More on why to avoid high fructose corn syrup:
Welcome to our health & self help blog.
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today's post: Thursday, 7-20-2006
More on why to avoid high fructose corn syrup:
Dr Mark Hyman is an expert on how to eat to stay well & has a new book, Ultrametabolism, which has his take on how to use eating foods like the Superfoods we listed to take off excess fat & keep it off.
Yesterday, he sent an email to me as someone on his list with some great info & additional reasons to avoid high fructose corn syrup.
In addition take making you fat & maybe triggering type II diabetes, his information indicates high fructose corn syrup also causes heart disease !!
Ouch !!
He also has some ideas on avoiding it that may include some you can use.
His email was so well done, I’ve decided to post the key part of it here for you to read.
(He has a website, www.ultrametabolism.com if you’d like to find out more about him & his book.)
Here’s his info:
"…. on high fructose
corn syrup (HFCS)….":
"Even if you've never heard of HFCS, you've almost certainly eaten it. This highly processed, chemically altered sweetener was created by a Japanese scientist in a lab in
1971 and has been used in almost all processed and prepackaged foods ever since.
HFCS consumption has skyrocketed in the last 25 years, up a whopping 1,000 percent since its creation. And no wonder! You'll find it in everything from soft drinks and yogurt to cookies and crackers. In fact, HFCS now represents more than 40 percent of the caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages.
Is it a coincidence that this country's obesity rates have more than doubled during that time period? I don't think so!
HFCS is bad for your health -- and your weight -- in several ways.
First, you'll usually find large amounts of HFCS in energy dense foods -- those that are high in calories but not much else. That's just another name for foods that are processed,
junk, and high in refined carbohydrates and sugar.
And we know that when people eat energy dense food, they tend to take in more calories than people who eat higher amounts of what I call nutrient dense food.
That's because nutrient dense food gives you more bang for your nutritional buck. For example, the classic energy dense beverage, a soft drink, weighs far less than a pound of
asparagus but has a lot more calories.
So if you eat a plant-based, whole-food diet of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains, you can eat a lot more and weigh a lot less! (Not to mention avoid nearly all the age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.)
Of course, the obesity epidemic has many causes, including reduced levels of physical activity, increased portion sizes, eating outside the home and at fast-food restaurants,
and our overall "toxic food environment." But we do know that the introduction of HFCS into the food supply is associated with the beginning of the obesity epidemic.
Don't believe it?
Well, consider this: Even a slight difference of an extra 100 calories a day can add up to a 10-pound weight gain in just one year. And the average American drinks 440 12-ounce
cans of HFCS-laced soda each year!
The second reason that HCFS is bad news for your waistline and your health?
It makes you eat MORE!
Yes, you read that right. HFCS actually increases your appetite. Here's how.
Regular table sugar is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, while -- as its name implies -- HFCS is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Doesn't seem like a big difference, but it can have HUGE effects on your appetite.
When you eat fructose, it doesn't set into motion the chemical reactions and hormones that tell your brain you are full. For instance, fructose doesn't stimulate insulin
secretion or the increase in leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full). While glucose is transported into the brain, affecting brain signals that control or limit
appetite, fructose is not.
Plus, fructose doesn't reduce ghrelin, a stomach hormone
that stimulates appetite. And fructose may also decrease
adiponectin levels, which is a hormone made by fat cells
that helps make you more sensitive to insulin and helps
control your weight and appetite.
What does all that mean? Simply put, when you eat more
fructose you don't feel full -- so you keep eating!
Finally, HFCS isn't just bad for your weight, it's bad for
your health in general.
Here's an undisputed medical fact: You can survive on an
intravenous drip of glucose. But replace the glucose with
fructose, and you'd get a fatty liver.
That's because fructose is the source the chemical building
blocks of cholesterol and triglyceride production. And
fructose just isn't digested, absorbed, or metabolized in
the same way as glucose. Instead, it goes right to your
cells without the help of insulin.
The result? Fructose moves right into fat production -- so
it spikes your triglycerides but lowers your HDL ("good")
cholesterol. It also increases your levels of small, dense
LDL (called LDL-B) cholesterol, which is much more dangerous
than regular LDL ("bad") cholesterol.
The science is clear: Fructose consumption is associated
with insulin resistance, increased calorie intake, impaired
metabolism, weight gain, high cholesterol, and high blood
pressure.
And there's one more problem: The corn used in HFCS is
typically genetically altered -- it has 13 carbon molecules,
not 12. And we have no good long-term data on the effects of
eating all that altered corn!
By now, you can probably guess my bottom line: Avoid high
fructose corn syrup!
Easier said than done? Not necessarily.
Take these steps to reduce your intake:
1. Minimize your intake of all sugars, whatever the source.
2. Remove sweetened drinks ("liquid candy"), including sodas
and sweetened fruit drinks.
3. Eat a whole-food, real-food diet with plenty of
vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds and
healthy fats like olive oil and fish oil.
4. When you do use sugar, choose natural sweeteners such as
those found in fruit. (Yes, fruit contains fructose, but
it's also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and other healthy
compounds.) Or try agave nectar, a natural sugar that your
body may metabolize better.
5. If you see a food with "high fructose corn-syrup" on the
label, put it back on the shelf. You will be doing yourself
a favor.
If you weren't aware of HFCS and its potential risks before,
you certainly are now. I hope you'll use this new awareness
to improve your diet -- and your health.
To you and your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today's post: Thursday, 7-20-2006
More on why to avoid high fructose corn syrup:
Dr Mark Hyman is an expert on how to eat to stay well & has a new book, Ultrametabolism, which has his take on how to use eating foods like the Superfoods we listed to take off excess fat & keep it off.
Yesterday, he sent an email to me as someone on his list with some great info & additional reasons to avoid high fructose corn syrup.
In addition take making you fat & maybe triggering type II diabetes, his information indicates high fructose corn syrup also causes heart disease !!
Ouch !!
He also has some ideas on avoiding it that may include some you can use.
His email was so well done, I’ve decided to post the key part of it here for you to read.
(He has a website, www.ultrametabolism.com if you’d like to find out more about him & his book.)
Here’s his info:
"…. on high fructose
corn syrup (HFCS)….":
"Even if you've never heard of HFCS, you've almost certainly eaten it. This highly processed, chemically altered sweetener was created by a Japanese scientist in a lab in
1971 and has been used in almost all processed and prepackaged foods ever since.
HFCS consumption has skyrocketed in the last 25 years, up a whopping 1,000 percent since its creation. And no wonder! You'll find it in everything from soft drinks and yogurt to cookies and crackers. In fact, HFCS now represents more than 40 percent of the caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages.
Is it a coincidence that this country's obesity rates have more than doubled during that time period? I don't think so!
HFCS is bad for your health -- and your weight -- in several ways.
First, you'll usually find large amounts of HFCS in energy dense foods -- those that are high in calories but not much else. That's just another name for foods that are processed,
junk, and high in refined carbohydrates and sugar.
And we know that when people eat energy dense food, they tend to take in more calories than people who eat higher amounts of what I call nutrient dense food.
That's because nutrient dense food gives you more bang for your nutritional buck. For example, the classic energy dense beverage, a soft drink, weighs far less than a pound of
asparagus but has a lot more calories.
So if you eat a plant-based, whole-food diet of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains, you can eat a lot more and weigh a lot less! (Not to mention avoid nearly all the age-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.)
Of course, the obesity epidemic has many causes, including reduced levels of physical activity, increased portion sizes, eating outside the home and at fast-food restaurants,
and our overall "toxic food environment." But we do know that the introduction of HFCS into the food supply is associated with the beginning of the obesity epidemic.
Don't believe it?
Well, consider this: Even a slight difference of an extra 100 calories a day can add up to a 10-pound weight gain in just one year. And the average American drinks 440 12-ounce
cans of HFCS-laced soda each year!
The second reason that HCFS is bad news for your waistline and your health?
It makes you eat MORE!
Yes, you read that right. HFCS actually increases your appetite. Here's how.
Regular table sugar is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, while -- as its name implies -- HFCS is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Doesn't seem like a big difference, but it can have HUGE effects on your appetite.
When you eat fructose, it doesn't set into motion the chemical reactions and hormones that tell your brain you are full. For instance, fructose doesn't stimulate insulin
secretion or the increase in leptin (the hormone that makes you feel full). While glucose is transported into the brain, affecting brain signals that control or limit
appetite, fructose is not.
Plus, fructose doesn't reduce ghrelin, a stomach hormone
that stimulates appetite. And fructose may also decrease
adiponectin levels, which is a hormone made by fat cells
that helps make you more sensitive to insulin and helps
control your weight and appetite.
What does all that mean? Simply put, when you eat more
fructose you don't feel full -- so you keep eating!
Finally, HFCS isn't just bad for your weight, it's bad for
your health in general.
Here's an undisputed medical fact: You can survive on an
intravenous drip of glucose. But replace the glucose with
fructose, and you'd get a fatty liver.
That's because fructose is the source the chemical building
blocks of cholesterol and triglyceride production. And
fructose just isn't digested, absorbed, or metabolized in
the same way as glucose. Instead, it goes right to your
cells without the help of insulin.
The result? Fructose moves right into fat production -- so
it spikes your triglycerides but lowers your HDL ("good")
cholesterol. It also increases your levels of small, dense
LDL (called LDL-B) cholesterol, which is much more dangerous
than regular LDL ("bad") cholesterol.
The science is clear: Fructose consumption is associated
with insulin resistance, increased calorie intake, impaired
metabolism, weight gain, high cholesterol, and high blood
pressure.
And there's one more problem: The corn used in HFCS is
typically genetically altered -- it has 13 carbon molecules,
not 12. And we have no good long-term data on the effects of
eating all that altered corn!
By now, you can probably guess my bottom line: Avoid high
fructose corn syrup!
Easier said than done? Not necessarily.
Take these steps to reduce your intake:
1. Minimize your intake of all sugars, whatever the source.
2. Remove sweetened drinks ("liquid candy"), including sodas
and sweetened fruit drinks.
3. Eat a whole-food, real-food diet with plenty of
vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds and
healthy fats like olive oil and fish oil.
4. When you do use sugar, choose natural sweeteners such as
those found in fruit. (Yes, fruit contains fructose, but
it's also rich in antioxidants, fiber, and other healthy
compounds.) Or try agave nectar, a natural sugar that your
body may metabolize better.
5. If you see a food with "high fructose corn-syrup" on the
label, put it back on the shelf. You will be doing yourself
a favor.
If you weren't aware of HFCS and its potential risks before,
you certainly are now. I hope you'll use this new awareness
to improve your diet -- and your health.
To you and your good health,
Mark Hyman, MD
posted by David at 4:17 PM
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