The Horrors of High Fructose Corn Syrup

[Avalanche]

So through my health explorations to find a remedy to my current health issues I've come across many interesting things, but none have ever made me so angry and go 'ah ha'. My mother has restricted herself significantly from the sugar and as a result has lost quite a bit of weight by just avoiding one kind of sugar.

Okay so first things first. This site, SweetSurprise has nothing but good things to say about High Fructose Corn Syrup(HFCS). But if we look more closely at the website, we notice this little logo in the bottom right corner. Barely legible I might add.



The site is run by the people who produce HFCS, The Corn Refiner's Association. So it's like a giant commercial. Awesome. If you keep looking for information about HFCS, you'll find some interesting stuff.

Study Finds HFCS Contains Mercury
A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain
ABC New reports on a UCLA study saying HFCS hurts memory, learning ability
MSN Reports on HFCS Dangers

For those who don't want to read all those links, I quoted some of the most shocking and important stuff here...

The syrup interferes with the body's metabolism so that a person can't stop eating. It's truly hard to control cravings because high fructose corn syrup slows down the secretion of leptin in the body. Leptin is a crucial hormone in the body that tells you that you're full and to stop eating. [...] It's like an addictive drug.

The Corn Refiners Association wouldn't spend $30 million on advertisements if they didn't feel threatened.

If you want to cut down drastically the amount of processed food you eat, don't buy anything that has high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it. Unfortunately, you'll have to have a strong liking for the taste of lettuce and notebook paper, because HFCS is in nearly everything: jelly, juice, sodas, whole-grain breads, cereals, ketchup, crackers, yogurt, sweet pickles, applesauce, salad dressing, ice cream, cough syrup and lots more.

First off, that additional 10 percent of fructose content does make a difference in caloric intake, especially since HFCS is found in so many products. Imagine a world in which all sugar has been replaced by HFCS (not a far stretch): You could eat the exact same foods, but you would be consuming 10 percent more sugar.

fructose is only metabolized by your liver. When the liver receives more fructose than it can handle, the excess sugars are turned into fats in the form of triglycerides, which are harmful to your arteries and your heart.

The biggest problem is that HFCS is being added to food items that don't normally have sugar and that you wouldn't even describe as sweet -- crackers, for instance. So, not only are we chugging down lots of sugars with our sodas, but your PBJ sandwich could have HFCS in each of its three ingredients.

To top everything off, there's a series of videos that makes everything really understand on youtube.

This is episode one, and there are at least 3 additional videos that explain the diseases caused by HFCS and some evidence and studies that link the issues.




Now the following is my own story, symptoms and such. If you're not interested I won't take offense, but I thought I would go ahead and add my own background here...

My Story:
When I was very young I was normal. As I got older I started looking chubbier. I was strong and active, but I was still very chubby and the older I got the more weight I gained. Despite playing Soccer, Kickball, and being on the Swim team by the time I was in 9th grade I'd reached 200 pounds at 5'2". In 9th grade I lettered in Field Hockey, then made it onto the Varsity Men's Wrestling Team(I am female for those of you who don't know XD). Despite all of this and being on a special diet to lose weight for the Wrestling Team I gained 15 pounds in 6 months. It was at this point I realized there was something very wrong. Due to a hip dislocation I could no longer run and because of that I also couldn't wrestle or participate in sports anymore. When I turned 16, I hit 270lbs and was diagnosed with PCOS, a condition my mother was also diagnosed with after the loss of her first pregnancy. I was put on 2 medications for life and was told to not get my hopes up about pregnancy. I also decided to try some extreme diets to lose the weight. I ate no more than 500 calories a day for over two weeks and didn't lose a single pound. Instead I got very, very sick. I was passing out frequently, sleeping for 16 hours a day, I was weak and defeated because I was still the same weight. Frustrated I gave up and ate normally again: which in comparison to my sister and friends was pretty healthy. I counted calories consistently and was almost always under 2000. I was still gaining weight. My mother was the one who originally discovered the studies about HFCS and after a couple weeks of doing nothing but avoiding anything with HFCS lost over 10 pounds. She didn't increase her excercise, and she still eats sweets, just sweets with normal sugar. I am now starting to avoid HFCS as well. First easy elimination is Soda, but I'm avoiding just about everything I can and I am hopeful that this may help if not solve my problems with weight gain and the health issues that come with it. I will try to remember to blog about any progress. Thank you for reading, and I will try to keep everyone posted.


Discuss. Opinions? Ideas? Comments?

Tagging people who might be interested... @Gabby @cpvr

[Gabby]

Thank you @Avalanche <3 This is a very helpful read

I was actually mostly aware of High Fructose Corn Syrup. It was in Snapple before 2010 - since they changed their logo, ingredients, sugar content, etc

[Mutationification]

I totally know where you're coming from. I've been corn /anything/ free for five years now.

I was the tiniest little girl. But between fifth and sixth grade, as I hit puberty my weight skyrocketed.
That whole saying 'it runs in your genetics' is wrong.
I sat there my whole childhood watching my brother and sister be thin and tall, while I was short and fat.
In 8th, I hit my heaviest. I have gotten to 220 before a serious bought of depression caused me to drastically lose weight. I thought starving myself was helping. It wasn't until much later I realized it was the lack of corn that was what caused me to lose weight.
In 9th grade, I gave up trying to be skinny and went back to normal.
I gained most of the weight back. I was in a size 18 pants, and the problem was so bad that I had to undergo breast reduction to keep my weight from bending my spine. The weight caused a massive pressure on my pilonidol cysts, which would have normally laid dormant, but ended up causing me so much problems I had to undergo surgery for those too.
When I reached 12th grade, I honestly thought I would die before I was 25 years old. I was sick every single day. Suffering from so many common illnesses that there wasn't a day that I felt healthy. I had migraines and headaches, and I popped pain killers like candy to get rid of the pain.
Right out of high school, I had to undergo both surgeries within weeks of each other. First the cysts at the end of my spine, and then my breast reduction.
It caused my mind to flip at the reality of what was happening, and I completely gave up on life all together.
There was nothing I could do to help myself, and I was tired of everyone having to deal with the burden of my lack of health.

It wasn't until then that I found out that my brother had spent the last several years trying to find out what exactly was wrong with me.
He referred me to a diet based on my blood type and several other measurements that put me into a food 'class' and explained to me what certain foods do to my body.
Five years later, here I am. I'm down to a size 4 pants. I fit in little boy's shirts, and I actually have a little girl's swim suit. My knees don't hurt anymore when I stand or walk for a short time. My back doesn't hurt from standing or sitting too long. I get migraines maybe once every six months, and I literally haven't even had a cough in over a year. The last time I got sick was because the food I had consumed was contaminated and was in a recall after I'd already eaten it.
I feel fantastic; and during the last five years I've learned the horrors of certain foods.
HFCS being one of them.

My boyfriend partially follows my diet since we live together; I don't force him to eat what I do.
But he's discovered that after going a couple of months without a soda, if he decides to drink a Coke, he ends up getting sick right away. Serious cramps, stomach sickness, and almost always a urinary infection.

That stuff is horrible. It causes so many problems I can't even fathom how it's legal to put that in our food.

[Avalanche]

@Mutationification Your story has given me so much drive and inspiration to continue along this path. If you don't mind me asking, what is your blood type? It's odd because I am short and heavy as well while my younger sister is about 6 inches taller than me and she looks pretty normal. She's large breasted and has meat on her bones but she looks pretty average. I wonder if there might be some sort of sensitivity to the corn products that causes more severe issues with certain people versus others because I know my sister does not eat healthy. She works at McDonalds and is eating there everyday yet seems to handle it fine. I would really appreciate it if you PMed me some info on the food 'class' and such that you were talking about. <3 Thanks for sharing!

[Gabby]

So happy to see people offering their experiences. <3 @Mutationifcation, your story is truly an inspiration. You should make a blog here about it <3 I'm sure plenty of people would love to read it - it'd get so much more visibility

[cpvr]

@Avalanche Thanks for this wonderful post. I don't drink soda as often as I used to, I drink powerade zero, water and crystal light. Sometimes I have a glass of milk as well. I've also switched from eating Ramen noodles to progressive soups. And also tuna sandwiches.

@Mutationification Thanks for making a great post, its very inspiring. Great job on giving it up as well! It's so hard to give up things that you used to enjoy. But something like this is very bad.

[Mutationification]

@cpvr
Actually, I think going on a diet was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my life.
Part of this is because I was literally ready to do anything to be different.
But another part of this is because I am incredibly stubborn and I love to tell people no. Lmao.

[cpvr]

@cpvr
Actually, I think going on a diet was one of the easiest things I've ever done in my life.
Part of this is because I was literally ready to do anything to be different.
But another part of this is because I am incredibly stubborn and I love to tell people no. Lmao.

I'm on a diet as well. I don't eat nomore than 1500 calories a day. I weighed 350 pounds at the beginning of May, I'm now at 306.8 It's not as fast as I'd like it to be, but I'm very happy with the results. Here's my thread incase you missed goal of losing 100 pounds progress thread.

Giving up certain foods/drinks is hard, I agree.

I also won't touch any drinks that have a lot of sugar in it - prior to my diet, I wouldn't care. The only things I really drink with calories in it is those Starbucks bottles you can buy at the stores. I sometimes need an extra rush of energy because I workout in "Cardio burning mood", which is really hard to do, but I'm slowly progressing.

[Mutationification]

@cpvr
Now that I think would be hard for me. I don't pay attention to calories.
I really like food, and limiting the amount of food I eat wasn't something I have ever been able to do.
Honestly, I will eat like 6 mini meals a day, and then a big dinner.
I need to snack on things. I've always been that way.
I also have a very slow pulse count. This makes cardio painful, and always has been. I have to do gentle things like long walks and yoga; heart disease runs in my dads side of the family pretty hardcore and... I don't want to jump start that you know?
ALSO I am incredibly lazy. Lol. Ever since I realized I could sit and draw all day, that's really what I've been doing xD

So you're definitely a lot stronger than I am with your diet. I kind of just roll with the flow as one could say.

[cpvr]

@cpvr
Now that I think would be hard for me. I don't pay attention to calories.
I really like food, and limiting the amount of food I eat wasn't something I have ever been able to do.
Honestly, I will eat like 6 mini meals a day, and then a big dinner.
I need to snack on things. I've always been that way.
I also have a very slow pulse count. This makes cardio painful, and always has been. I have to do gentle things like long walks and yoga; heart disease runs in my dads side of the family pretty hardcore and... I don't want to jump start that you know?
ALSO I am incredibly lazy. Lol. Ever since I realized I could sit and draw all day, that's really what I've been doing xD

So you're definitely a lot stronger than I am with your diet. I kind of just roll with the flow as one could say.

I eat a few snacks, but mainly, I included three meals a day. My breakfast is a yogurt or a piece of fruit, lunch is a Tuna sandwich, and dinner = whatever. I count my calories so that I know how much I need to burn, and how much I need to maintain.

How long has your pulse been like that though? And thanks, I just don't want to get sick when I'm already because of weight issues.