I’ve, recently,  seen the commercials about high fructose corn syrup on YouTube. Apparently, these commercials are running on television in the States now. Here’s one in case you haven’t seen them.

These commercials like all commercials have an agenda. They are funded by the Corn Refiners Association of America, so of course they want to promote the use of high fructose corn syrup. I wanted to take a closer look at high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to see why it is adding to the bad health in America.

HFCS first started getting used in the 1970’s to replace sugar and food products. Corn farmers in America receive government subsidies. This causes an overproduction of corn, so we have to figure out new and inventive ways to use it. The food industry discovered that making a sweetener with corn was cheaper than using sugar. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s also much sweeter. A little goes a long way. Since the 70’s, HFCS has been used in more and more products. Now it’s the sweetener of choice used in packaged foods. You can find it in:

• soda
• juice
• baked goods
• condiments
• dairy products
• candy

What’s wrong with HFCs? It’s natural. It’s made from corn. Corn’s good for you, right?

Fructose is a naturally occurring sugar that can be found in fruits and honey. In it’s natural form it is easily digested and the liver handles it well. HFCS is a super concentration of fructose that you can not find naturally. You can have too much of a good thing.

High concentration of fructose don’t stimulate insulin production and converts easily to fat. Consuming too much of it can lead to:

• insulin resistance
• high cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• fat production

Another bad thing about it is that it doesn’t satisfy you. It doesn’t decrease your appetite. This leads to more and more consumption. When you’re consuming it, you’re only getting empty calories because it has no nutritional value.

But it’s fine if you eat it in moderation.

Good luck doing that. Because HFCS is in so many produces, it’s hard to eat it in moderation.

Researchers have found that the average American consumes 132 calories of HFCS a day. People who eat a lot of processed foods and drink a lot of soda eat closer to 300 calories of HFCS a day. Some eat as much as 700 calories of it a day. That is not moderation.

How can you avoid HFCS?

This is the solution I give for most health and dietary problem so you should know it by now. Eat real food. Eat whole foods. Cut out processed foods. Eat plenty of vegetables, especially dark green leafy ones. If you want to eat something sweet eat some fruit. There are plenty of raw food dessert recipes that will satisfy your cravings for sugar and use only fruits and nuts as the ingredients. The raw apple pie recipe a posted a while back is just one example.

Here’s a spoof of the HFCS commercial that I like.

Photo by doug88888

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