“The ingredients of health and long life, are great temperance, open air, easy labor, and little care.”
– Sir Philip Sidney
There are many different sweeteners today thanks to companies looking for cheaper alternatives to boost profits. They can help to cut calories too. The USDA reported that in 2001, each person consumed 147 pounds of various types of sweeteners.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which was introduced in the ‘70s, is a highly concentrated sweetener and makes up over 62 pounds of the total consumed. Fructose in small amounts in fruit is fine. We are consuming a concentrated version of it in large amounts because it is used in jams, cereals, bread, wheat crackers, chips, protein bars, dairy products and ketchup. Two-thirds of its use is in sodas.
Interestingly, HFCS correlates to an increase in average weight among Americans ever since its introduction.In fact it has increased its usage over 1,000 percent from 1970 to 1990, greater than any other substance, and comprises more than 40 percent of all sweeteners added to foods and drinks.
In addition to that, one recent study in the Environmental Health Journal found 9 out of 20 samples of HFCS to contain mercury. Next the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy detected mercury in nearly one third of the 55 common household products manufactured by Quaker, Hunt’s, Hershey’s, Smucker’s, Kraft, Kellogg’s, and Yoplait. Sadly the FDA sat on this for a couple of years.
The problem is that there is no insulin response to high fructose corn syrup. With glucose there is an insulin response and that increased insulin level can suppress appetite.Insulin also increases the release of leptininto the body which controls appetite.Without an insulin response there is no increase in leptin, which allows you to continue ingesting unlimited calories without feeling satisfied and ultimately will cause weight gain. Large amounts of fructose will also increase the storage of calories as fat, a process known as lipogenesis.
Check your foods and say no to high fructose corn syrup. Products guilty of hurting your health include: bodybuilding products like EAS, cereals like Special K and All-Bran, Ensure for the elderly, Go-Gurt for kids, Sunny D, Gatorade G2 and the list of fake nutritious foods goes on and on. Some baby formula’s first ingredient is corn syrup solids. Don’t forget your sauces and dressings too, like pickle relish, Cool-Whip, barbeque sauces, Ketchup, salad dressing and more.
Then the corn industry ran commercials with one person refusing to consume food or drinks because it contains high fructose corn syrup and they comment, “You know what they say.” The other person replies, “What, that it’s made from corn?” Television magic at its best. They should have lie detectors on people when they say this stuff.
Further evidence was a study published in Behavioral Neuroscience by Purdue University found the artificial sweeteners in just one can of soda a day can reset your metabolism and cause you to overeat. In addition, it can increase your risk of diabetes and stroke. “Drop the pop.”
If you were going to use a form of sugar, I would stick with natural forms that nature has provided like honey, maple syrup, organic and real sugar, fruit, molasses and brown sugar. I like to be sweetened naturally, and in moderation. In general, consuming less processed foods of any kind is smarter. I realize some of the modified sweeteners were designed to reduce tooth decay, calories and cause le
<!–
–>
