High
Fructose Corn Syrup: The Obesity Link
Playing outside in the
hot days of summer will work up a thirst. While water
is the best quencher of thirst and should be the first
choice you offer your children, sometimes it's nice to
have a sweeter treat to enjoy. Choosing 100 percent
real fruit juice for your children is the best choice
and diluting it 50 percent with water is recommended.
When shopping for
juices, you may notice that high quality, 100 percent
juice is expensive. Many companies offer cheaper
juices that taste like the real thing, with as much as
95 percent less of the real stuff. They mimic the
taste of real juice by adding artificial flavors and
high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
is a potent sweetener and an unhealthy ingredient. In
fact, in the past few years, a mountain of studies
provide evidence of a significant link between HCFS
and the increases in obesity.
So how does high
fructose corn syrup make people fatter? Even though it
is sweet like sugar, HFCS is digested much
differently. Research shows that HFCS goes directly to
the liver, releasing instructions for the body to
store fat. This elevates triglyceride (fat in blood)
levels and cholesterol levels. It is also believed
that HFCS may slow fat burning and cause weight gain.
And still other research indicates that it does not
stimulate insulin production, which usually creates
the body's sense of being full. Therefore, people may
eat more than they should. While there is no single
cause to the enormous rise in obesity, it is clear to
many healthcare professionals that HFCS is part of the
problem.
High fructose corn
syrup is a very common ingredient in toddler and
children foods, and it is especially common in juice
and drinks. HFCS is so prevalent in processed foods;
you may find it impossible to avoid it. Read
ingredient labels carefully to try to limit your
family's consumption of this unhealthy ingredient.
by Cheryl
Tallman and Joan Ahlers
"An
apple a day keeps the doctor away"
[If the doctor is cute, who cares about the fruit..LOL]"
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