High-Fructose Corn Syrup

Have you seen those commercials on TV promoting the health of high fructose corn syrup? I totally thought that I was watching Saturday Night Live. This had to be some kind of joke.

"Don't give that to the kids. It has high fructose corn syrup in it."
"You know, that's just a fancy smanshy name for corn."
"Great! Let's feed it to the kids with a side of mercury and lead paint."

Hang my head in shame, but while I knew to stay away from HFCS I had no idea why. As a girl with a major sweet tooth, I knew that I needed to do a little research.

Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. I don't even wear white (black is way more flattering).

Fact #1 HFCS is made from genetically modified corn and is then processed with genetically modified enzymes. Frankenfood

Fact #2 Most companies use HFCS instead of sugar because of the expense of importing sugar. Corn crops are subsidized in the US and therefore are much cheaper than corn. Cheaper ingredients equal great profits.

Fact #3 Studies have found that soft drinks sweetened with HFCS are up to 10 times richer in harmful carbonyl compounds than diet soda. Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are blamed for causing diabetic complications such as foot ulcers and eye and nerve damage

Fact # 4 Glucose is metabolized in every cell in the body but all fructose must be metabolized in the liver. That's a lot of extra stress on the liver.

Now the Corn Refiners Association has begun to realize that the American people are waking-up and not making their food purchases blindly. Cue the horrible commercials.

I poked around on YouTube (what could be more fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon) and found a few parodies of the Pro-HFCS commercials. Funny I tell you. This one in particular is a hoot. Anytime you can compare companies blindly leading American consumers to the Nazis, it really drives the massage home.