I was recently asked about the potential evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup...a sweetner that is used in just about everything nowadays. Read this, know this........
High-Fructose Corn Syrup is used to sweeten almost everything these days. It wasn't in our food supply before the 1970's, but since then our consumption has skyrocketed. These supersugars quickly enter your bloodstream and trigger both hormonal and chemical changes that make you feel even hungrier...also, insulin surges start a cascade that tells your brain to eat more and your fat cells to store more fat.
Why the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is different from that of ordinary sugar: The digestion, absorbtion and metabolism of fructose differ in significant ways from those of regular sugar. Table sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose and is known as sucrose. Glucose is the basic sugar the body uses for energy and metabolism - one of the key building block of all carbohydrates and often found as part of other slowly absorbed sugars found in beans and whole grains. Fructose is also one of those building blocks, found in mostly fruit, where it is packaged along with fiber and an abundance of protective nutrients. But fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion and the consequent increase in leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that tells your brain you are full...which reduces appetite.
High Fructose Corn Syrup has processed fructose which is absorbed more quickly and enters our cells without any help (it does not require insulin the way glucose does). Once inside the cell it becomes an uncontrolled source of carbon (acetyl-CoA) that is made into cholesterol and triglycerides. Basically, that means eating HFCS makes your cholesterol level shoot straight up and causes problems with your liver that slows down your metabolism even more. It actually produces a fatty liver and is the major cause of abnormal liver functions. HFCS is probably the biggest reason for the increase in cholesterol levels we have seen over the last 25 years. By cutting-out HFCS you can see a huge drop in your cholesterol & triglyceride levels!
In fact, NONE of the normal controls on appetite is triggered when you eat foods or beverages containing HFCS. When you metabolize glucose, your brain normally gets the mesage that you are full...that doesn't happen with HFCS...you just stay hungry and keep eating, which continues to fuel the cycle. Bottom line: eating foods with HFCS leads to increased appetite, calorie consumption, intake, weight gain, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. - Doctor Mark Hyman, M.D. His book: Ultra-Metabolism (the source I used to site this info...not promoting his book).
Also....when people are obese or heavy, the abdonimal fat cells tend to swell...thus making it more difficult for insulin to attach and usher-in the glucose; the pancreas responds by making more insulin which in turns causes your blood-sugar level to drop rapidly...which then allows other controls to signal to the brian that you're hungry again....another viscious cycle. Fat people truly are experiencing real hunger, while thin people don't have their controls all hay-wired. Bottom line: fat people are fat because they're fat, and thin people are thin because they're thin. Being fat promotes being fat and makes it difficult to lose weight.
I liken it to boogie-boarding....if you get in front of the wave you get an easy ride in, but if the wave passes you, you'll spend huge enegy and work hard but never catch-up. From my former perspective I knew I was fat and I just knew I'd have to fight like hell to lose weight...but once I did and AS I DID my body would move towards a more natural & fit state. Just do it!
High-Fructose Corn Syrup is used to sweeten almost everything these days. It wasn't in our food supply before the 1970's, but since then our consumption has skyrocketed. These supersugars quickly enter your bloodstream and trigger both hormonal and chemical changes that make you feel even hungrier...also, insulin surges start a cascade that tells your brain to eat more and your fat cells to store more fat.
Why the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup is different from that of ordinary sugar: The digestion, absorbtion and metabolism of fructose differ in significant ways from those of regular sugar. Table sugar is a combination of glucose and fructose and is known as sucrose. Glucose is the basic sugar the body uses for energy and metabolism - one of the key building block of all carbohydrates and often found as part of other slowly absorbed sugars found in beans and whole grains. Fructose is also one of those building blocks, found in mostly fruit, where it is packaged along with fiber and an abundance of protective nutrients. But fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion and the consequent increase in leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that tells your brain you are full...which reduces appetite.
High Fructose Corn Syrup has processed fructose which is absorbed more quickly and enters our cells without any help (it does not require insulin the way glucose does). Once inside the cell it becomes an uncontrolled source of carbon (acetyl-CoA) that is made into cholesterol and triglycerides. Basically, that means eating HFCS makes your cholesterol level shoot straight up and causes problems with your liver that slows down your metabolism even more. It actually produces a fatty liver and is the major cause of abnormal liver functions. HFCS is probably the biggest reason for the increase in cholesterol levels we have seen over the last 25 years. By cutting-out HFCS you can see a huge drop in your cholesterol & triglyceride levels!
In fact, NONE of the normal controls on appetite is triggered when you eat foods or beverages containing HFCS. When you metabolize glucose, your brain normally gets the mesage that you are full...that doesn't happen with HFCS...you just stay hungry and keep eating, which continues to fuel the cycle. Bottom line: eating foods with HFCS leads to increased appetite, calorie consumption, intake, weight gain, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. - Doctor Mark Hyman, M.D. His book: Ultra-Metabolism (the source I used to site this info...not promoting his book).
Also....when people are obese or heavy, the abdonimal fat cells tend to swell...thus making it more difficult for insulin to attach and usher-in the glucose; the pancreas responds by making more insulin which in turns causes your blood-sugar level to drop rapidly...which then allows other controls to signal to the brian that you're hungry again....another viscious cycle. Fat people truly are experiencing real hunger, while thin people don't have their controls all hay-wired. Bottom line: fat people are fat because they're fat, and thin people are thin because they're thin. Being fat promotes being fat and makes it difficult to lose weight.
I liken it to boogie-boarding....if you get in front of the wave you get an easy ride in, but if the wave passes you, you'll spend huge enegy and work hard but never catch-up. From my former perspective I knew I was fat and I just knew I'd have to fight like hell to lose weight...but once I did and AS I DID my body would move towards a more natural & fit state. Just do it!
