W hile many of you may be familiar with the term High Fructose Corn Syrup (also known as HFCS), I know there are others who might be oblivious to what HFCS is and does. So, to get us all on the same learning level, here's a little HFCS 101 for everyone from the CBC's article High Fructose Corn Syrup, Just Another Sugar? Since HFCS and MSG are so common in processed foods these days, it's not a matter of avoiding them, but rather, evading them!!
High Fructose Corn Syrup: Giving You That Empty Feeling — From Fitness Mantra website.
High Fructose Corn Syrup: Why the World's Most Popular Sweetener is Enemy #1 to Your Health and Waistline — From Fitness Mantra website.
Health IQ: High Fructose Corn Syrup — From Readers Digest website.
Beware the High Fructose Corn Syrup — From Disease Proof website.
Chicago Tribune: Julie's Health Club Blog — Lots of HFCS articles.
High Fructose Corn Syrup: The Devil's Candy — Blogger quotes Dr. Oz with statistics.
Natural News 2004 Article — States consumption of soft drinks and high-fructose corn syrup has links to obesity and diabetes.
High Fructose High List — Lists items that do not contain HFCS.
Accidental Hedonist List — Lists items that contain HFCS. This was from 2005. It's easier to just list items that "don't" have it, such as above. However, this blog's comments are just as interesting.
During the time of the independent movie King Corn release, the National Corn Growers Association released commericals, singing virtues of their HFCS. In response, many people, including producers of King Corn, made spoof commercials, stating the true facts and dangers of HFCS.
Of course, even diet foods and drinks with artificial sweeteners aren't safe, either. I have severe allergies to Aspertame, resulting in migraines and dizziness. According to MSN's article The Truth About Diet Soda, based on the book Eat This, Not That, diet drinks can also cause weight gain. Not only do artificial sweeteners make us crave sweet foods, but consuming unhealthy drinks leaves less room for healthy drinks (such as water) in our daily diet.
Another culprit endangering our health is Monosodium Glutamate, also known as MSG. Many people, like me, have severe allergic reactions to it, such as migraines and dizziness. Further research indicates MSG may also cause weight gain, similar to what HFCS does. The MSG Myth site has a good explanation of what Monosodium Glutamate is, as well as a more lengthy explanation at MSG Truth.
MSG: If It's Safe, Why Do They Disguise It on Labels? — This is another link from SixWise.com. It gives list of items with MSG and names MSG's aliases.
MSG Truth — This site hints that MSG can also cause obesity, no matter how few calories a person consumes. At another part of their site, it gives details about MSG in restaurants and how MSG can make you hungry an hour and half after eating. It further states that American food manufacturers know this, anticipating with this addiction, people will be hungry for more of their product.
And message boards post the dangers of MSG, such as these from MSG Myth.