What would a cream cheese wonton be without its sweet ‘n sour counterpart? We’ve made a special grocery run just to have sweet ‘n sour sauce to dip our wontons in. We assemble our wontons with tasty ingredients (for us: cream cheese, green onions, garlic, paprika sealed inside of wonton wrappers), deep fry them in olive oil, and then dunk them in sweet and sour sauce, which may not always be from a natural foods store. Maybe it’s like balancing the equilibrium. Then there’s my love for fries with my ketchup. I douse my veggie burger in ketchup; my tots, sweet potato fries, you name it. It’s a delicious condiment that accompanies plenty of foods and other condiments, such as sour cream or avocado mayonnaise, on the plates in our dining room. Our devotion has even led to us buying it in bulk triple packs. Ketchup contains lycopene, so it can’t be a big deal… Don’t ruin eating ketchup for me too!
Truth be told, ketchup does contain lycopene. Organic ketchup contains even more. But Sweet ‘N Sour sauce and Ketchup, delicious as I find them both to be, lycopene or no lycopene, can also contain an ingredient to avoid. I’m sorry, believe me, I feel pretty sorry for myself about this one. Hello, high fructose corn syrup. You’re not just in the soda or frilly yogurt aisles. Nope, that just wasn’t enough for you, you had to go making ketchup the addicting love sauce that it is, too.
There’s a misleading popsicle commercial that airs, stating that high fructose corn syrup is natural, simply made from corn, and is fine in moderation, like sugar. Why has high fructose corn syrup made the spilled list cut?
Name
High Fructose Corn Syrup or glucose-fructose or isoglucose
What it is and what it does
HFCS is a high calorie, low-nutrient, very sweet, artificial manufactured corn syrup. It’s enzymes have undergone a process to transform it’s glucose to fructose. It’s like a processed sugar that’s cheap and helps increase a product’s shelf life and flavor. According to many studies, HFCS has the potential to promote a bunch of serious health complications. The Mayo Clinic states HFCS has the potential to promote obesity, which in turn promotes type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease. Mercury has also been found in certain quantities of HFCS. I conclude that there are many inconclusive studies on the effects of HFCS. Perhaps the most helpful article I’ve found, this hypothesis explains how HFCS could promote and/or cause disease various states.
A sidenote, the same sweet ‘n sour sauce that contains high fructose corn syrup also contains two articifial food dyes. If you’ve not seen my post on artificial food coloring, I’m avoiding the stuff like the plague.
What it’s typically in
Tons of processed foods, to name a few: soda, yogurt, ketchup, sauces, jelly, cereal, crackers, cookies
Check your labels
Alternatively
There are ketchups which are both rather tasty and free of high fructose corn syrup. You just have to look. If you hit up a Whole Foods or Co-op, you’ll surely find a few health-conscious ketchup options. Else, just scan the aisles of your supermarket and there’s a good chance that alongside the famous H ketchups, exists an alternative brand, like Muir Glen or Annie’s. Both are organic and good, and they’re popping up all over. If you’ve got time to boot, or you plan ahead, there’s always the homemade option as well. Once you make homemade ketchup, use a little in this homemade sweet ‘n sour sauce. Otherwise LaChoy makes a no-HFCS, no artificial dye sweet ‘n sour sauce. When it comes to soda, if you can’t go without, look for kinds made with real sugar instead of HFCS or aspartame. If you haven’t tried Izze Sparkling Juice, it’s a natural alternative to soda which tastes good. As for yogurt, avoid the frilly notorious brands pumped with HFCS and gelatin, and instead go for the organic or plain varieties.
These have live cultures which will boost your immunity, unlike the frilly kinds. Top plain yogurt with your own fruit or granola and you won’t look back. I eat lots of the one on the left, my infanta eats lots of the one on the right.
Simply Fruit on the right has no HFCS, unlike it's neighbor to the left
Partner your peanut butter with jam that’s 100% fruit, made with pectin, rather than HFCS jellies. My peanut butter partners of choice are Polaner’s All-Fruit and Smuckers Simply Fruit.
Additional Resources
HFCS Alternatives: http://www.non-gmoreport.com/high_fructose_corn_syrup.php
Article about HFCS: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/10/21/guess-who-funds-high-fructose-corn-syrup-studies.aspx
