If so, those are foods I will suggest that you consider crossing off your grocery list and finding a less sweet substitute. High fructose corn syrup has only been around in our food production since the 1970's. It is a cheap, easy to produce, and easy to transport sweetener that helps foods stay moist longer.. Because it is so sweet to our taste buds, manufacturers can use less of it to sweeten a soft drink, for example, than they would if they used old-fashioned sucrose (white sugar), saving money on every can they sell. That wouldn't be such a bad thing were it not for the consequences that many nutritionists and scientists associate with the rise of HFCS in our diets.
There are many studies in progress testing high fructose corn syrup and its affect on human metabolism and its influence on obesity. Many scientists are already convinced that HFCS has a leading role in the rise of obesity in America.
HFCS is a corn-based product that is super sweet. Our bodies react differently to HFCS than they do to other sugars, causing problems with our blood glucose levels, insulin resistance and other hormone responses - particularly involving the hormone leptin that signals us that we are "full" or satisfied.
DiabetesHealth.com cites these problems that are believed to be caused by too much HFCS:
It can lead to higher caloric intake
It can lead to an increase in bodyweight
It fools your body into thinking it’s hungry
It increases the amount of processed foods you eat, thereby decreasing your intake of nutrient-dense foods
It may increase insulin resistance and triglycerides
What do I think? I consider HFCS to be to sugar what trans-fat is to regular saturated fat: it makes something we have to be careful about even more dangerous. I think it is interesting that the wide-spread use of HFCS in our foods - even foods that have other sweeteners in them - coincides with the time that obesity rates began to rise dramatically in America. Where can we find large amounts of HFCS?
That's right....High Fructose Corn Syrup is the ONLY sweetener in all regular soft drinks in America. And how much sweetener are we getting per serving when we drink a can of Coke or Pepsi?
Yep, that's right....the equivalent to 10 teaspoons of sugar in a regular size can. But don't you find that these days, that middle bottle is what usually comes out of the vending machine? And, if we buy it, we usually drink it.
I once worked with a patient who made only one lifestyle change: he stopped going through a drive-through restaurant on his way to work. His habit was to get a large Dr. Pepper every morning, five mornings a week. This meant he stopped buying his very large cup of regular Dr. Pepper every work day. He just quit doing it. Started drinking coffee and water at work instead. After 9 or 10 months went by, he noticed he had lost 25 pounds.Without trying. Just by eliminating one source of hidden, added sugar. I guess we can say, he defeated the Godzilla of sugars!
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