Got A Beer Belly?
Updated: Sep 20
Maltodextrin and High Fructose Corn Syrup are POISON. The real story is much uglier. You do not have to drink beer to be swallowing this stuff. Maltodextrin is buried in chips, sauces, cereals, powders, drinks and products sold as ‘nutrition.’ HFCS is pushed through soft drinks and processed foods. Read the label before the marketing halo.
The song “Then I Woke Up” came out of my own mistake. I bought several bags of potato chips without reading the ingredient labels first — shame on me. When I finally looked at what I had bought, there it was. The song says “Read the label,” names “Maltodextrin” outright, and hits “High Fructose Corn Syrup — H F C S, you had to guess,” before coming back to “Then I woke up.” That is exactly what happened: I trusted the front of the packet instead of reading the back.
Maltodextrin Hits Blood Sugar Hard
When I googled the topic, this is what it said:
Severe Insulin Spikes: Maltodextrin has an exceptionally high glycemic index (ranging from 106 to 136), which is significantly higher than table sugar (around 65). This triggers massive insulin spikes. High insulin levels signal the body to stop burning fat and start storing it, primarily in the abdominal region.
Visceral Fat Deposition: Consuming maltodextrin without immediate, intense exercise (like endurance training) causes the liver to quickly process the excess glucose. When paired with alcohol, the liver prioritizes breaking down the alcohol toxin first, putting fat metabolism on hold. The resulting excess sugars are efficiently converted into visceral abdominal fat.
Bloating and Gut Imbalances: Maltodextrin is known to alter gut microbiota, feeding harmful bacteria and causing rapid fermentation in the colon. This leads to gas, water retention, and severe bloating that physically pushes the stomach outward.
Now Put That In A Hospital
This is where it stops being a food-label rant and becomes something that makes me furious. Ensure Powder Neutral sold in Australia lists maltodextrin as its first ingredient. Ensure Chocolate lists hydrolysed corn starch, sucrose and maltodextrin right up front. SUSTAGEN Ready to Drink lists dried glucose syrup and maltodextrin near the top. These are products wrapped in the language of nutrition and handed to sick and vulnerable people.
I had to file a complaint over diabetic patients with blood sugars already off the chart being given this kind of nutritional drink. The medical literature already warns that hospital nutrition support can increase the risk of hyperglycemia. Reviews comparing ordinary formulas with diabetes-specific formulas found the diabetes-specific products produced smaller post-meal glucose rises and lower peak blood glucose. So why are we treating the carbohydrate load in a ‘nutrition’ drink like some harmless footnote when the patient is already fighting high blood sugar?
Obesity And Starvation At The Same Time
One line from Tomorrowland never left me: ‘You've got simultaneous epidemics of obesity and starvation. Explain that one!’
Look at the modern ingredient label and it is not such a mystery. We can pack people with calories while starving them of real food. Refined starches, glucose syrups, industrial sweeteners and additives can make something cheap, shelf-stable and easy to sell without making it nourishing. Then we act surprised when people are overweight, metabolically sick and still undernourished.
Read The Damn Label
Maltodextrin and HFCS do not belong in food. If manufacturers want to put them in a product, put the truth on the front instead of hiding behind words like wholesome, baked, light, nutritious, balanced or complete. I am done treating an ingredient list like a chemistry exam the consumer is supposed to pass after the product has already been sold as healthy.
Got a beer belly? Maybe you do not drink beer at all. That is exactly the point.
Research has linked maltodextrin with changes in our gut bacteria, inflammatory markers, our gut function and permeability. That is a long way from the innocent ‘carrier’ or ‘texture’ language used to make a chemical starch sound harmless. Can you name some of your favorite products that have maltodextrin in it? I use to love Doritos "Nacho Cheese" chips... every flavor of Pringles has it... Let me know in the comments below...
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