Wednesday, July 7, 2010

High Fructose Corn Syrup.... bad news bears

I first found out about this thing called high fructose corn syrup which I will gladly call HFCS in this post, through a fabulous book called Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin.  This book caused me to be a vegetarian for about 7-8 months until I fell off the band wagon (still don't eat hardly any meat except fish- but occasionally give in to Sausage and cheese Kolaches), really started wanting to go organic, and really helped me learn about all the crap they put in food and what they do to animals. It actually shocked me. Read it if you want to change your life! :) Ok back to HFCS, I couldn't put it better than how the authors of Skinny Bitch put it...so here it is...

" High fructose syrup is another badass that finds its way into tons of foods. Manufacturers loves its versatility and put it in nearly everything: juice, soda, beer, yogurt, energy bars, cookies, candies, breads, even frozen goods. HFCS is processed more than sugar and is even sweeter.  But it's a friend of the farmer because its so cheap to produce.  Like refined sugar, it has a negative, dramatic effect on our blood-sugar levels....."

After seeing more and more on the topic of HFCS, I started to take notice on the nutrition labels. Wow, was I shocked. It was in things like  whole wheat bread (some do offer without it- Natures Own is the one I eat.) rice cakes, and tons of drinks. I couldn't believe how many products have it. Even Special K cereal has it in it! So many "healthy" snacks and foods claim to have low calories but are packed with tons of artificial.  Not good. My personal opinion and theory is all the symptoms and sicknesses that have taken such a rise (cancer) has a lot to do with all the crap that is in our foods these days. I mean, to me, its just insane the rise of illnesses people are going through. It has to be something that we are ingesting. For something to okay in my book, it needs to be USDA certified. There website has more info. They are a respected organic label... not just some logo slapped with no back up.



 No, not every little thing I eat is organic, but I try as much as possible to get it in. Healthy Choice makes all natural/no preservatives Frozen meals.... they still make some that aren't so look for the label. I try and not buy things with HFCS b/c not it just bugs me to know that something I am eating or drinking has it in it. Just use your judgement. If this is something that sounds like you want to start looking into and weighing heavily, then jump on board. Some people say "one day I will die regardless of something," then good for you. Thats not my way of thinking and so for me, I have consciously tried noticing these things. Happy work outs...

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