Recently, my husband and I went to Walmart and bought some drinks for a party we were attending. We decided on Gatorade because it was SOOO hot and figured people would like that. We were shocked to see the label read “No HFCS”, which means “No High Fructose Corn Syrup”. I realize I may be on the late end of noticing that fact – but it’s a trend we’ve seen everywhere….. people are talking about  HFCS and its health implications.

If you don’t know much about HFCS, read this description from Wikipedia. The first paragraph tells you  most of what you need to know:

In the US, HFCS is among the sweeteners that have partially replaced sucrose (table sugar), due to governmental subsidies of U.S. corn and an import tariff on foreign sugar, raising the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS cost-efficient for many sweetener applications. Critics of the extensive use of HFCS in food sweetening argue that the highly processed substance is more harmful to humans than regular sugar, contributing to weight gain by affecting normal appetite functions, and that in some foods HFCS may be a source of mercury, a known neurotoxin. The Corn Refiners Association disputes these claims and maintain that HFCS is comparable to table sugar. Studies by The American Medical Association suggest “it appears unlikely that HFCS contributes more to obesity or other conditions than sucrose” but calls for further independent research on the subject. HFCS was classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1976. Over 85% of the corn syrup produced in the United States is a genetically modified product.

So, according to a standard source….. HFCS:
1. Is extremely refined
2. Causes more weight gain in humans than standard table sugar
3. Contains mercury (a neurotoxin)
4. Is over 85% genetically modified. Here (Science Fiction Horror Story) is a simple read about genetic modification

I’ve also noticed videos online talking about how fructose feeds cancers and causes WAY more growth (of that cancer) than glucose by itself. Video from CNN

AND I’ve seen commercials telling people that HFCS is just the same as table sugar.
Watch this commercial spoof, it contains more information!

So, uh…. do you try to avoid HFCS?

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