High fructose corn syrup gets a lot of bad press these days – and rightly so. One author humorously referred to it as "the sweat of Satan". It’s unhealthy for the human body and because it’s cheap, there are vast numbers of high fructose corn syrup foods, which makes it tough to avoid.
High fructose corn syrup is both a sweetener and preservative. And if there’s anything a food manufacturer adores, it’s a product that is:
1. Cheaper than sugar …
2. Panders to our ravenous sweet tooth …
3. Makes our food last as long as the Rocky Mountains …
Corn, and its most popular by-product, cornstarch, is loaded with natural sugar. That sugar, though, is converted to fructose by food manufacturers. {When you think about it, doesn’t it sound odd to talk about food being "manufactured"?} The problem is that many believe that fructose is harmless – after all, bananas and pears have fructose. Yes, these popular fruits have fructose, but it’s only a part of the total fruit and Mother Nature didn’t put fructose by itself, anywhere.
Further, the fructose in a whole fruit is balanced by fiber, vitamins, etc. Not so with high fructose corn syrup.
This stuff is definitely a factor in our ever-expanding girths. Animal studies have shown that diabetes and high cholesterol result from too much of this corn product. High fructose corn syrup is nothing more than a concentrated source of unhealthy sweet calories and the list of high fructose corn syrup foods is horrifying. Next time you’re in the grocery, check out the labels on products you habitually eat and you will be shocked. In fact, I’m willing to bet there’s some high fructose corn syrup in your kitchen right now if you’re the ‘average’ western eater.
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