Health News  Is high fructose corn syrup bad for your health?

The below findings are based on research from the internet. I have included links and references to help you research the data for yourself.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Uses

First of all did you know that high fructose corn syrup is in almost everything processed you eat or drink? I mean almost everything. If in fact high fructose corn syrup is bad for you we are all in a lot of trouble unless we eat only healthy natural foods like fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed meats.

It was in the 70's and 80's that this cheaper additive started to take the place of real sugar. Coca Cola had switched by 1985, and by 2009 you cannot find a soft drink that doesn't have it unless you live in Dublin Texas, or know of some other local soda manufacturer. In Dublin, you can buy still buy Dr Pepper with real sugar.

HFCS is in breaded chicken, cereal, health bars, you name it if it has a sweet taste watch out. Watch the movie Super Size Me and you'll find that almost everything at McDonald's has it and just what that and possibly other fast food ingredients like grease can do to you. In one month eating only at McDonald's Morgan Spurlock goes from healthy man to a man on the brink of death. His liver almost gone after only 30 days. One likely reason is that too much sugar becomes alcohol in your body and effects the liver as if you were a heavy drinker.

Possible Side Effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup

The article 5 Reasons to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup   by JoLynn Braley claims that HFCS accelerate the aging process, causes a deficiency in copper in our bodies and inhibits its metabolism, contributes to weight gain since it stops our brain from getting the signal that we are full, and creates fatty deposits which results in a “fatty liver”. The liver also develops cirrhosis, a disease that is normally seen in alcoholics.

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup Critics of HFCS point out a correlation between increased usage of HFCS in foods and obesity rates in the United States over three decades. Some allege that HFCS is in itself more detrimental to health than table sugar (sucrose); others claim that the low cost of HFCS encourages overconsumption of sugars. The Corn Refiners Association has launched an aggressive advertising campaign to counter these criticisms, claiming that high fructose corn syrup "is natural" and "has the same natural sweeteners as table sugar". Both sides point to studies in peer reviewed journals that allegedly support their point of view.

Elliot et al., implicate increased consumption of fructose (due primarily to the increased consumption of sugars but also partly due to the slightly higher fructose content of HFCS as compared to sucrose) in obesity and insulin resistance. Chi-Tang Ho et al. found that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds, such as methylglyoxal, than a diet soft drink control. Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage;

A study in mice suggests that fructose increases obesity. Large quantities of fructose stimulate the liver to produce triglycerides, promotes glycation of proteins and induces insulin resistance. According to one study, the average American consumes nearly 70 lb (32 kg) of HFCS a year, marking HFCS as a major contributor to the rising rates of obesity in the last generation.

In a 2007 study, rats were fed a diet high in fat and HFCS and kept them relatively sedentary for 16 weeks in an attempt to emulate the diet and lifestyle of many Americans. The rats were not forced to eat, but were able to eat as much as they wanted; they consumed a large amount of food, suggesting that fructose suppresses the sensation of fullness. Within four weeks, the rats showed early signs of fatty liver disease and type II diabetes. Shapiro et al. fed rats a high-fructose diet for six months and compared them to rats that had been fed a fructose-free diet. Although the rats that had consumed high levels of fructose showed no change in weight, when compared to the rats that had consumed a fructose-free diet, levels of leptin in the blood of rats fed a high-fructose diet indicated the development of leptin resistance. When the rats were switched to a high-fat diet, the leptin-resistant rats, those fed a high-fructose diet, gained more weight than those who had not developed the resistance and had been fed a fructose-free diet.

A pilot study reported that high-fructose corn syrup manufactured in the U.S. in 2005 was commonly tainted with mercury. The mercury appeared to come from caustic soda and hydrochloric acid, two chemicals used in the manufacture of high-fructose corn syrup that can, depending on their manufacturing process, contain traces of mercury. Mercury concentration in HFCS was as high as 0.570 μg/g (micrograms per gram). An additional study by researchers at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy also found that high fructose corn syrup is contaminated with mercury

Now in fairness the corn industry has funded it's own research which contradicts the negative findings, but personally I'm a little skeptical over research that is funded by the makers of a product. After all if money is involved do you think they care if you are getting fat? One thing is for sure people are getting more and more overweight than ever before. It's almost like they can't say no to food which backs up the notion that HFCS does indeed keep people from realizing they are full.

Jack LaLanne
Good old 1950's TV health expert Jack LaLanne has been saying go natural for years way before HFCS ever existed. His motto is that if it came from man it's no good for you. Now in his 90's and still very healthy for a man his age perhaps we should pay attention to his words of wisdom. Watch all these old Jack LaLanne Clips for a lot of good health advice.

Helpful to the sugar industry

A March 21, 2009 New York Times article said that some food companies and restaurants were using sugar in their product as a selling point, in order to attract customers who prefer not to consume high fructose corn syrup. As one example, the article cited Jason’s, a chain of delis with 200 restaurants in 27 states. The chain had replaced high-fructose corn syrup with sugar in everything except a few soft drinks. Daniel Helfman, a spokesman for the deli chain, was quoted as saying, "Part of this is a huge rebellion against HFCS... but part of it is taste."
 

Bottom Line - Personal Opinion

In my opinion while some studies, which seem to be from soda and corn manufacturers, seem to indicate that man made sugar like HFCS is no more fattening than real sugar. That assumes most likely the same rate of consumption, but the problem most likely occurs if, as some studies indicate, the HFCS doesn't send the insulin warning to the brain to let the person know they are full. It's my opinion then that it stands to reason the more products with HFCS you consume the more likely you are to over eat day in and day out. In a few years time you are going to be heavier. At least with the old sugar it would seem it was not nearly as addictive. As in the film Super Size Me McDonald's refers to it's frequent customers as heavy users. Sounds a lot like junk food is the drug for the average American these days.

My motto has always been, "Eat to live. Don't live to eat".

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