Foods To Avoid / High Fructose Corn Syrup

Admin Mon 10 Nov 2008, 11:23 pm

Foods To Avoid / High Fructose Corn Syrup

As always, I continue to pray that God is merciful and gracious to
us. As per the request of one of our members, Phil Ott, I pray
that......

NUMBERS 6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
NUMBERS 6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee:
NUMBERS 6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace.

DISREGARD THIS PRAYER IF IT DOESN'T APPLY TO YOU OR UNSUBSCRIBE IF
YOU TAKE OFFENSE.

This weekend I visited a town I once lived in, St. Louis MO, .....
this time as a tourist. And even though I once lived there I never
went up in the arch. (The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, OK?)
It was spectacular!!! I could look to the east and see clear over to
Indiana and Ohio and Kansas and Colorado to the west.. :-)... JUST
KIDDING!!

I also went down and had lunch at the restored riverfront, Laclede's
Landing. But because of other engagements, I didn't get to do all the
things on my list. But the point is that there was a WHOLE LIST of
things I had never done while I lived there. So I'll have to return as
a tourist and not tell my folks I'm in town until the very end.
Something to think about.

On to High Fructose Corn Syrup:

Ninety percent of Americans' household food budget is spent on
processed foods, the majority of which are filled with additives and
stripped of nutrients. As with hydrogenated vegetable oil, most of
the processed, refined or preprocessed food in your cabinet and
refrigerator contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

As with hydrogenated vegetable oil, this is not an ingredient that you
keep around the house to cook with. No recipe that you have calls for
1/4 cup of high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated vegetable oil
either for that matter.

Again, as with hydrogenated vegetable oil, you need to ask yourself a
question.

Why?

Again as with hydrogenated vegetable oil, money is the culprit. In the
70's, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)-began to gain popularity as a
sweetener because compared to traditional sweeteners, high-fructose
corn syrup costs much, much less to produce. High fructose corn syrup
is extremely soluble and mixes well in many foods. It is easier and
cheaper to store.

So consequently it's used in everything from bread to pasta sauces to
bacon to beer as well as in "health products" like protein bars and
"natural" sodas. It gives bread an inviting, brown color and soft
texture, so it's also in whole-wheat bread, hamburger buns, and
English muffins. It is in beer, bacon, spaghetti sauce, soft drinks,
and even ketchup.

Research shows that this liquid sweetener may upset the natural
balance of good health, raising the risk for heart disease and
diabetes. High-fructose corn syrup's chemical structure encourages
overeating. It forces the liver to pump more heart-threatening
triglycerides into the bloodstream. It zaps your body's reserves of
chromium, a mineral important for healthy levels of cholesterol,
insulin, and blood sugar.

A very brief summary of the dangers of high fructose corn syrup:

1.
High fructose corn syrup can be manipulated to contain equal amounts
of fructose and glucose, or up to 80 percent fructose and 20 percent
glucose. Fructose interferes with copper metabolism. A deficiency in
copper leads to bone fragility, anemia, defects of the connective
tissue, arteries, and bone, infertility, heart arrhythmias, high
cholesterol levels, heart attacks, and an inability to control blood
sugar levels. Additionally your body needs copper in order to
efficiently process Vitamin A.

2.
Recent research on other hormonal factors suggests that fructose
actually promotes disease more readily than glucose. Glucose is
metabolized in every cell in the body but all fructose must be
metabolized in the liver. The livers of test animals fed large amounts
of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrhosis, similar to problems
that develop in the livers of alcoholics.

3.
Because it is metabolized by the liver, fructose does not cause the
pancreas to release insulin the way it normally does. Fructose
converts to fat more than any other sugar. This may be one of the
reasons Americans continue to get fatter. Fructose raises serum
triglycerides significantly. As a left-handed sugar, fructose
digestion is very low. For complete internal conversion of fructose
into glucose and acetates, it must rob ATP energy stores from the
liver.

Today, we consume nearly 63 pounds of it per person per year in drinks
and sweets, as well as in other products.

To spot fructose on a food label, look for the words "corn sweetener,"
"corn syrup," or "corn syrup solids" as well as "high-fructose corn
syrup."

ADDITIONALLY:
High fructose corn syrup is the primary sweetener used in soft drinks,
now readily available to children in school vending machines. The soft
drink industry increased US production from 22 to gallons of soft
drinks per person a year between 1970 and 1997. Teenagers and
children, the industry's main targets, are among the largest
consumers. In the past 10 years, soft drink consumption among children
has almost doubled in the United States. A typical 20-ounce Coke
contains zero fat, zero protein and 27 grams of carbohydrates, usually
in the form of high fructose corn syrup.

AS A PARENT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET THAT GARBAGE OUT OF THE SCHOOLS.

But of course... IT'S YOUR HEALTH. Why take our word for it? You can
research anything mentioned on this site yourself. Good search engines
are www.mamma.com or www.google.com. or www.dogpile.com or ww.ask.com.
Just enter one or more keywords and do your own research.

Until next time remember, most illness (upwards of 80% according to
experts) can be attributed to FOUR important factors that can weaken
your immune system and your ability to fight off disease:

1. Anxiety, depression, anger, guilt and other STRESS factors. LEARN
TO FORGIVE AND LET GO.

2. Improper and/or inadequate NUTRITION habits. LEARN TO AVOID
PROCESSED AND/OR REFINED FOODS.

3. A sedentary lifestyle that does not include enough EXERCISE.
FIND SOME KIND OF PHYSICALLY ENGAGING ACTIVITY IF IT IS NOTHING BUT
MORNING OR EVENING WALKS.

4. Not enough rest and quality SLEEP time. GO TO BED. "EARLY TO BED
AND EARLY TO RISE; MAKES A MAN HEALTHY, WEALTHY AND WISE".

LEGAL DISCLAIMER - Required by the FDA. The statements on this page
have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these
statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.