What is high fructose corn syrup?
Producing high fructose corn syrup begins by steeping and grinding corn and then washing the starch from the ground corn. Water is added to the cornstarch and genetically modified enzymes are used to breakdown the sugars to glucose. Additional genetically modified enzymes are added to convert some of the glucose to fructose, making the formulation sweeter. In fact, manufacturers produce different grades of high fructose corn syrup, some with as much as 90% fructose. They then blend different grades to achieve the sweetness desired.
Subsidies to corn producers and tariffs on imported sugar have combined to make high fructose corn syrup the low cost sweetener for manufacturers. You’ll find it in almost all processed foods. You may be surprised to find it in many so-called “health foods such as yogurt, food labeled low-fat, smart snacks, and breakfast cereals.
Why should you care? Lose a lot of weight and heal some serious damage to your health.
High fructose corn syrup tastes sweeter than sucrose. Our bodies are biologically wired to crave sugar based on an evolutionary past where calories were not always readily available. Put simply, high fructose corn syrup feeds are addiction for sugar.
“One particular study in 2004 reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cites the increase in consumption of HFCS to be 1000% between 1970 and 1990.”
Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
“The overall, number one source of dietary calories at this time in the United States is actually high fructose corn syrup, an extremely toxic industrial sweetener found in almost all processed food.”
Nora T. Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT
Primal Body, Primal Mind (p.15)
Our bodies are simply not designed to safely metabolize this amount of sugar in our diets. If your diet is high in processed foods, it’s certain you are eating excessive quantities of high fructose corn syrup. In addition to losing weight, eliminating high fructose corn syrup will significantly improve your health. A multitude of studies have demonstrated the serious negative health consequences of excessive sugar intake.
– Elevated triglyceride level
– Higher risk for obesity
– Elevated blood glucose levels increasing the risk for heart disease
– Elevated blood pressure
– Induces leptin resistance. Leptin is a chemical your body produces to control appetite.
– Rats on a high fructose diet developed cirrhosis of the liver
The government’s involvement.
As I said in my post on hydrogenated oil, you may be thinking this food would not be on supermarket shelves if it were unsafe, but you’d be wrong. Corn producers make huge contributions to political campaigns. Their earnings are dependent on cheap food production based on subsidies and tariffs.
A recent small decline in the consumption of high fructose corn syrup has worried the manufacturers. Due to rising public awareness and concern over the use of high fructose corn syrup, the corn industry is lobbying the FDA to allow them to just call it “corn syrup” on food labels. Do you suppose they are doing that so you are better informed about what you are eating? The corn producers are currently launching a massive ad campaign to convince you it is safe, despite evidence to the contrary.
How to quit.
You must start reading food labels. Don’t eat any foods labeled “high fructose corn syrup”. If you must have sweeteners look for natural sweeteners including raw honey, maple syrup, sugar cane juice, and organic Stevia. Stevia is the best choice and although it is actually not a sugar, it is 3 times sweeter than sugar. Remember, even when choosing natural sweeteners, your body is simply not designed to process high amounts of sugar.
A personal note.
Your taste for sweets will change dramatically when you eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet. Once your body adapts to this change many foods you used to eat will simply taste too sweet. As an example, I can no longer eat the yogurt with fruit typically found in the supermarket. It just tastes too syrupy sweet to me. I now eat plain yogurt and add a little fresh fruit if I want to. I find it very hard to believe I’m saying that. I never ate plain yogurt in my life prior to changing my diet. It just shows how our bodies can be desensitized to a substance when over-stimulated. Say good bye to high fructose corn syrup and say hello to good health.
Written by Peter Wright
Nutritional Therapy and GAPS Diet Practioner at Healing Center of Maine
I’m on a mission to help you prevent and reverse chronic illness by utilizing nutrition to restore your body’s natural balance.
Contact me directly for a free 30 minute consultation.
Contact me directly for a free 30 minute consultation.
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