The High Fructose Corn Syrup Epidemic

Let’s face it, most of us don’t understand half of the ingredients on the side of a food label! It can be so daunting and confusing. However, one main ingredient you should keep an eye out for is “high fructose corn syrup”. Shockingly, American’s consume ~50 pounds of the stuff every year! This is almost as much as sugar itself, which comes in at 63.6 pounds.

High-fructose corn syrup is a common sweetener in sodas and fruit-flavored drinks. As use of high-fructose corn syrup has increased, so have levels of obesity and related health problems, leading some to wonder if there’s a connection.

Why Is “High Fructose Corn Syrup” bad for your health?

It actually can increase your levels of (1) mercury exposure (2) hypertension and elevated blood cholesterol levels (3) long term liver damage (4) increase your risk of type two diabetes and (5) significantly increase your risk of weight gain and diabetes.

Below you will find an infographic on the deception and dangers of HFCS. The infographic also touches on the 6 main ways to avoid high fructose corn syrup.

HFCS1

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Controversial Additives in Organic Food

Additives in food have been around for thousands of years. The most widely used food additives in North America include sugar, salt and corn syrup. In total, nearly 3000 substances are used as food additives. Another 12,000 find their way into our food supply indirectly, including pesticides!

Many dairy products contain Carageenan. This food  additive is now linked to colon cancer.

Many dairy products contain Carageenan. This food additive is now linked to colon cancer.

With thousands of additives, how do we know which ones are safe? Most of us don’t have hours on end to read all the labels on food products in the grocery store. All products surely contain some form of food additive…even food products known to be “organic”. After all, the organic food industry makes 30-billion-a-year, so tweaking the standards and rules is only fair game for most of the big players.

Recently, one of the largest Organic and Standards Programs in the United States was questioned.[i] As their board started to include more of corporate America’s fortune 500 companies, the ingredients that were becoming acceptable on the list of “certified organic” products became questionable.

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