15/365 The Trouble with HFC

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

I am anti-high fructose corn syrup. It is evil. Forget about those commercials featuring people sitting on a blanket eating Popsicle with HFC. They aren't happy. They had to advertise that this artificial sweetener is okay despite what bad press it's received. Does honey ever have to do that? I didn't think so.

So what's the big fuss? High fructose corn syrup is an artificially made sugar. Though your brain recognizes it as sweet, your stomach does not recognize it as energy. Leptin is an enzyme that tells your brain that you're full. This is based on however many caloric units you've consumed. Since HFC is so foreign, leptin isn't triggered. Despite however much you've consumed, your body is still craving sugar. You can see how this could lead to overeating and eventually obesity.

HFC is in (almost) everything though! How did it get this way? HFC is made by corn. Corn is cheap to make. HFC is cheap. It's the food manufacturer's way of making their products "affordable," more like poor quality. There's still hope. A quick look on the back of the box will tell you. Ingredients are listed in order of how much of that ingredient is used. If HFC is high on the list, I would do my best to avoid that, like soda.

HFC isn't real. Neither is Splenda or any diet sweetener. I will discuss these another day. Stick with turbinado (raw sugar), table sugar, or honey.

In health,

Lauren