Have you been under a rock for the last year or two? I didn't think you have.You've most likely seen the massive media campaign that the Corn Refiners
Association (the CRA) has been running on TV and such,... trying to "clean up" the public image of high-fructose corn
syrup (HFCS).
They have even tried to re-brand HFCS by trying to change the name to "
corn sugar" instead of high-fructose corn syrup.
REALLY? To say that HFCS has no
artificial ingredients...Well.. if you've ever seen how HFCS is refined and
processed and the chemicals involved in that process... you'll see the NASTY chemicals involved in refining HFCS! And let's not forget that HFCS is almost always made from
Genetically Modified corn. Not so "natural" anymore huh!
What about the debate: Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup worse for you than sugar?
This has been an ongoing debate for the last couple years,
but I personally think it's not much of a debate... In terms of your health
and your waistline, they are BOTH pure evil! Over time, with excess
consumption of either HFCS or sugar, they can both lead to diabetes,
obesity, and other major health problems, including premature aging, and
BELLY FAT!
I personally avoid HFCS at all costs, but I don't necessarily avoid sugar altogether. I
minimize sugar greatly, but I don't avoid it like I avoid HFCS. Two things
that I try to avoid almost 100% are HFCS and trans fats... because they
are easily two of the MOST evil food additives that cause the
most damage from a biochemical standpoint internally in your body.
The only HFCS I get is probably the minor amounts that I might get in
ketchup at a restaurant (sorry, I'm not giving up my ketchup... but I
do get organic ketchup at home, which has no HFCS). But other than
ketchup at a restaurant, I stay away from anything and everything with
HFCS in it, including store-bought salad dressings which are often laced
with high amounts of HFCS. Instead, I make my own
healthy lean-body salad dressings at home.
The reason that I avoid HFCS more than I avoid plain sugar is that there is just too much evidence at this point that your body
DOES process HFCS differently than sugar... despite the propaganda that the Corn Refiners Association is trying to shove down your throat with their ads.
Here is what a New Princeton Study reveals :
researchers found that rats given
water
sweetened with HFCS gained significantly more weight than those given
water sweetened with plain sugar, despite calorie intake being the same
between both groups.
Princeton researchers also state: "
In addition to causing
significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of
high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat,
especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides".
And According to professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the
neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction... "
Some
people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than
other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our
results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the
conditions of our tests. When rats are drinking high-fructose corn
syrup at levels well below
those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across
the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this;
they don't all gain extra weight."
Princeton researchers also noted that the HFCS groups in the studies
gained significant amounts of visceral fat around the abdominal area. Did you
might know,
visceral fat is more deadly than subcutaneous fat and is a serious health concern as it releases inflammatory molecules into your system.
Also... Princeton researchers found that although HFCS only has 10% more
fructose than table sugar (55% fructose content vs 50% fructose content
in sugar),
the fructose in HFCS is more sinister... According to Princeton, "
as
a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the
fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for
fast absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in
sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a
corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic
step before it can be utilized."
Aha... very interesting!
Well, I hope that's enough for you to simply try to
avoid HFCS from now on. I don't mean to eat loads of table
sugar..that's not good for you either, but these studies
clearly show that HFCS is WORSE for you than sugar.
And you know that HFCS contributes to more
BELLY FAT.
You now know that the deceptive advertisements with their
propaganda that "HFCS is no worse for you than sugar" is not the truth.
I bet you didn't know that there is a 
