One of the worst offenders making us fat and unhealthy though is a hidden ingredient added to numerous food and drink products...
In fact, it is the number one source of calories in fizzy drinks: high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
You know what they say: New Year, New You. So I am back the at gym trying to lose the extra pounds I gained over Christmas... an all too familiar scenario I'm sure you'll agree!. In order to get faster results I am also back on a low-carb high-protein diet.
After getting back from the gym last night, I made a chicken salad and as I rigorously poured some olive oil over my salad my friend exclaimed ‘Not so much oil! It will make you fat!’
Needless to say, a massive debate ensued and it couldn’t have come at a better time especially with the recent news report of a leading UK heart surgeon proclaiming that we should ‘Ban Butter’ to save the growing number of young adults from heart attacks and clogged arteries.
Yet, butter isn't the villain of the story... what everyone should be banning from their diets is margarine which is full of unhealthy trans fats. One of the worst offenders making us fat and unhealthy though is a hidden ingredient added to numerous food and drink products...
In fact, it is the number one source of calories in fizzy drinks: high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
A few facts on high fructose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) was invented in 1966 in Japan and introduced to the American market in 1975. Food and beverage manufacturers began switching their sweeteners from sucrose (table sugar) to corn syrup because HFCS was far cheaper to make.
This switch from sucrose to fructose drastically altered the average diet:
# HFCS is found in every type of processed, pre-packaged food you can think of. In fact, the use of HFCS in the US diet increased by a whopping 10,673 per cent between 1970 and 2005, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture.
# The current annual consumption of sugar is 141 pounds per person, of which 63 pounds is HFCS.
# Adolescents consume 73 grams of fructose per day, mostly from fizzy drinks and juice drinks. A total of 12 per cent of their total caloric intake is from fructose alone.
# In the past century, fructose consumption increased 5- fold, even though its only been around for 44 years...
# Processed foods account for more than 90 per cent of the money Americans spend on meals.
Just before you think ‘At least I can give my baby a good and healthy start’ – think again... Many infant formulas are more than 50 per cent sugar of which 43 per cent is corn syrup solids. You might as well be giving your baby a bottle of Coke...
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/weight-loss/weight-loss-fructose-nutrition-sugar-65742.html
