agave

Do you know these nicknames?

Maybe you already avoid high fructose corn syrup.  Good!  But do you know its other names???

Other names: Corn syrup solids, fructose, corn syrup, glucose

Let's learn a few terms:

Fructose is found natural in fruit & honey (which also contains fiber and other nutrients needed in the body & biochemical properites that help us digest it better).

Sucrose is table sugar (you should limit to <6 tsp/day)

Lactose is milk sugar and  Maltose is malt sugar.

Glucose is formed in the blood by sugar breakdown in the body & signals the pancreas to release insulin to uptake the glucose for energy.  (A malfunction here can lead to diabetes)

There is no need to add fructose or glucose to your diet in an unnatural form, as fructose is in fruit & glucose is made within the body!  You know that too much sugar is bad!  Just because we recognize the name on the food label, doesn't mean it is good for us.  Sure!  It might be "natural", but it might not be complete and its might not be necessary!!!

Corn sounds healthy, right?  Sure - everything in moderation.  But corn syrup?  Genetically modified food (corn) is altered so it can grow bigger, the problem is it also makes us grow bigger!

Put it in Perspective
Eating all fruits & vegetables all day will amount to about 15 grams of sugar
1 can of soda will equal about 35 grams of sugar! 

High Fructose Corn Syrup is only digested by the liver, yet the liver cannot digest it, so transforms it into fatty deposits.  Furthermore, no Leptin (satiety) is released when you ingest HFCS, so there is no signal that you are full.  Hmmmm.... 

Did I hear childhood obesity & diabetes??? 

 

Suggestions:

Use raw sugar (brown just has molasses in it, its not really healthier)

Steevia or Agave

Honey, has enzymes that are healthy for us

Eat fruit when you have a sugar craving, add it to oatmeal or squeeze some fresh lemon/lime/orange into sparkling water!  It will taste "healthy" at first, but you will get used to it!  Just like you got used to the High Fructose Corn Syrup or other sugar that you ingest.