Hey all! So, I'm going to be embarking on a 30 day adventure/diet and I want to keep track of my progress and feelings about the diet while I'm on it. I won't be starting until May 1st but I'll be blogging about my findings until then.
High Fructose Corn Syrup. Sound yummy? No, I didn't think so. HFCS is a sugar substitute which is found in just about EVERYTHING we eat. Here's my favorite example: going to the movies. Popcorn, butter, candy, soda- even the pop corn BAGS are loaded with corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup! ew! Why are we loading HFCS into our foods? one word: money. The U.S. government (who, by the way just used your tax money to bail out a HUGE amount of banks) has decided that sugar is too expensive to put in our foods, so we pay farmers out west big bucks to grow genetically modified corn to pump into our foods. Why is this so bad? Well, I'm glad you asked.
In about the late 70's or early 80's Ocean Spray discovered they were losing money and needed a quick fix. They realized that they could subsitute HFCS for sugar without drastically changing the taste of the juice BUT it helped save them money. Since then, a LOT of companies have followed Ocean Spray's walk. But, let's think back to the increase in weight, diabetes, cancer, dymentia, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol (need I go on?) etc over the last 20 years. What is happening to our food?
Burger joints have popped up more frequently which load their foods with HFCS (which is what makes it so fast!). So now not only are we eating fatty burgers (which come from God knows where) BUT we're also loading them up with HFCS in the burger, cheese, ketchup, pickles AND bun. yummy!
Starting on May 1st I'll be embarking on an adventure to avoid all HFCS (wish me luck...I also anticipate I'll lose quite a bit of weight due to the lack of HFCS) I have recently be researching the types of foods I will be allowing myself to eat. I've got quite a long list and am able to prove that food without HFCS IS in fact a possiblity...but most companies are looking for a cheap way out.
With this diet I'm hoping to prove that the type of food we consume does have a great affect on our mood, and mental state as well as our physical state. I am also hoping to prove that eating healthy natural foods is still possible AND affordable for all.
Expect regular updates regarding my mood, what I'm eating, new things I've found about HFCS free food- AND what you can buy and where. I'm really really excited to be starting on this new diet and can't WAIT to see what becomes of it!
Thanks for the post, but you won't be able to prove anything by avoiding HFCS. The only way to do that is with double-blind studies.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard of the placebo effect?
Did you know that in the last 20 years the death rate has gone done. Maybe it's due to HFCS.