The Uncomfortable Truth

Last time, I wrote about trans fatty acids and how they should be outlawed. There is another, equally poisonous concoction in our food.
I bring this up because if it takes twenty-five years for common sense to break out, a lot of lives and money will be wasted. I bring this up because I’m tired of being taxed for other people’s poor health choices.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is another of those manmade concoctions that most everybody eats, completely ignorant of the health effects.
HFCS was invented in the sixties by adding an animal-derived enzyme (vegans, take note!) to corn syrup and producing a product that is sweeter than sugar and just happens to be liquid.
In 1983 the Food and Drug Administration—motto: “We will never let the public’s health get in the way of corporate profit.”—added HFCS to its list of foods “Generally recognized as safe.”
If one were to chart the number of cases of diabetes in this country over the last forty years, one would notice a steep increase that began in the mid-eighties. A blind man could see that, even though our diet contains one-third less fat than it did a generation ago, we have become a nation of fatties.
Coincidence?
Perhaps not.
Could it be that putting unnatural products into the human body is having unnatural effects?
A study in the December 2005 issue of Prevention noted that lab animals who consumed HFCS ate fewer calories per day than the animals in the control group, yet gained more weight.
Unnatural?
A Google search of HFCS brings up a wealth of information on this poison and why it should be avoided at all cost.
HFCS is responsible for increased obesity rates.
When you eat sugars, insulin is produced. It seems that fat gets transported to your waistline by insulin. This makes sense. The Atkins diet is legendary for the amounts of fat consumed, yet without sugar in the diet, fat is not stored. HFCS raises insulin levels for three times as long as table sugar. That’s three times longer for fats to be deposited.
HFCS has been indicated in increased levels of triglycerides—artery clogging fats responsible for stroke and heart disease.
HFCS does not satisfy. When I was a kid, a Coke before dinner would ruin my appetite—mother was right. That is not the case today. Besides the fact that Coke just tastes different—unless it’s made in Mexico—it still leaves you hungry. Overeating is the result.
Wasn’t it back around 1984 that Coke came out with “New” Coke? It was quickly replaced by “Classic” Coke. Real Coke never returned to this country.
But, I digress.
HFCS is not only cheaper, being a liquid, it’s cheaper to get it into the can.
Soda manufacturers are probably saving two cents per can. How many cans of soda are made each year? A few hundred billion? Multiply that by .02 and you get a few billion dollars.
It isn’t just in soda, it’s everywhere. Especially convenience foods.
Ever wonder why you see so many obese children and teenagers? It isn’t just lazing around playing video games.
Check the labels on what your children eat. For example, my kids’ former favorite, Spaghetti-Os, has an ounce of this poison in each of those little cans. Breads, juices, snack foods, breakfast foods, even those “healthy” smoothies you may give your children, all of these have HFCS.
The only good news is that more and more people are becoming aware of how dangerous HFCS is.
Of course, if you search the internet, you’ll find contrary opinions—usually sponsored by the corn or food-processing industry. My favorite is one where a fellow states his opinion that being one molecule different than regular sugar, HFCS cannot possibly harm the body. He needs to learn that cocaine is one atom away from being a sugar.
What causes such stupidity? Why does it take so long to outlaw these poisons?
Money!
As with smoking and global warming, if you have enough money, it’s easy to find “experts” to refute the obvious. With money, you can bribe your chippies in Congress to block common-sense legislation that actually serves the needs of the citizens.
It’s hard to beat money. Remember, money is more important than life in the corporate world. Money will keep this poison on the market for a long time, it is up to us to be on guard.
Avoid this garbage at all cost. The life you save will be your own.