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

[crashbb]

Interestingly, I have found that my cola (two different store brands) and cranberry sauce (again, two different store brands) have no HFCS. I'm in Canada - maybe our ingredients are different? The cola has glucose and/or fructose - still not a great choice of drink, but no HCCS. I think that the cranberry sauce has fructose.

I'll check Coke and Pepsi (i.e. name brands) tomorrow and report back.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, no-more-dole-whips is no skin off my nose, as I felt it tasted like melted plastic with a weird pineapple flavor added. We tried a whip and a float (I anticipated they would be sooooo good I figured we would be fighting each other for just one, so we got both) and while the juice in the float was fine (it was Dole pineapple juice, very easy to figure out what it would taste like) the rest of it was just NOT.

But DH and DS liked them...but if they are poison to DS, then unless DH sneaks off to have one on future Disney visits, they will be gone from our diets.

But really, no big loss...at least, not to ME. I would have FAR preferred a vanilla soft serve in that pineapple juice, but then, I would prefer an organic pineapple juice.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just checked my Sara Lee bread and it does have it, I have to say I was really surprised, I thought it didn't.

Nature's Own does not.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Does he eat his waffles plain or does he pour syrup on them (made with you-know-what)? Mrs. Buttersworth has a good tasting sugar-free syrup.

My downfall is that I'm a pb&j addict. I've tried the sugarless fruit spreads and always fall back to the Smuckers made with tons of sugar!

Have you tried All-Fruit..the only sugar is that which came naturally with the fruit.

Sugar by itself isn't bad in moderation--it is the stuff with ADDED SUGAR that can be bad for you.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Pauls Newman's brand of chocolate sandwhich cookies (oreo-like) are HFCS free.

And so much more heavenly in taste....though if you eat the whole package...your hips won't go away.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm slowly working on this one....I just have gotten used to getting stuff w/o hydrogenated fats. Then I switched from sugar to Splenda, then found out that it's bad, so switched to Stevia and "raw" sugar. Now, I'm starting to look at HFCS as well. It is so hard, but a by product is that I find shopping at a normal grocery store, my bill is SO much lower. When you can't buy 3/4 of the products in the store, naturally, you're bill is less, and you eat leass I supplement by going to Trader Joes and Whole Foods, which cost more, but it doesn't matter, cause I saved so much at the grocery store. I've essentially been "boycotting" fast food places, just cause they are so unhealthy. I cannot in good conscience force DS to eat his chicken nuggets, so we just don't go anymore. Yesterday, I was visiting family in the boondocks, and b/c of lack of options ate at a Burger King, YUCK. The food was gross, the place was gross, the people eating there were gross, and half the people working there were gross. I quickly remembered why I've been "boycotting".

I've started using Agave Nectar which is supposed to be better than stevia. (Stevia has some potential issues--but every time I read something about aspartame or whatever, stevia is brought up so I never bothered to try it).

I haven't started baking with agave yet--as it requires some conversion (evidently not a 1:1 ratio and you need to adjust other liquids). BUt I have made some yummy concoctions.

A friend of mine who is a raw foodist--makes a coconut and raw chocolate concoction that tastes like a heavenly, yet healthy, almond joy.

She also made one recently that tastes like Krackel (you know--from the miniatures line from Hershy).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Unfortunatley a lot of medications cause weight gain. And I doubt if I was a Mother and my DS was dealing with leukemia that he would be playing soccer during the treatment phase. But then again - it's not football.

I'm from the NE and tend to play baseball, football and hockey. My DS is short and scrawny - but has the heart of a lion. He is playing PeeWee hockey this year and it is the year they start checking. Only trouble my son goes after the kids twice his size. But we have him going in low, hitting at the knees and bowling the big kids over. And as the old saying goes the bigger they are the harder they fall, and when it comes to hockey - the slower they get up.

I couldn't imagine him sleeping as late as your DS - I would think something was wrong with him. LOL Why did your son become a vegetarian?? I would send my DS to a psychiatrist if he made this decision at such a young age.

Just WOW!!! that is an incredibly rude and harsh statement. You can get plenty of protein as a vegetarian. WOW! That is just a statement of ignorance! I would first make sure my kid knew how to eat nutriciously as a vegetarain before making the leap that they had some chemical imbalance causing them to make a "wrong" choice. Awful thing to say!!!!

AS for the kid with leukemia--if he is in remission...and his doctors have cleared him (as I interpreted the statement since it was "from fighting" not "while fighting"), then it isn't a problem for him to lead a normal life playing sports.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

*observing this thread* while drinking my Coke and eating my oreos.... Sorry, I just can't give up the food I love. Neither myself, or my hubby or our 3 kids have weight problems. What about everything in moderation??????

Everyone's body is different.

My body goes ballistic when it has a cookie. I have had too many times of consuming a whole package of cookies. I just can't help myself. I don't way 800 pounds..but I am not at my ideal weight for my frame.

I can't moderate, so I must eliminate.

Other folks who do moderate and do so well...might have weight problems. That points to an ingredients issue.

I didn't lose weight when I went to Europe.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Here is a homemade sports drink recipe. I found others but they used unsweetened Kool-aid and we say NO to artificial colors around my house!). Scroll all the way to the bottom of this page.

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/humannutrition/spotlight/mayjun99.htm

Here's another recipe:
http://www.protraineronline.com/past/oct1/fluid.cfm


If you try any, let us know how they work out. You can be our guinea pig !

Can you find any similar for nutritional supplements for marathons.

I usually use "Gu"--but if there is anything else that can be better???/

I know my last months Runner's World--there is a runner that did a whole article on nutrition and she does all natural stuff and she eats fruit and such on the run. But I am looking for something portable...and preferably not requiring any chewing. Though I can change if I need to.

Gu ingredients....

Flavor: Just Plain

Ingredients: Maltodextrin (glucose polymers), filtered water, fructose, leucine, GU Antioxidant Blend™ (Vitamin C, Vitamin E), valine, sodium and potassium citrate, pectin, sea salt, histidine, calcium carbonate, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (preservatives), GU Herbal Blend™ (Astragalus, Chamomile, Cola Nut Extract [has caffeine], Ginseng), citric acid, fumeric acid.

Though in googling for that..I found:

http://www.active.com/mountainbiking/Articles/Make_Your_Own_Homemade_Energy_Gel.htm

Though blackstrap molasses has me . But I would love to save the $1+ per bag...I don't see hubby eating that and I have never tried it.

 

[theparsons]

Oh, and just in case his tizzyfit was unrelated to the Dole product...(other than that) we've been working to avoid corn syrup and corn syrup solids, as well as HFCS?

Do you guys know if that's necessary? I just figured that it would be prudent, but if corn syrup and the solids do NOT cause the same problems (assuming no overall corn problem, of course), I would like to know if I'm being overly cautious.

If you're trying to determine exactly what he's allergic too, according to my friend who has a daughter with a LONG list of food allergies .....and some that cause her behavior/temper tantrum to become almost violent....keep him "pure" (aka off all corn in your case) for one week to get his body rid of it.....then introduce ONE food back for several days, up to a week and see if he reacts (if he does have a tantrum, keep it in his diet for another day or two to be sure the tantrum was food related, not behavior or stress related). Then eliminate that food (and keep eliminating all the other corn) for a week again to cleanse his body and try the next one on the list.

She stressed a lot over using her daughter as a "guinea pig" with trying things and waiting for an explosion from her...but this was several years ago when food allergies were just starting to be seen as possible behavior triggers so she was on her own a lot.........but she knew it was the only way, not only for her as the mom to know what she needed to avoid for her daughter's sake....but also for her daughter (who was 9-10 at the time they did this and is now a teen). Her daughter needed to see, and more importantly.... feel, what certain foods were doing to her. She also has a gluten allergy that manifests itself not in anger/tantrums, but in tummy aches and other "digestive" problems. This too had to be seen first hand by her......so that she knew that when she chose to ignore her mother's reminder that she would suffer....and she was choosing with full knowledge. She'll still eat something that disagrees with her (like Pizza) because her need/desire to be the same as other children outweighs her pain/discomfort level. But she is making that choice. As for the corn items that make her violent, she doesn't even want to risk those anymore.....it has lost her friends, made some people very leary of her and other negatives that make it not worth the risk to her anymore. The tummy aches she's willing to risk...the loss of control she's not. But it also means that she can't eat at most friends' house because it's too difficult/awkward to ask to see food labels before she accepts a snack, let alone asking not just "what's for dinner" but "can I have the ingredient lists please" before accepting dinner invites, lol. But it also means that she's learned a lot about cooking so that she can take snacks for everyone when she goes to a friend's house or a sleepover.

I hope that you're able to find that your son's allergies aren't nearly as widespread as you fear....and that you can add in a few things that he's missing so much after a little trial and error.

 

[kfeuer]

Thanks for all the great info in this thread. My DH is diabetic and I have PCOS (which includes insulin resistance) so eliminating the HFCS would be of great benefit to us. I'm going to Trader Joe's tomorrow to stock up on some healthy stuff.

Did anybody watch Oprah yesterday and see Jessica Seinfeld promoting her new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious"? She's come up with recipes that incorporate vegetable purees so that kids don't even know they're in there. I have a horrible time getting any veggies into my kids (and DH is not much better), so I ordered it. The recipes are low-fat and kid-friendly (they showed chicken tenders, mac and cheese, brownies, oatmeal cookies and banana bread). I'll report back how it works for us, I know alot of us moms have this problem.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Interestingly, I have found that my cola (two different store brands) and cranberry sauce (again, two different store brands) have no HFCS. I'm in Canada - maybe our ingredients are different? The cola has glucose and/or fructose - still not a great choice of drink, but no HCCS. I think that the cranberry sauce has fructose.

I'll check Coke and Pepsi (i.e. name brands) tomorrow and report back.

Yes soda outside the US doesn't have HFCS. You can buy it in Canada and Mexico without. You can buy coke products in the US without it when it is marked Kosher for Passover, during the holiday in the Spring.

 

[wowsmom]

Did anybody watch Oprah yesterday and see Jessica Seinfeld promoting her new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious"? She's come up with recipes that incorporate vegetable purees so that kids don't even know they're in there. I have a horrible time getting any veggies into my kids (and DH is not much better), so I ordered it. The recipes are low-fat and kid-friendly (they showed chicken tenders, mac and cheese, brownies, oatmeal cookies and banana bread). I'll report back how it works for us, I know alot of us moms have this problem.

I don't watch Oprah, but this morning I received an email from Barnes & Noble that had a coupon to get Deceptively Delicious for $13.47 (instead of the regular $24.95) so I bought it when I was on my errands this morning.

I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but will probably later today.

My boys actually like a lot of vegetables but sometimes I get tired of them (or tired of fixing them the same way all the time) so I'm hoping there are some good recipes in the book.

Oh, and I checked my favorite sourdough bread - Francisco Extra Sourdough - and there is no HFCS and no hydrogenated oils. Whew! I wasn't ready to give up my bread!

 

[crashbb]

Yes soda outside the US doesn't have HFCS. You can buy it in Canada and Mexico without. You can buy coke products in the US without it when it is marked Kosher for Passover, during the holiday in the Spring.

I had assumed that we (Canada) would be the same as the US, but I guess not. I checked both Coke and Pepsi and both are free of HFCS.

 

[GotFids]

I just found this thread. I'm too afraid to go to my kitchen and look at my labels. I have a son who loves to eat, and I don't buy chips or junk, but there is peanut butter, breads, juices and diet sodas. and he has a job at our local grocery and I KNOW he's buying junk during his breaks! I would really love to start eliminating HFCS as well as make my own breads (i have a bread machine stored away in the garage somewhere!) Nothing like the smell of bread baking. I wonder if the bread machine mixes you buy at the store have the HFCS in them...probably huh? Just get some recipes and make it from scratch then.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

Oh, and I checked my favorite sourdough bread - Francisco Extra Sourdough - and there is no HFCS and no hydrogenated oils. Whew! I wasn't ready to give up my bread!

I've posted a list of non HFCS foods at http://www.stophfcs.com/list.html.

I have the Franciso on there but want to emphasize that only the EXTRA Sourdough is free, the regular has it. I bought some this week and really liked it. The slices are huge, so I find I'm using one slice for a full sandwich. At 120 calories it's not bad at all.

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I just found this thread. I'm too afraid to go to my kitchen and look at my labels. I have a son who loves to eat, and I don't buy chips or junk, but there is peanut butter, breads, juices and diet sodas. and he has a job at our local grocery and I KNOW he's buying junk during his breaks! I would really love to start eliminating HFCS as well as make my own breads (i have a bread machine stored away in the garage somewhere!) Nothing like the smell of bread baking. I wonder if the bread machine mixes you buy at the store have the HFCS in them...probably huh? Just get some recipes and make it from scratch then.

I just now started making bread machine bread and it's so easy. I can't imagine paying $2-3 for the prepackaged bread machine mixes. I calculate my ingredients at 27-33 cents. I like http://www.recipesource.com/baked-goods/breads/machine/ 989 recipes here and most look good.

I plan to use the dough setting more so I can get my bread out of the oven and in a nicer shape.

Lastly, we have a sun conure.....what kind of fids do you have?

 

[GotFids]

Thanks for the link...I'll be using that for sure! And the dought setting is a good idea too..I just hate the little circular shape my bread maker has!

And for the birds.....We have a red cheeked conure, 6 gouldian finches, 2 chickens, and 1 tame rescued bush tit that has free range at our house! When you walk into our house...you end up with a bush-tit on your head! The other day, I went to pick up my dd at ballet and realized I had poo on my shoulder.

Sun conures are sooo pretty! Is yours as loud as mine????

 

[bumbershoot]

OMG I thought you guys had put your fingers on the wrong keys and were just typing away. I had no idea what you were talking about!

 

[shortbun]

geesh, last night my son told me he hates ALL the alternatives to his 'regular' jam which is loaded with HFCS and he eats pbj everyday for lunch. He's changed peanut butter and bread to eliminate all the bad stuff but he wants his grape jam back. sigh. I told him to pick the NEW jam he hates the least. Mean Mom.