Beware. Hidden Sugars Could be Hindering Your Weight Loss
While many overweight Americans are fixated on reducing fat and carbs or cutting calories, they have overlooked a major culprit in the cause for obesity today: sugar! And the worst sugar? High Fructose Corn Syrup.
The American population today is in dire need for better health education. Most people don’t know or even realize the harmful foods they are putting into their body on a daily basis. One of the most common, you guessed it: High Fructose Corn Syrup. This “sugar” is hidden in almost everything today — mostly because it’s cheap, but also because it’s 20 times sweeter than sugar and very addictive. But if you don’t read labels, you wouldn’t know it’s in many of the foods you eat. Even those you think are healthy or considered diet snacks, like protein bars, contain high fructose corn syrup. Did you know that most every brand of sliced bread that you buy in any supermarket chain contains high fructose corn syrup? It’s almost impossible to avoid, if you are not aware!
High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener and preservative used in many processed foods. It is made by changing the sugar in cornstarch to fructose — another form of sugar. Because high-fructose corn syrup extends the shelf life of foods, it has become a popular ingredient in many foods, including sodas, fruit-flavored drinks and many other processed foods.
Alarmingly, today the number one source of calories in the US comes from high fructose corn syrup. Even though fat has 250% more calories than sugar, people still get MOST of their calories from sugar out of corn, primarily in the form of soft drinks.
Some nutrition experts blame increased consumption of high-fructose corn syrup for the growing obesity problem. One theory is that the body actually processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. In addition, fructose is more readily converted to fat by your liver than is sucrose, increasing the levels of fat in your bloodstream.
The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more (remember it’s highly addictive) and at the same time, we are storing more fat.
Scientific evidence aside, it’s clear that Americans are consuming large quantities of high-fructose corn syrup hidden in a variety of every day food choices. These types of foods are often high in calories and low in nutritional value. This fact alone is reason to be cautious about foods containing high-fructose corn syrup, especially if you are struggling with a weight problem or other health-related issues.
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