It’s becoming less of a secret that high fructose corn syrup is hazardous to your your health. Unfortunately, it’s also no secret that it has replaced other forms of sugar in a large number of manufactured foods. Making things worse is that most high fructose corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn.
Since the late 1980s, high fructose corn syrup has replaced regular sweeteners in practically everything.
Why is it bad?
- In addition to causing significant weight gain, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides.
- When high fructose corn syrup is ingested, it travels to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates it 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.
- A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain. The Article
Why is it used?
- Cheaper than white sugar. Thanks to government subsidies and trade policies.
- Easy to transport in tanker trucks.
- Not susceptible to freezer burn.
- Long shelf life.
- Keeps foods from becoming dry.
- Gives baked products a nice color.
Raises our risk for:
It does not matter if you use honey, fruit juice, brown sugar, raw sugar, white sugar, corn syrup or some other sugar, you are still going to find the same caloric effect. The problem is that sugars have become so prevalent in our food, especially in our beverages, that we have a hard time avoiding excess. Just because high fructose corn syrup is bad for you doesn’t give you permission to pour white sugar all over your morning cereal. Just watch your intake of all sugar and when you have the opportunity to choose something other than high fructose corn syrup, do so!