NutritionTrainer

HFCS: High Fructose Corn Syrup

Summer is here and it’s been a little crazy.  This blog is about all the foods we are about to consume under the banner of “The Holidays/ Summer time”.  On man’s food is another man’s poison.   Most everything that you are eating right now that tastes sweet is probably made with corn or HFCS.  Here’s the bad news it’s making us fat and its killing us.   Sorry to be blunt (not really).  Over the last 200 years the rate of HFCS has directly paralleled the rate of obesity in this country.  A study I read done in Colorado at the Denver health sciences center reviewed 4,528 adults with no history of Hypertension. They were given 74 Grams of HFCS per day (2 ½ soft drinks per day).  In all cases, blood pressure increased all due to weight gain.  So the next time you see something with high fructose corn syrup written on the label put it back where you got it.   The problem with Corn Syrup is the way the body absorbs and stores the sugar.  Sugar requires insulin to be absorbed, but HFCS (Fructose mainly) can be absorbed directly thought the digestive tract.  If you’re not burning energy like crazy, what do you think your body does with the excess sugar????  Take a look at your legs, spare tire and butt because that’s where it goes.  It’s not only that you gain weight it is that your body has to compensate for the constant massive amounts of sugar in your blood.  This is what leads to problems, not the sugar itself.  The brain needs sugar (Fuel), so you have to decide when you eat, are you going to give your brain and body high-octane fuel (sugar from Veggies) or Rocket fuel (HFCS).  

Sugar: It's what's making you fat

Got your attention?

Sorry to be so blunt, but too many people I coach and lecture to don’t know enough about this subject.  I know you know what sugar is, but do you really know how it affects the body?

Everything I know about blood sugar I learned from two of the most brilliant people I know, Dr. Bob Rakowski and Greg Peterson.  Dr. Rakowski treated my wife after she had her tumor taken out, and Greg owns Nutrition Dynamics and was the man who introduced me to Dr. Bob.  I hate to steal their material, but I know they won’t mind if just one person who reads it changes their eating habits.

As of 2007, there are 20.8 million children and adults that have diabetes. There are also about 14.6 million that are undiagnosed.  Scary isn't it?

We consume on average 158 lbs of sugar per person per year in the US.  That means if there is one guy like me that doesn’t get anywhere near 158 lbs, there is someone who eats more than 158 lbs per year.  When I ask people about blood sugar, they know what their doctor tells them - that it's bad when it’s high.  They can’t even tell me how much sugar is in our blood right now.  And these are the diabetic patients I see.  We're missing the boat.  We are treating the smoke and not the fire and here is what I mean:

At a normal/optimal blood sugar level, which is 70-90 mg/dl, you have about .68 grams of sugar in your blood.  That is about a ¼ teaspoon of sugar in 8-9 pints of blood.  The average can of Coca Cola is about 16 teaspoons of sugar.  So imagine you dump 16 teaspoons of sugar in the body when it only wants ¼ teaspoon. 

So what happens when you inundate your body with sugar?  You get tired, your insulin shoots up, and then you have an abrupt crash.  And that’s if you are an adult.  What if you're 10 years old?  What if you dump 16 teaspoons of sugar in a 10 year old's body?  What are the chances that they are going to be able to sit in a classroom without exhibiting ADD behavior?  We’re treating the smoke and not the fire.

Some other symptoms that we get medicated for are also a sign that your blood sugar may be out of control.  A few of them are: weight gain, depression, fatigue, increased risk of heart attack, increased cardiovascular risk, hypothyroid, increased oxidation, blindness, kidney problems, polycystic ovary syndrome, hypertension, neuropathy, and limb amputations.  Some of these symptoms come from years of abuse, but you can see that there are a lot of problems that we can treat early.  It’s interesting that there is a medication for every one of the symptoms listed above.  Again, we’re treating the smoke and not the fire. 

Here is the progression of abnormal blood sugar: First your insulin rises, which most doctors don’t check.  Then your body fat rises, then your blood fat rises.  Your blood fats are your lipids. And finally, when you have gone through years of increased blood sugar and your body can’t manage it anymore, your blood sugar will start to rise.  As you can see there are early warning signs that we don’t even look for. 

Most people don’t think that sugar is related to body fat, they believe that it's fat that is related to body fat.  They honestly believe it is their fat intake that is making them fat.  That is because there is bad information out there.  If you want to age slowly, look good, feel good, and decrease your risk of every disease that we have a name for, you need to manage your blood sugar.  If you’re a parent, it would be a good idea to have your kids drink water only to offset the rest of their calorie intake.  (See the hydration article from last week.)  That doesn’t mean you have to cut out all sugar.  Your brain needs sugar - fruits, veggies, but not a ½ lb per day.  It’s better to get a lot of nutrients and fewer calories. 

Another rule of thumb that I like to use for myself is that if I know I’m going to have something sweet, I will have a few fish oil tablets to slow the uptake of the sugar, that way I can stay in relative balance.  Also, if you already have diabetes, you may want to look into some nutrients that could help you get a little more sensitive to insulin.