High-Fructose corn syrup

When Mom was here, she was wondering about HFCS. I wasn't able to answer all the questions, so I've been looking it up.

Here's some links I found and a few quotes that I thought might answer some of her questions. ;)

"There is a correlation between the rise of obesity in the U.S. and the use of HFCS for sweetening beverages and foods. While HFCS is not toxic, it is the bodies' reaction to this particular sugar that raises questions of its safety. HFCS is not recognized by the body in the same way natural fruit and cane sugars are recognized; triggering an enzyme that gives the feeling of "fullness". As a result, a person can consume a much larger amount of calories without satisfaction. Obesity Rates have increased in the United States (the world's largest consumer of HFCS) since the introduction of this sweetener. Critics of HFCS point out the direct correlation between percentages of increased usage of HFCS in foods and obesity rates in the United States over three decades."

"HFCS has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking, all of which take place in one of 16 chemical plants located in the Corn Belt. Yet in spite of all the special enzymes required, HFCS is actually cheaper than sugar. It is also very easy to transport--it's just piped into tanker trucks. This translates into lower costs and higher profits for food producers."

"Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose. When sugar is given to rats in high amounts, the rats develop multiple health problems, especially when the rats were deficient in certain nutrients, such as copper. The researchers wanted to know whether it was the fructose or the glucose moiety that was causing the problems. So they repeated their studies with two groups of rats, one given high amounts of glucose and one given high amounts of fructose. The glucose group was unaffected but the fructose group had disastrous results. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high cholesterol and heart hypertrophy--that means that their hearts enlarged until they exploded. They also had delayed testicular development. Dr. Field explains that fructose in combination with copper deficiency in the growing animal interferes with collagen production. (Copper deficiency, by the way, is widespread in America.) In a nutshell, the little bodies of the rats just fell apart. The females were not so affected, but they were unable to produce live young."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fructose_corn_syrup

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/cornsyrup.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/highfructose.html

So there you have it. If you care to read it. :)

HFCS is everywhere. Not just soda and juice, but also Ketchup, cereal's, Jams, bread, etc.

If people had a minute, I'm wondering if you'd go through your kitchens and find how many things you had that has HFCS in it, and let me know. It'd be intresting.
Then again, I wouldn't be suprised if some people hardly had any, especially those that make alot of their own stuff.