5 Reasons To Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup

High fructose corn syrup has replaced sugar in just about every item of processed food you buy in America today. Why is this? Because it is easier on the pocket of the producer. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) takes longer to produce, is more complicated, yet is much cheaper to produce than sugar.

While all this seems well and good for a number of reasons, HFCS is something to be avoided like the plague. I have 5 reasons to believe it is very very dangerous for the human body – just 5 things to think about out of many hundreds before you pour HFCS down your throat disguised by food.

1) Very high in fructose

The very name suggests this. While sugar is made up of 50% each of glucose and fructose, HFCS is made up of 55% fructose and 45% glucose. This extra 5% may not seem like much, but it is in actuality! Fructose is naturally present in fruit which is a good thing. Natural fructose is absolutely fine for the body. However, fructose is metabolized differently to other carbohydrates. It does not require insulin to help it break down, and as a result no leptin is produced. Leptin signals the brain that the body is full and to stop eating. But when a lot of fructose is consumed, the brain does not know that the body is full so it is easy to overeat.

2) Produced from genetically modified corn

HFCS is almost certainly produced from genetically modified corn. It has been said that 80% of foods are genetically modified somewhat. This is probably true because of the amount of foods that contain HFCS. Corn on its own is fine, but genetically modified corn starch is a whole ‘nother story!

3) Produced with genetically modified enzymes

As if genetically modified corn starch wasn’t bad enough – the starch is turned into syrup using genetically modified enzymes. Two of these enzymes, alpha-amylase and glucoamylase are relatively cheap and are added directly to the corn starch. However, the third enzyme, glucose-isomerase, is very expensive. It is packed into columns and the syrup is passed over it. The glucose-isomerase is re-used many times until it loses its potency. How about that? Stuffed full of genetically modified enzymes – and one of them is second, third, fourth even fifth hand. Perhaps even more. Yuk!

4) It is not in baby formula

This is just an interesting piece of information… HFCS is in just about every processed food product on the shelves – even in food intended for children. However, it is not in baby formula. I wonder why. I wonder if the manufacturers and scientists behind HFCS are not telling us something….

5) Destroys the liver

Because of the high fructose content, your liver gets destroyed. A recent study carried out on rats discovered a few shocking things. Dr Meira Field led the research.

Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy–that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young.

So, now you have some data, you can make a (slightly) informed choice. Will you go the ignorant consumer route and continue buying products with HFCS in it and satisfy the manufacturers, or will you satisfy your body and cut it out of your diet?

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What Your Mom DIDN’T Tell You About Chocolate

Nine out of ten people love chocolate – and the other one is lying. I’m one of the ten – and please excuse me while I go and do some *ahem* ‘research’ for this article!

It seems that the Brits, the Swiss and the Belgians are also among the ten. According to results of a survey conducted one by of the world’s leading chocolate makers, Barry Callebaut, almost 50% of people in these countries eat chocolate several times a week. And not only is it simple chocolate from the local store, it is fine, special chocolate – ‘Organic’, ‘Fair trade’, and country specific chocolate.

Why is chocolate so popular?

So why is chocolate so popular? Why has the chocolate trade lasted for around 3 millenia? According to my no-nonsense books, its because I like it. I like it, I buy it, it is imported, it is made…. and so I keep buying!

Right now I’m sipping chocolate in one of its simpler forms – cocoa. The sweet sticky brown lumps that melt in your mouth are actually from the seed of a tropical shrub. This cocoa is not so sweet. Why? Because I’ve only added honey, not sugar, and it has not been through the extensive process that turns a bitter seed into a delectable treat.

The chocolate process

First the beans have to be harvested when fully ripe, then removed from the pod – and then left sitting in piles to ferment for nearly a week. Apparently the fermenting process is what gives chocolate the good taste. After the fermentation, the beans are laid out in the sun and dried. Then begins the process that gives us chocolate as we know it!

The cacao beans are taken to a chocolate manufacturing plant where the beans are cleaned, roasted, and graded. These are done in huge machines and the roasting can take from anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours. After roasting, the beans are cracked, hulled and winnowed. The machines split the beans and toss them so the seeds are salvaged and the husks are removed. What is left is called the nib. These nibs are then crushed in order to produce cocoa butter and chocolate liquor.

The cocoa butter is a fatty yellow substance that is used in all forms of chocolate and even cosmetics!

Chocolate liquor is mixed with cocoa butter, milk and sugar until it reaches a perfect blend. Too little mixing and the product is coarse. Too much and the product is gooey.

Most important in the chocolate making process is the period of conching. Basically the aforementioned mixture is rolled around in huge vessels for up to six days in order to make the chocolate super smooth.

Finally the chocolate is tempered – it is subjected to heating and cooling several times so that the end result is glossy and melts at appropriate temperatures. Upon completion, the chocolate is then poured into molds and packaged.

And we actually eat this stuff?

So in a nutshell, we love a product that pretty much is a pile of fermented, sundried beans that were initially whacked off their tree by a machete or stick! The chocolate you eat probably took over a fortnight to make!

So is it actually good for me?

Well I think its good because it tastes great! Its pretty bad for some animals though – like dogs and horses, etc. Give them some chocolate and they may die! This is because their metabolism can’t handle it and some of their reactions would be horrible to witness. Don’t try it!

I think the conclusion we need to come to is that chocolate is not bad for you. But it is not that good for you either. If we were to grade it, then dark, bittersweet chocolate would be the best for you as it contains a lot less sugar. White chocolate is probably the worst as it contains far less cacao than any other chocolate. In fact it is not considered ‘real’ chocolate because it doesn’t contain chocolate liquor or cocoa solids – only cocoa butter.

A great reason to consume chocolate is because of its high antioxidant properties. The cacao bean has been used for generations for this reason – but again, the processed chocolate we eat today has less antioxidant properties and more sugar.

So – yes it is good for you – in the same way red wine is good for you. But don’t overdose! A piece a day brings some antioxidants your way.

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