In less than 30 years you have gone from eating zero to 63 pounds per year of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).1 It has become the most common synthetic sweetener. You are getting your dose when you drink soda, blended juices, and sports drinks. And, it's in so many processed foods, it's difficult to avoid.

It's in nearly all baked goods, cookies, pastries, jams and ice cream. It's in soups and tomato pastes, condiments, salad dressing and even chewing gum. We also found it in many supposed health foods.

Why did food producers add it to your food? Economics. It's convenient, abundant and dirt cheap. Why should you care? Since it doesn't exist in nature, its consumption is an experiment with unknown long term consequences. What's more, during the time they added it to our food and drink, the prevalence of obesity has risen from 13.3% to 30.9%.2 I don't think this is a coincidence.

In this letter I'll let you know how this synthetic may be expanding your waistline and how to avoid it.

* Sweeter than Sugar but ... *

Food manufacturers introduced HFCS in the mid 1970s. It contains corn starch, fructose, and glucose. They suspend corn starch in water and treat it with acids and enzymes. Next they force it through ion-exchange columns, filters and centrifuges. Last they remove the water until they achieved the desired consistency. In this way, they make HFCS sweeter than sugar.

The problem is your body metabolizes HFCS differently than other sugars. Such high levels of fructose signal an overproduction of insulin. It also interferes with two other hormones that are critical in appetite control. HFCS inhibits leptin and stimulates ghrelin. This suppresses the normal mechanism that lets you know you are full and to stop eating.
As a result, you not only get more calories from these drinks or packaged foods but consuming them makes you eat and drink more.

One study found that high fructose also produce significantly higher blood levels of triglycerides in men. Weight gain and high levels of triglycerides increase your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

* Switch Back to Natural Liquids *

Last week I told you about the health risks associated with aspartame in your diet soda. Today, regular soda did not fair any better. The bottom line? Sugar substitutes, with or without calories, have no place in your body.

So what to drink? The most natural solution is water. When you are thirsty, drink water until your thirst is satisfied. When you're looking for something a little more flavorful than water, you can sip small quantities of fruit juices, wine or unsweetened tea.

My grandmother had a wonderful natural solution. She called it “summer lemonade”. She made it from fresh squeezed lemons, water and a splash of apple juice. She served it over ice with a slice of orange and a slice of lime.

Al Sears, MD

1. Squires, Sally. “Sweet but Not So Innocent?” Washington Post, March 11, 2003: HE01.
2. NIDDK, “Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity” http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/pubs/statobes.htm#preval