I've been wanting to do an article on HFCS for a while, but recently was having a conversation with a friend, which reminded me again to do so. She mentioned that her sister-in-law (who is a dietitian) had just taken a continuing education course on HFCS. I'll share what she taught me.
(this is off a bottle of Langer's juice, but sums up what I've read elsewhere and what she said)
"Is HFCS a major cause of obesity? Most nutritionists say yes. The body processes HFCS differently than it does sugar, altering the way the metabolism is regulated. As a result, the body is tricked into craving more while the liver releases additional fat into the bloodstream. We eat more and at the same time store more fat."
And from another source, "When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full."
href="http://healthmad.com/nutrition/dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/">(this is off a bottle of Langer's juice, but sums up what I've read elsewhere and what she said)
"Is HFCS a major cause of obesity? Most nutritionists say yes. The body processes HFCS differently than it does sugar, altering the way the metabolism is regulated. As a result, the body is tricked into craving more while the liver releases additional fat into the bloodstream. We eat more and at the same time store more fat."
And from another source, "When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full."
How can we avoid it? The 2 best ways are to read your labels and make things from scratch. It is in pretty much every processed food (restaurant food included here), so the best way to avoid it is by making food yourself. (otherwise known as a "Whole Foods Diet") Things like ketchup have it too, but usually those things aren't ingested in large quantities like sodas and other beverages are. One thing this dietitian also learned is that General Mills cereals use sugar, whereas Kellogg's uses HFCS. In the Pacific Northwest, Franz bread is switching back to using honey and sugar, although some of their breads do have it still. Read your labels!
So, that's what I've learned, in a nutshell!
