10 Side Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup

You have heard the term high fructose corn syrup if you have spent any time on health websites, magazine articles or television shows. Commonly referred to as HFCS, the sweetener accounts for more calories than any other food option in the entire American diet.

Negative Effects of HFCS

High fructose corn syrup, so commonly found because corn has become one of the cheapest most widely available crops, acts as an alternative sweetener to normal table sugar. The fructose has a much sweeter taste and acts as a much more cost effective option for food producers and manufacturers. Ultimately, HFCS acts as the number one cause for obesity in the world, especially in the United States of America. The sweetener has the ability to decrease metabolism and hinder the natural production of insulin and other appetite controllers, amongst other problems.

1. Obesity

HFCS limits your body’s ability to produce insulin and leptin, making it difficult to metabolize food and regulate appetite. The pancreas remains insulin resistance to all types of fructose, including HFCS, severely hindering appetite control.

2. Diabetes

Due to obesity and an irregular fluctuation of insulin, HFCS leads to diabetes in many people. Continual pancreatic damage remains the main cause of diabetes.

3. Tooth Infections and Decay

Foods rich in sugars and sweeteners like HFCS rot teeth by decaying the enamel coating.

4. LDL Cholesterol and Triglycerides Increase

Sugars metabolize into fat, therefore increasing your unhealthy cholesterol levels along with the fat storages in your body. Since high fructose corn syrup does not cause the secretion of insulin or leptin, foods with high levels of the sweetener become nearly fully absorbed and metabolized into fat and cholesterol.

5. Increased Risk of Heart Attack and Heart Disease

High amounts of HFCS often result in higher cholesterol, which in turn blocks arteries and the flow of blood to and from the heart. This process weakens the heart muscles and the ability for new oxygen to circulate throughout the body. The increase in fat storages also harms heart health.

6. Anemia

In order for your body to digest HFCS and other sugars that contain no vitamins or minerals, you must use other storages of the valuable nutrients, depleting your body of its natural amounts.

7. Poor Immunity

HFCS interfere with the creation of hormones and enzymes in your body that normally defend major diseases.

8. Lack of Calories

Even though foods that contain high levels of HFCS provide a ton of calories, those calories have no nutritional value at all. This often gets labeled as the empty calorie phenomenon.

9. Fatigue

High levels of sugar cause your body to release greater amounts of hormones and endorphins that slow the body down.

10. Mood Swings and Withdrawal

Too much sugar and HFCS will cause your body to crave more, and when trying to cut back, the desire and cravings only increase.

sited @

http://bit.ly/gPythW

How I lost 12lbs since January

Do you want to shed a few pounds?

Keep reading and see how I shed 12lbs since January.

I've been trying to be really diligent not to eat any products that have high fructose corn syrup (which is found in most processed foods),

no artificial sweeteners,

and I stopped eating pork. You maybe wondering why I have cut these items out...

so let me proceed to explain=}

High-fructose corn syrup

(HFCS) — also called glucose-fructose syrup^[1][2] in the UK, glucose/fructose^[3] in Canada, and high-fructose maize syrup in other countries — comprises any of a group of corn syrups that has undergone enzymatic processing to convert some of its glucose into fructose to produce a desired sweetness. In the United States, consumer foods and products typically use high-fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It has become very common in processed foods and beverages in the U.S., including breads, cereals, breakfast bars,lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments.^[4]

The most widely used varieties of high-fructose corn syrup are: HFCS 55 (mostly used in soft drinks), approximately 55% fructose and 42% glucose; and HFCS 42 (used in many foods and baked goods), approximately 42% fructose and 53% glucose.^[5] HFCS-90, approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose, is used in small quantities for specialty applications, but primarily is used to blend with HFCS 42 to make HFCS 55.^[6]

In the U.S., HFCS is among the sweeteners that have primarily replaced sucrose (table sugar). Factors for this include governmental production quotas of domestic sugar, subsidies of U.S. corn, and an import tariff on foreign sugar; all of which combine to raise the price of sucrose to levels above those of the rest of the world, making HFCS less costly 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.^{[7][8][9] (http://bit.ly/2tFjog)}

another interesting article I found @ http://bit.ly/4pFeRg

Recommendations from the American Heart Association — not a part of official U.S. dietary guidelines — say that most American women should consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar from any source, and that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories a day from added sugar, and that even less is better. That's about 6 teaspoons of added sugar for women and 9 for men.

It's prudent to consume any added sugar only in moderation. Consider these tips to cut back:

• Avoid sugary, nondiet sodas. Drink water or other unsweetened beverages instead.
• Choose breakfast cereals carefully. Although healthy breakfast cereals can contain added sugar to make them more appealing to children, skip the non-nutritious, sugary and frosted cereals.
• Eat fewer processed and packaged foods, such as sweetened grains like cookies and cakes and some microwaveable meals.
• Snack on vegetables, fruit, low-fat cheese, whole-grain crackers, and low-fat, low-calorie yogurt instead of candy, pastries and cookies.

HFCS is a chemical that is hard for our livers to break down therefore it stays in our system a lot longer then it should and builds up in our systems. It's just plain ol' not good for your bodies. To say the least I have seen the results in myself by not consuming this chemical...I'm not perfect I have consumed it in a few items since January but for the most part I have done pretty good and have reaped the benefits by seeing the pounds come off. =}

(keep an eye out, I will post more on HFCS in the future and the side effects and how I'm continuing to make life changes that will impact my health and others around me...I'm so excited what the future holds =+}

How's the New Years resolutions going?

So, since I've decided January 1st to cut out pork and High Fructose Corn Syrup I've lost 5 lbs. It hasn't been the easiest I would have to say, considering it seems as though almost every product out there besides raw fruits and vegetables has it in it. But I do have to say I have definitely seen results and I feel a whole lot better. I've been trying to add to my new year's resolution no Artificial (flavor, colors, or sweeteners) since the 22nd of January...haven't been the most successful there but I'm working on it. I'm trying to add a new year's resolution every 21 days.This week I've been inspired from another blog I follow "Keeper of the Home" (aka http://www.keeperofthehome.org) and on her blog one of her guests from

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/ challenged others to try going off sugar for a whole week (you can check out the article on her blog @ http://bit.ly/gTgTBK ) she's been off sugar for 3 years.

It has challenged me to try it out for a week to see how my results might be....which I can already tell you will not be the easiest challenge for me since I love coffee but usually like sugar in the raw in it...but I figured if I take it one day at a time not focusing on the Big Picture (the whole week long) I think I can do this. So starting Monday morning I think I'm going to give it a go and try to go sugar free for the whole. With a few tweaks to it. I will allow myself products that have natural sugars.

For instance: Fruits, Honey, and Stevia (which is a natural sweetener extracted from a plant) that way I can still have my cup of jo in the mornings. I have to be careful I don

't restrict my diet to much from foods because I'm still breastfeeding Marcus. I need food to make sure I'm still producing milk for him. I do have to say though, I've been pleased with the results physically and internally of no pork or High Fructose Corn Syrup, so what can it hurt with no sugar for a week. =}

I can only feel better by going more natural. So, onto this new adventure and I will let you know how it goes.

New Years Resolutions

Okay one of my new years resolutions was to get my family to start eating healthier.

And one of the ways I intend to do that is to cut things out of our foods that we eat. So, I started with myself and I'm cutting out a few items at a time...I found it's easier to keep good habits if you only take baby steps at completing the big picture. The BIG PICTURE that I would like to eventually see is for us to consume the















"Great Physicians RX for Health and Wellness".

You can check out the diet in this book.

I know I will have a better chance being successful in this goal by changing my own eating habits first and then move onto my children and just have High Hopes for my husband.=}

(he's getting pretty set in his ways, but I figure if he sees how healthy and great I feel...and look, for his eyes only) lol

My High Hopes is he will slowly desire to make the same changes.

So, the few things I have started with this year are a staple for our so called American diet
(pork and high fructose corn syrup). And wow, I didn't realize how much products actually have high fructose corn syrup in them until I started paying more attention to labels so I could cut them out of my foods that I consume. You maybe wondering why I chose these two items to start with, well let me tell you...the pork will be easy for me, even though I enjoy bacon and ham, I don't absolutely love them so I don't mind going without. (Pork is pigs which are scavenger animals that will literally eat anything that comes across their paths...Won't go into any gruesome details, so what they consume is broken down and goes through their digestive system which will excrete from their bodies and when we eat pig we will eventually consume whatever they have consumed...you can read more about pigs if you pick up Jordan Rubin's book) I know it will be easier to say no to pork then it will be to say no to chocolate that contains high fructose corn syrup. But it's a psychological thing for me, if I can say no to pork then I can also say no to high fructose corn syrup...I just have to read labels a lot closer now.
I've been doing good so far, but we are only 4 days into the New Year and I had Trader Joe's chocolate that had no fructose corn syrup that was given to us over the holidays that was AMAZING to say the least, but now it is all gone and I need to find some more.
Because I really enjoy my chocolate! (i will confess i did have 1 m-n-m today...)
So this is my fun new adventure I am on, and I am excited to get completely on the
"The Great Physicians RX for Health and Wellness"
but I'm going to take it one baby step at a time.
Some steps will be smaller then others. =}

New Years Resolutions

It amazes me how many people (myself included) make new year resolutions every year and maybe make it the first two weeks and then never really stay motivated to actually keep going all year long. How easily it is to make all kinds of resolutions to: loose weight, get in shape, start eating healthier, read and grow everyday (not growing from eating either) :) lol which seems all the growing I'm doing lately:) But every year around new years I usually start the year off with new or repeating resolutions from the previous year yet only to make it to the 3rd week of January (if I'm lucky to make it that far) on my new resolutions... Although if I would actually only start w/ 1 or 2 resolutions for the beginning of the year and keep @ it for 3 weeks "they say, you can get into a good habit within 3 weeks". Maybe that's where I need to start only set 2 goals to start the year off and then once I'm set into those good habits I can always add more resolutions as the year goes on and by the time the end of the following year comes I will have been successful in starting and setting several life changing goals and actually make them stick. Instead of trying to start 10 different resolutions and not even making it to the 1st of February completing and changing my life around only to land back where I started. (that's more frustrating to me to start something and never finish it). So, as I'm contemplating a set of life changing goals I want to complete in this new years I will think through the goals, write them out and then pick two to start the year off with. With all of you ready to start on your new goals and resolutions good luck and I wish you all the best staying commited to changing 1 day at a time!

what's your Perspective on LIfe?

Awe the joys of life! Or, is it the drudge of life for you?! Life can be exciting, fun, & an adventure just to be alive. Or it can be a drudge?! " DRUDGE: A person who does tedious, menial, or unpleasant work. To do tedious, unpleasant, or menial work." (Just trying to help us expand our vocabulary) :)
a drudge to get out of bed, a drudge to go to work, a drudge just to have to be...be there for others. At times being a stay at home mom can be a drudge, we do tedious, menial, unpleasant work each and every day. But in reality it's all in our perspective. It can be a drudge but it can also be a joy. The tedious, menial, unpleasant work has to be done anyways (like changing the baby's diaper for the 20th time today, but it has to be done). Our babies are only little for a short season. (Just ask any empty-nester). I'm having this reality hit with my baby girl who is going to be 4 in November and my baby boy Marcus just turned 1. Where has the time gone?! Before I know it Kai will be heading off to school. Exciting but sad all at the same time. I have to remind myself when I'm changing Marcus diaper for the 20th time today to find the joy in life when I'm in the trenches of life and it seems like a drudge.

Nehemiah 8:10b

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ ..."This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Thanksgiving Tradition

For some reason even though I have spent 4 Thanksgivings in Texas and 3 in California it just for some reason doesn't quite feel like the Thanksgiving season I'm use to.

As you can see to the right a picture of Washington State in the winter...this is more so what I grew up with by the time Thanksgiving rolled around. We would have the big feast around the table with family and friends and then after the feast and saying what we are grateful for we headed out to the sledding hill or drove up to the mountains further to get some great tubbing in. They say that as you get older and you have kids of your own that holidays feel like holidays when you were a kid but to be quite honest the 7 years I've been away from home and family, even though I have a wonderful family of my own it just doesn't feel the same. Maybe next year I'll take my husband and kiddos up to my family I grew up with to enjoy a snowy, wintery Thanksgiving tradition with them (which by the way, they have about 5 inches of snow as I write this blog...wishing I was there with my kiddos). In the meantime this year will be spent with probably 70 degree weather, football and the feast which has become my new tradition with my immediate family now. For everyone out there travelling and going to enjoy a special Thanksgiving with whomever may you have safe travels and an enjoyable time of giving thanks for what God has given you.

This year I'm thankful for having my husband and kiddos to celebrate this holiday season with.