High Fructose Corn Syrup

Most of us have seen those commercials about high fructose corn syrup.  The man and woman on a picnic.  The woman eating a cherry (this is purely an assumption based on the color) popsicle.  She kindly offers it to her boo.  He looks shocked and says, "But I thought you loved me!"  And she looks hurt and asks him why he would say that.  He says, "That has high fructose corn syrup in it."  And then the big corporate machine lies to you about high fructose corn syrup.  There is another involving two women at a party and some kind of punch.  And there are more, but I don't remember them all.

They are LIES.  High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in fact made from corn.  That is why it is in EVERYTHING.  It is cheap and easy to produce.  It is also sweet.  "Everything in moderation" does not apply here.  HFCS is quite possibly the single most processed thing that we put into our bodies.  Our bodies are unable to break it down.  Our bodies spend so much time trying to break it down that it doesn't break down other things. 

Now, I know I am not citing my sources.  Just google it and you will see that I am right (assuming you don't read the corporate websites).  One of things that irks me about HFCS is how the corporations lie about it.  Big corporations don't want to spend the money that it would take to put better ingredients in their products.  Instead they spend millions to convince us that the crap that is already in the product is fine.  They either take a study and make it say what they want it to.  Or they pay someone to say what they want.  They lie.  Big surprise, right? Big business lies to us.  Shocked? You shouldn't be. 

One of my sources is my fabulous roomie, T.  She knows all about it.  She is actually the reason that I stopped eating it.

Our initial conversation went like this:
T-High fructose corn syrup is bad for you.
K-I don't care! It's delicious!
T- It really is terrible for you.  Blah, blah, blah (cause that's all I heard).
K - I won't give up King Syrup! I won't do it!! (I then proceeded to grab my bottle of King Syrup and kiss it, then hug it ferociously and stick my tongue out at T). 
T - Have it your way.  But you could be healthier, AND lose weight if you stopped eating things with HFCS in them.
K - Wait, whaaaaaa?

So yeah, I gave up the King Syrup.  I also gave up any and everything else that has high fructose corn syrup in it.  This includes:

1. Heinz Ketchup
2. Most jucies
3. Most low fat salad dressings
4. Candies
5. Soda (all but the diet kind, which I am trying to give up for an unrelated reason that will be the subject of a different post).

The list could go on but these are the hardest things I have had to change.  I lost six pounds in a week.  I literally did nothing else.  I did not exercise or eat any differently (other than removing the high fructose corn syrup).  I was hooked.  I have not ingested HFCS (minus a few minor occasions for special reasons) in almost a year. 

If you have more interest, and you have a facebook, then join the group "Ban High Fructose Corn Syrup in America."  They have a lot of interesting articles, etc about it. 

This was not much of a rant.  At least not as much as I expected.  The basic gist of the situation is that HFCS is TERRIBLE.  If you only do one thing to try and get healthier in the way that you eat, do this - stop eating HFCS! STOP IT.  RIGHT NOW! I am completely serious. Your body will thank you for it.

Also, this has nothing to do with this post, I am still hungry.  And since I am at work, I am surrounded by delicious looking food.  And people who are eating said delicious looking food.  I want to smash every one of them over the head with something hard.  Although, to be fair, I want to do that to some of them even when I am not fasting.  :)