't interested.

I cleaned out my cabinets as well and was surprised to find HFCS in the 100-calorie packs that we had. Oh well. They went in the food bank bag and I won't be buying more.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for posting and giving me new resolve to do this