The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup

[one...two...tree 2,762]

http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/highfructose.html

excerpt...

For many years, Dr. Meira Fields and her coworkers at the US Department of Agriculture investigated the harmful effects of dietary sugar on rats. They discovered that when male rats are fed a diet deficient in copper, with sucrose as the carbohydrate, they develop severe pathologies of vital organs. Liver, heart and testes exhibit extreme swelling, while the pancreas atrophies, invariably leading to death of the rats before maturity.

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Until the 1970s most of the sugar we ate came from sucrose derived from sugar beets or sugar cane. Then sugar from corn—corn syrup, fructose, dextrose, dextrine and especially high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)—began to gain popularity as a sweetener because it was much less expensive to produce. High fructose corn syrup can be manipulated to contain equal amounts of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent glucose.2 Thus, with almost twice the fructose, HFCS delivers a double danger compared to sugar.

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Fructose interacts with oral contraceptives and elevates insulin levels in women on “the pill.”17

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Because it is metabolized by the liver, fructose does not cause the pancreas to release insulin the way it normally does. Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. This may be one of the reasons Americans continue to get fatter.

[almaty 19]

good info ..for the ladies

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Totally agree - HFCS is a terrible substance.

[Identity 0]

There's something seriously wrong with the food supply in the United States. I had never been so ill so many times in my life. With so many kids on ritalin, doctors handing out prozac like it's candy, and with fat people aplenty, diabetes, heart-disease. Who's going to take stock?

[Marilyn. 340]

these Americans seem to sweeten everything with corn syrup.... I am guessing because it is cheaper....

[one...two...tree 2,762]

these Americans seem to sweeten everything with corn syrup.... I am guessing because it is cheaper....

Yep. Because most food is sold by weight and not volume, both sodium and HFCS are two of the heaviest weighted ingredients manufacturers can add to food cheaply.

What we need are food labels that show percentages and are easily read on the packaging so that consumers can make easy comparisons. For example, brand x peanut butter has 30% sugar, compared to brand y which has 45%. Then through competition, manufacturers will use less and less corn syrup.

Has anyone else noticed that ketchup (Heinz especially) doesn't taste the same as it did 20 years ago? I've been trying to find information on the internet but I can swear that it used to taste more tangy and now it's friggin sweet....I hate it now! My hunch is they use more corn syrup and less tomatoes.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

HFCS is bad or everyone - too much sugar in the diet promotes diabetes; and HFCS is like double sugar. When the pancreas has more sugar than it can deal with, but not at diabetes level, it stores it - round the waistline. That's why excluding suagr can cause huge weightloss from that area.

Its nasty stuff, I always try and avoid it in the UK (where they also use it, tho on not such a grand scale) but I see its creeping into everything.

Profit over health should be banned - what ARE the FDA playing at? They need to crack down - and also look into WHY manufactureres put sugary things into foods which don't need it (I'll take a stab at it - they do it because the food is so over-processed and un-natural it would taste foul if not sweetened)

[Saddle Bronc 124]

these Americans seem to sweeten everything with corn syrup.... I am guessing because it is cheaper....

Is that why it's also heavily used in Canada--but almost nowhere outside North America?

[GaryC 7]

Profit over health should be banned - what ARE the FDA playing at? They need to crack down - and also look into WHY manufactureres put sugary things into foods which don't need it (I'll take a stab at it - they do it because the food is so over-processed and un-natural it would taste foul if not sweetened)

I agree!! I have been in several other countries that aren't as "advanced" as ours and they seem much healthier. They cook rather than just heat some pre-packaged ready to eat meal. It may be a simpler diet but much healthier. The worst offender in my opinion is soda!! That has to be the most evil concoction ever invented!!

[Aymerlu 3]

Profit over health should be banned - what ARE the FDA playing at? They need to crack down - and also look into WHY manufactureres put sugary things into foods which don't need it (I'll take a stab at it - they do it because the food is so over-processed and un-natural it would taste foul if not sweetened)

I agree!! I have been in several other countries that aren't as "advanced" as ours and they seem much healthier. They cook rather than just heat some pre-packaged ready to eat meal. It may be a simpler diet but much healthier. The worst offender in my opinion is soda!! That has to be the most evil concoction ever invented!!

Agree! When I've been to Egypt, I swear I eat, eat, eat and I will lose about 15 pounds! Natural foods....hmmmmmm what a concept! The U.S is really killing it's people by what the put in their foods. I'm a nurse and I am always reading interesting articles that are sent to the doctors. The U.S has the highest rate for all different cancers, diseases, etc, and I really believe it's because of the additives put in the foods. I've been trying to do more natural cooking and not only have a lost weight, but my diabetes has been very well controlled.

[Ladylethal 12]

Isn't fructose the sugar in ANY fruit? And if it's healthy to eat fruit, but it will make us girls on pill fat, isn't that sort of "DAMN IT"?

[gwenneh 7]

Agreed, it's much easier to eat healthy outside of the US. I just wish I could lose weight!

[Aymerlu 3]

Isn't fructose the sugar in ANY fruit? And if it's healthy to eat fruit, but it will make us girls on pill fat, isn't that sort of "DAMN IT"?

Yes, but it is the natural sugar from the fruit and not a processed sugar like the corn syrup in sodas, candy, and many other things we think taste good

[GaryC 7]

I know this will sound un-politically correct but I will be glad when Luz gets here and starts cooking for me. I am just to lazy to do much but open a can or a box. She has promised me a steady diet of home cooked meals. I should be much healthier when that happens.

[Jaylen Brit 0]

You lazy boy Gary!

BTW I don't think 'all' additives are 'bad' - but a lot are unecessary IMO. If the food needs to stay fresh, ok - I get that its needs some kind of preservative - but it doesn't need 'half a ton' (ok maybe not that much) of salt, sugar and oils in it.

I don't NEED to eat fatty sugary foods 24/7 - I like some of them on occasion yes, Im not a food nazi - but I dont want stuff like that in every meal - I want food that tastes like FOOD not sugar