While browsing through the books in my local library, I stumbled upon a book that caught my immediate attention – “ The Abs Diet for Women”. Who doesn’t want toned, flat abs? Sounded liked the perfect book for this time of the year. Once I started reading; the topic that encouraged me to do more research outside of the book was “High Fructose Corn Syrup”.
What is HFCS? (Recently renamed “Fructose”) Lately, fructose wars have taken up great deal of media attention. In simple words, HFCS is a sweetener made from corn and can be found in numerous foods and beverages on grocery store shelves in United States. If HFCS is just a sugar, why has it become some dietary devil in recent studies? According to experts, our body does not process HFCS like ordinary sugars. When sugar enters the liver it can store it, burn it or turn it into body fat. HFCS bypasses this process and goes directly to fat. Fructose, unlike glucose, does not effectively shut down the hunger signal; this makes it tempting for consumers to eat more, which in turn promotes conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. As per the recent studies, High Fructose Corn Syrup use has increased by TEN THOUSAND percent in the last 35 years. The 1980’s started the Fat Free Craze to help with the increasing number of heart diseases. Hence, we started seeing HFCS added into nearly everything to keep the taste of the processed foods.
Out of curiosity, I walked to my pantry and started reading nutrition labels on the “favorite” food items in our house. To my surprise, 99% of the food items that my family likes to eat (and I considered healthy) had HFCS as a prominent ingredient. Besides soft drinks and fruit juices, I also found HFCS in: Cereals, Yogurt, Peanut Butter, Ketchup, Crackers, Bread, Salad Dressings, Ice Cream, Jelly, Granola Bars, Fruit Snacks, Cookies, and many more…
My next grocery shopping trip was longer than usual, but worth the effort. I read nutrition labels for each and every product before it made to my shopping cart. There are tons of alternatives available. I am changing the way I shop, and we are changing the way we eat. Here is a list of some of our favorite foods in my house that we switched to non-HFCS substitutes.
For a list of of other products with NO High Fructose Corn Syrup click on the links below:
The No High Fructose Corn Syrup List
Stop HFCS
