High fructose corn syrup also speeds aging....

Today's post: Friday, 10-17-2008

We’ve already posted that drinking regular soft regular soft drinks makes you fat in part because it not only adds calories without making you less hungry—it also increases your craving for sweet foods and makes you extra hungry when your body recovers from the sugar rush you get. I’ve read that each of these effects are worse with today’s soft drinks because they are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. (These effects existed back when soft drinks contained sugar though they were not quite as bad. But back then, soft drinks were smaller and people drank many fewer bottles of them. They also got a lot more exercise and watched less TV. So, soft drinks looked safe to drink. That is no longer true.)

We posted an article that contains information suggesting that ingesting high fructose corn syrup is as bad for your heart and blood vessels as eating transfats. It seems ingesting high fructose corn syrup lowers HDL a bit and increases triglycerides. (The ratio between them reveals how much of the small particle LDL cholesterol that creates heart and cardiovascular disease is in your blood.) This means that if your HDL cholesterol is lowered and total LDL cholesterol and triglycerides are increased, you have more of the damaging small particle LDL cholesterol in your blood. Transfats or foods that contain them have been tested as doing this. That’s why they are gradually being banned. For this reason alone, high fructose corn syrup may be next on the banned food additives list.

These effects of high fructose corn syrup also tend to cause type II diabetes.

Surely the case is proved by these first three effects that high fructose corn syrup should not be consumed and FOR SURE should not be consumed several times a day. (Between soft drinks, jam, and the other foods now sold in most grocery stores many of which contain high fructose corn syrup, you really have to be careful and determined to avoid consuming high fructose corn syrup several times a day.)

It’s hard to imagine that there might be more reasons to avoid high fructose corn syrup.

But there is one. It’s a crusher too. Ouch!

I found this in my Early to Rise email yesterday.

Here’s that article.:

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”


“Are You Drinking Wrinkle Fertilizer?

By Shane "The People's Chemist" Ellison

Sugar isn't always what you think it is. These days, most of it has been replaced with an impostor.

Known as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), this synthetic sweetener masquerades as being natural and healthy. But a chemical reaction discovered in 1914 by the French chemist Louis Camille Maillard proves otherwise. Every time you consume the corn syrup, it acts as wrinkle fertilizer, courtesy of "glycation" - the process by which sugars like HFCS bind to amino acids in the bloodstream and become Advanced Glycation End (AGE) products. This class of toxins has been linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, diabetes, vascular and kidney disease, and Alzheimer's.

Hardly natural, HFCS is made in a lab. Corn syrup is chemically altered in such a way that it becomes "high-fructose" corn syrup." This leads to a much higher rate of AGE production than occurs with plain old sugar. As sure as night follows day, AGE products bind to collagen, causing it to get twisted and tangled. This shows up as age spots, wrinkles, and everything else that makes skin look old and crumbly.

So steer clear of HFCS. Instead, opt for stevia or erythritol.

[Ed. Note: With tricky substances like HFCS lurking everywhere you turn, it can be hard to stay healthy. But if you take a few simple measures, you can protect your health and live a longer, more satisfying life.

Health expert Shane Ellison simplifies complex health issues while revealing the supplements and lifestyle habits that can help you beat today's pandemic
killers. ….]”

Shane Ellison writes often for Early to Rise. Early to Rise also publishes Total Health Breakthroughs which I also often find a good source for worthwhile health information.

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Here are my two comments.:

1. So, high fructose corn syrup is neither natural, despite using corn that is natural as a starting point, nor should anyone who wants to keep good health ever consume it.

2. Since even the natural sweeteners Shane Ellison speaks of may cause your body to crave more sweetened food, just like the several kinds of artificial sweeteners do, it may be better to use real sugar but just consume foods or drinks that contain sugar much less often than most people do now.

I also happen to really dislike the taste of stevia. To me it tastes something like marshmallow flavoring that something is slightly wrong with. And, it’s overpowering if added to a food.

I’ve not tried erythritol. But erythritol is a natural food and is said to have no added taste. One way to use it might be to use a bit less sweetening over all, 75 to 90 % as much; and then have the sweetening be half erythritol and half sugar. Perhaps that might allow you a sweet treat without causing you to crave extra sweets later. And the food would have less than half as much sugar.