I bet you’ve heard that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is bad for you, right? I bet you’ve also seen those ads claiming HFCS is no worse than sugar and fine in moderation? Are you confused? You want to make sure your family is eating as healthy as possible, but what should you believe?

Before I get started explaining to you exactly why HFCS is bad for you and why you should avoid it at all costs, here’s a thought to ponder. Isn’t it odd that a food product is spending up to $30 million to convince you it’s safe to eat?

Did You Know?

• High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the number one source of calories in the U.S. and causes far more damage than white sugar. (Mercola.com)
  
• HFCS is the most popular sweetener in many pre-packaged products because it has a sweetness similar to table sugar but is cheaper to produce, easier to transport, blends into other foods more easily, and gives products a longer shelf life. (NaturalNews.com)

What Foods Contain High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Carbonated sodas are sweetened with HFCS, as are candy bars, cookies, jams and jellies, bread, salad dressings, pizza sauce, fruit drinks, breakfast cereals, food bars, peanut butter, ketchup, dairy products, canned fruit, and thousands of other grocery items. It seems HFCS is used in almost everything! Check the labels on the food in your pantry. What do you see?

What Does High Fructose Corn Syrup do to Our Bodies?

• HFCS is linked to diabetes in children.
• HFCS is linked to diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.
• HFCS has been implicated in elevated blood cholesterol levels and the creation of blood clots. It also inhibits the action of white blood cells so that they are unable to defend the body against harmful foreign invaders.
• HFCS converts to fat in your body faster than any other sugar.
• HFCS causes severe liver damage.
• HFCS is linked to kidney disease.
• HFCS may raise bad cholesterol levels.
• HFCS is linked to ADHD.
• HFCS robs the nutrients of anything beneficial you may consume.
• HFCS may contain mercury. (I wrote an article about this last year.)
• HFCS affects taste receptors, imprinting both the tongue and the brain with a stronger desire for sweet foods throughout life.
• HFCS interferes with the heart’s use of key minerals like magnesium, copper, and chromium.
• HFCS modifies the brain’s appetite-regulating centers thus leading to more eating and weight gain.
• HFCS produces the toxic chemical hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) when heated. HMF has been linked to DNA damage in humans.
• HFCS is almost always made from genetically modified corn, which has its own well-documented side effects and health concerns, such as increasing your risk of developing a food allergy to corn.
• Fructose interacts with oral contraceptives and elevates insulin levels in women on “the pill”.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is Not Natural

The Corn Refiners Association insists that HFCS is a “natural” ingredient, and therefore you should be comfortable eating it.

I love how Christopher Wanjek, Bad Medicine columnist for Live Science, puts it:

High-fructose corn syrup could be all-natural if cornstarch happened to fall into a vat of alpha-amylase, soak there for a while, then trickle into another vat of glucoamylase, get strained to remove the Aspergillus fungus likely growing on top, and then find its way into some industrial-grade D-xylose isomerase. This funny coincidence didn’t happen in nature until the 1970s in a lab somewhere in Japan.

The FDA recently changed their stance and now says that HFCS cannot be considered ‘natural’, although they still do not have a formal definition of the term ‘natural’.

What Now?

Now that you’ve learned about the dangers of HFCS, you’ll want to learn how to eliminate it from your diet. Take a few days to let this information soak in. Read some of the links in the article and below under ‘References’ for even more information. Start looking at the foods in your pantry and start reading the food labels on everything you buy in the store. Start replacing items containing HFCS with those that do not.

In a few days I will have a supporting article to share with you titled “How to Remove High Fructose Corn Syrup From Your Diet“.

Pick Your Poison

Dr. Mercola offers this advice regarding HFCS and artificial sweeteners:

Even though HFCS is clearly something you want to avoid, it is not as bad as artificial sweeteners, which damage your health even more rapidly than HFCS. (I spent several years researching artificial sweeteners for my book Sweet Deception, which goes into these issues in great detail).

So, for example, if you have to choose between soda sweetened with HFCS (regular soda) or artificial sweeteners (diet soda), choose HFCS.

I will provide more information about the dangers of artificial sweeteners in an upcoming post.

References

Three of my favorite websites for natural health information are Mercola.com, NaturalNews.com, and WestonAPrice.org. Specifically on high fructose corn syrup, here are a few articles I recommend:

• Corn Syrup’s New Disguise on Mercola.com
• Debate About Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup on Mercola.com
• Fructose is No Answer for a Sweetener on Mercola.com
• How High Fructose Corn Syrup Damages Your Body on Mercola.com
• New Research Links High Fructose Corn Syrup to Diabetes in Children on NaturalNews.com
• High Fructose Corn Syrup and Diabetes: What the Experts Say on NaturalNews.com
• The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup on NaturalNews.com
• The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup on WestonAPrice.org

You can also become a Facebook fan of each of those websites for great health information sent right to your news feed!

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. It does not replace the advice of your health care practitioner.

Here’s to the start of a healthier year for you and your family!

Wendy – ParentingTips365.com

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