Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

We are closing in on the final stretch before the wedding and posting time is becoming harder and harder to find. Please enjoy a post I did for one of my other blogs awhile back.  I hope to get some new content up soon!

I really had no idea that High Fructose Corn Syrup was this bad. I know it is nothing but sugar but after reading an article that I found, I am really concerned about what I feed my kids and put into my own body. I will be spending more time at the grocery store looking at labels. Here are some facts that I pulled from the article. 

• In a recent chemical analysis of eleven carbonated soft drinks sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), researchers from Rutgers University found very high levels of reactive carbonyls.
  • Reactive carbonyls, which has been linked to tissue damage and complications of diabetes, are elevated in the blood of people with diabetes. A single can of soda, however, has five times that concentration of reactive carbonyls. Old-fashioned table sugar, on the other hand, has no reactive carbonyls.
• The occurrence of new cases of type 2 diabetes has doubled over the past three decades, according to a report in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation – June 2006. The percentage of overweight children in the United States has tripled since 1980. The epidemic of type 2 diabetes cases across the nation is likely to lead to a substantially higher incidence of strokes among middle-aged adults and newly diagnosed diabetics.
• It is getting difficult to find a food product at the grocery store that is not loaded with HFCS.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup is found in fruit drinks like Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Snapple, Hawaiian Punch, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice and in most energy drinks. It is also found in chocolate drinks like Yoohoo, Arizona Tea, SoBe Beverages, cookies, ice cream, Campbell soup, Heinz Ketchup, Ragu, Aunt Jemima Syrup, Hershey’s Syrup, Breyers Yogurt, Kraft Barbecue Sauce, Smucker’s Preserves and some breakfast cereals.
• High fructose corn syrup masquerades under the name of crystalline fructose in Glaceau Vitamin Water and some energy drinks.
• People who use HFCS as a sweetener increase their triglycerides 32 percent relative to people who use mostly sugar, according to University of Minnesota professor John Bantle. The body metabolizes high fructose corn syrup differently than sugar. It blunts the body’s ability to recognize when it is full and increases a person’s appetite.
• High Fructose Corn Syrup puts people at risk for metabolic syndrome.
  • Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
• There is a rise in uric acid in the bloodstream that occurs after fructose is consumed. The temporary spike of HFCS blocks the action of insulin, which typically regulates how body cells use and store sugar and other food nutrients for energy. If uric acid levels are frequently elevated, over time features of metabolic syndrome may develop, including high blood pressure, obesity and elevated blood cholesterol levels.
• One tip is to try an ethnic grocery store – such as an Asian or Latino food store, if you have trouble finding HFCS free foods that you like.
• A single can a day of sweetened drinks could lead a person to put on 1 pound every three or four weeks.

Some not so fun facts.

• This year, more than 300,000 Americans will die from illnesses related to being overweight and/or obese.
• Obesity contributes to be the No. 1 cause of death in our nation: heart disease. (Which causes more than 500,000 deaths annually)
• An estimated two out of every three American adults, and more than one in six children and adolescents are considered overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Americans are eating out more often and becoming accustomed to larger portions. Changes have also occurred in modern diet, with foods containing more calories and less nutrition.
• Coke and Pepsi, for example, have more calories than a can of beer. At least the beer has some nutritional value. Coke and Pepsi have zero nutritional content, just empty calories
• One 20-ounce bottle of Coke, Pepsi, Mt Dew, Sprite or Dr. Pepper is the equivalent of pouring 17 teaspoons of sugar straight into your body.
• According to new research, being overweight during one’s early 40s increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease decades later.

Related posts:

1. Pepsi Throwback Review
2. Wall-E is upon us.
3. Those who eat brown rice may have less diabetes