One of the big issues that surrounds this product, is whether or not it indeed is chemically addicting, and leads to further cravings and ingestion of more and more, causing weight issues.
Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup
by Kevin Millard, Jul 4, 2007
(http://www.healthmad.com/Nutrition/Dangers-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup.32885)
High fructose corn syrup is the new silent killer. Sadly, it is found in almost everything we eat. find out how to avoid it.
One of the greatest ways we can improve our health is to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from our diets.
What is HFCS?
HFCS is not the run of the mill corn syrup found on the grocery store shelf, nor is it the fructose naturally found in fruits and honey. HFCS is a highly refined clear liquid derived from corn starch. Food manufactures love to use it because of its long shelf life an it's relative low cost.
Why is HFCS Bad for us?
Since HFCS's widespread introduction in the 1980's North American obesity rates have skyrocketed. Obesity has been linked to may heath issues including heart disease and many forms of cancer. When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full.
Where is HFCS found?
HFCS is found in almost everything we eat today. However, the worst culprit has to be soft drinks. A single 12 oz can of cola has up to 13 tsp of sugar, most of it fructose from HFCS. There is HFCS hidden in many of our other food as well, like ketchup, relish, cookies, and most alarmingly in low-fat diet foods. Manufactures substitute HFCS for the fat in food like mayo and salad dressings, then mark them as diet foods.
How Can We Avoid HFCS?
Avoiding HFCS will take a lifestyle change for the better. The first food to go has to be the soft drinks; this includes fruit punch, fruit cocktails, and Kool-Aid since they are all laden with HFCS.
Second, eat more meals at home. Restaurant foods are mostly prepackaged foods reheated and served to you. Use of HFCS in these foods is wide spread because of their increased shelf life.
Third, diet while you shop. Since you are going to be eating most of your meals at home, you're going to want to fill your cupboards with the best foods. While shopping, read the labels, if HFCS, fructose, or modified corn starch appears within the first five ingredients place it back on the shelf an move on. Sounds easy right? Wrong. As you make your way through the store you will begin to realize just how much of what you have been eating on a daily basis contains HFCS.
Reducing HFCS will not always be easy, but the health benefits are well worth it. You will feel stronger and more vital, it will lift your mood and give you increased concentration. Limiting your intake of HFCS will not only shrink your midsection but also do wonders for your over all health.
An article discussing the commercials and the controversy can be found at
http://cbs5.com/health/high.Fructose.Corn.2.831352.html
You may also wish to check out CornSyrupKills.net
I have seen the commercials also. I have to say I was rather shocked the first time I saw it. I thought I was hearing things because I couldn't believe there was an actual commercial saying that HFCS was not bad for you. I do think those on both sides of this issue have valid points though. However people need to realize that regardless if HFCS is like sugar/honey or not it is still not healthy to consume it in huge quantities. Nor is any other kind of sugar/sweet food product. We have to remember that these kinds of products are listed at the top of the food pyramid which means that they should be the least of what we consume on a daily basis. Recently I read a report put out by John Hopkins University that stated that sugar, among other things, is a "food" for cancer cells. The article was emailed to me but if I can find it on the internet I will post a link for it. Great article thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYou were ahead of the curve on this one.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the NY Times article link on research on this additive's effect on health at my blog. This is triggering fatty liver disease, even in children.
p://bluesunited.blogspot.com/2008/10/nyt-watch-out-for-spooky-high-fructose.html
HFCS and CS is from the pit. I'm allergic to it and so are 1/2 of our kids. It was hard to learn to shop at first for what we can eat - they put the stuff in nearly everything. Loose 20 pds in 2 months by just getting this stuff out of your diet! Those commercials are so misleading "Use in moderation" - how can anyone use it in moderation when they are using it in all things? One can hardly know how much they are comsuming - they put it in chips, crackers, spagetti sauce - you name it - they put it in! It's truly a bastard sugar of chemical origins. And they used to tell diabetics they could injest the stuff with no problems.
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