THAT FRIGGIN' FRUCTOSE!

It's everywhere people. High fructose corn syrup is in just about everything you eat(except organic food). What is it? Simply put, it is a sweetener. But it is a sweetener that is not as 'good' for you as sugar. Up until the 1970's we got our sugar from sugar cane and sugar beets. But when businessmen who answer to a bottom line gave scientists a problem all hell broke loose. The lab coat dudes figured out a way to combine fructose with sucrose and voila: high fructose corn syrup from corn sugar. But why abandon cane and beets fellas? You guessed it: it's cheaper to produce than the traditional way. HFCS can be produced as a cocktail of 50% glucose 50% sucrose but as time marched on it is often being produced at a ratio of 80% fructose to 20% glucose.

THE BAD NEWS

Fructose is harder on our bodies. It is more difficult to process. It makes the liver work harder to absorb. The excess may come out in urine or be passed as diarrhea or...drum roll please...stored as fat. Obesity in America began to sky rocket in the early 1980's and I'm pointing my finger at HFCS. Nice work science guys! And I don't need to tell you where obesity is today in this country. HFCS is just about everywhere: breads, pasta sauces, bacon as well as health products like protein bars and 'natural sodas'. Imagine doing a kick ass workout and all you want to do is replenish your depleted protein with a tasty energy bar and Boom! Pow! Zap! it's loaded with a man made supplement that's headin' straight for your fat stores. There ought to be a law! Well, there ain't and if you're waiting on the Food & Drug Administration to protect you, HA! Don't hold your breath.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Ladies and gentlemen food manufacturers answer to a bottom line, often at the expense of you and me. It's time you set a bottom line for yourself. A health line that you won't go below. Read the label people and read it well. If High fructose corn syrup is in, then toss it back in the bin. If you care about your health, then leave the high fructose corn syrup on the shelf. If high fructose corn---o.k., o.k. I think you get the picture. Stay fit, your life depends on it!!!