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Good luck everyone! It’s a battle, but I’m seeing more and more products starting to eliminate this nasty stuff.

Here’s the scoop on High Fructose Corn Syrup, and Bob Greene carefully considered all of these points before deciding to include Yoplait among the Best Life foods.

The Charges

It’s true that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has gotten a lot of flack these past few years, blamed for the obesity crisis and other ills. But, if you look at the scientific evidence, it’s pure fructose that may be dangerous, not HFCS. And many people, even some nutrition experts, have failed to tease out the difference.

The Science

A little background: HFCS is made from corn that’s treated with enzymes that eventually produce syrup made up mainly of two sugars: glucose and fructose. Most HFCS used in soft drinks and other foods is composed of about 55% fructose and 45% glucose.

HFCS has the same sweetness as sugar, and, it may surprise you, a very similar make-up. White sugar is made of sucrose. What is sucrose? A molecule that contains a fructose and a glucose molecule stuck together.

So, your body breaks down regular sugar into 50% fructose and 50% glucose. That’s very similar to the composition of most HFCS: 55% fructose and 45% glucose. (There is HFCS that has a higher percentage of fructose, but it isn’t in widespread use).

And that’s not different enough from plain sugar to make a difference to your body, according to nutrition researchers who are in the trenches, researching this issue.

What may be harmful is ingesting large quantities of pure fructose. Research shows that pure fructose can cause liver damage and other problems. And, without a doubt, it’s harmful to eat too much sugar of any type. That’s because all regular sugar, HFCS, honey, maple syrup and all the other sweeteners provide is calories; no nutrition attached.

Sugar and Obesity

Consuming too much of any sugar can start piling on the pounds. The evidence is strongest when it comes to soft drinks. Those who drink the most soft drinks are heavier than those who drink little to no soft drinks; this is true for children and adults.

Here’s where so many people have gotten confused about HFCS: they figure that since soft drinks are sweetened with HFCS and because soft drinks are making people overweight, it must be the HFCS. But even the consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is famously tough on the food industry, has come out and said it’s not the HFCS, it’s the over-consumption of soft drinks that’s linked to obesity. If those soft drinks were made from regular sugar, they’d still be making people overweight! Those of you who’ve started Phase Two know that Bob Greene doesn’t allow soft drinks in this phase. He’s hoping to wean you off them, because he knows they are a major weight gain culprit.

Sweets on The Best Life Diet

So, why do we allow any sweetener on The Best Life Diet? Because, we recognize that sweets are one of life’s great pleasures, and that in moderation, there’s absolutely no evidence that they hurt you. In fact, having a little piece of chocolate, or some jam, or a little ice cream actually helps you stick to a weight loss plan. It prevents you from feeling deprived and chucking the plan altogether! Again and again research shows that people just won’t stick with overly-restrictive plans (remember those unappealing ultra-low-fat plans in the ’80s and early ’90s?) Why allow HFCS? Because, the evidence to date does not show that it is any more harmful than sugar.

Yanking all sugar from the diet doesn’t jive with Bob’s philosophy of gradual change. In Phase One, you’re making the first habit changes, such as eating a healthy breakfast and drinking more water. In Phase 2, you make more specific dietary changes, including cutting out soda, which helps reduce sugar intake. Phase Three is where you can really cut way back on sugar, sodium, saturated fat and other unhealthy components of the diet. By then, you’ll be ready.

When you look at the menu plans, you’ll see that there aren’t a lot of sweets. Most breakfasts, lunches and dinners are low in sugar. The calcium-rich snack contains naturally-occurring sugar in dairy, or the little bit of sugar added to soymilk, but not much added sugar.

On The Best Life program, Yoplait—especially regular Yoplait (as opposed to Yoplait Light) — is used mainly as a sweet treat instead of a staple meal item. (Nearly all the yogurt in the breakfasts and snacks is plain yogurt.) And what a great treat it is! It gets much higher nutrition marks than a candy bar or a soft drink or most other sweets. A 6-oz. container contributes 20% of the calcium requirement for those of you age 50 or less; 17% of the requirement for those age 51-plus. And it’s available all over the country. As for the HFCS in Wishbone Salad Spritzers, well, look at the label. You get just 1 g of sugar and 10 calories for 10 sprays. (Personally, just 3 sprays are enough for my salad!).

I hope this explanation was helpful. It’s nice to know that members of The Best Life program are so engaged and interested in nutrition.

Janis Jibrin (Bestlife.com Lead Nutritionist)

I had to go to the store for the THIRD time before it occured to me to check out another brand and right there in my normal non-health-food grocery store is a yogurt that is JUST yogurt and fruit. No added sugar, no HFCS.

As an alternative to soda, try Izze, it can be bought at starbucks or health food stores. It’s just carbonated water and fruit juice, no added sugar or hfcs. I’m experimenting today to try to make my own.

It is amazing how much we put in our body without questioning it. I’m trying to eat a more natural diet without crazy preservatives and sweeteners.

PS: I checked my athenos hummus and it doesn’t have HFCS, at least not the ‘roasted garlic’ flavor?

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