There Is No Difference Between Corn Syrup and Sugar ( wink, wink )

According to whom? Oh, the corn growers association. That’s who. The ones who stand to gain monetarily from using more and more of that stuff. My only problem with the whole thing is, if there is no difference, then why change from sugar to corn syrup in the first place? They must think that we just got off the banana boat. Not only is hfcs cheaper, it isn’t as good for you, either. You’ve likely seen the advertisements promoting the idea that corn syrup is the same as sugar. There is a difference – high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has a slightly higher quantity of fructose than do traditional cane or beet sugars, the stuff that your body can’t use.

But the big downside of HFCS isn’t that it is much less healthy than regular refined sugar (sucrose) – the truth is the body processes them in a similar way. The real downside is that since HFCS is so cheap, it is widely used: it’s a primary ingredient in soft drinks and often hidden in processed foods including salad dressings and ketchup, jams, jellies, ice cream, bread and crackers. In short, it is one of the biggest sources of calories in the American diet, and serves as a “marker” for identifying cheap, processed, unhealthy foods of all kinds.

Regular consumption of HFCS, in fact the regular consumption of any sugar, may contribute to obesity, which in turn is a risk factor for several types of cancer and diabetes. The American Dietetic Association says studies show “little evidence” that HFCS “differs uniquely” from sugar and other sweeteners in how it affects metabolism or weight gain, although it notes that more data are needed. But a 2010 study by University of Princeton researchers found that rats fed HFCS gained more weight than those fed the same amount of calories from sugar.

Science has shown that HFCS, unlike regular ol’ sugar, actually boosts our fat-storing hormones. Awesome. In a University of Florida study, HFCS directly caused leptin resistance in rats. Additional research found that fructose doesn’t suppress hunger hormone ghrelin levels the way table sugar does. What’s more, as Jillian Michaels writes in her book, Master Your Metabolism, HFCS also increases trigylcerides, and high trigylcerides prevent leptin from working in the brain, so it can’t tell you to stop overeating. Gah!

Now, consider that the average consumption of refined sugar has dwindled in the past 40 years, but our consumption of HFCS has shot up almost twenty-fold. Definitely seems to match up with the sugar industry holds that obesity and diabetes are linked to HFCS’s popularity. There is a BIG difference in corn syrup and sugar.

kcasr
http://goo.gl/F9AOH

It’s Time To Get Healthy, Don’t You Think?