The truth about High Fructose Corn Syrup

There is a lot of confusing information out there about high fructose corn syrup.  First were the claims that it was linked to obesity because more and more things were made from it. Unfortunately there was no proof provided to back that up.  The corn refiners took advantage of that and started advertising campaigns like this commercial.

So does that mean that it is the same as cane sugar?  Not quite.

What is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)? It is made from corn. The corn is ground down into corn starch, the starch is refined into a glucose syrup and then enzymes are added to turn the glucose into fructose.  When all is said and done the mixture is about 55% fructose.  Both glucose and fructose are naturally occurring substances while not normally in the quantities we consume them. So we have established that  HFCS is made from corn and that it is refined into a naturally occurring substance in foods like apples.  So far the commercial is right on.  It also says that it is fine in moderation.  Also true.  If you are able to control your consumption of HFCS it does not have any severe side effects.

How does HFCS interact with the body? Recent studies are finding that your body's need to eat is heavily influenced by 2 hormones leptin and ghrelin. These 2 hormones are always in balance. Leptin checks to see if you have enough energy stores.  If you are eating regularly then your leptin level rises and tells the brain that it can burn as many calories as it likes because you have the reserves.  If you do not have the available energy then your ghrelin level rises and tells the brain that we need to conserve energy.  This will cause you to stop burning fat and become hungry.

When that check is made to see how much fuel you have available the body does not recognize fructose and a real energy source.  This means that you will not burn calories as fast and it will take more time to burn the calories you took in. You can read more about leptin and ghrelin here.

So what do we do? High fructose corn syrup is in much of what we eat.  You don't have to avoid it all together just be aware of how much you are consuming.  There are alternative to the more popular products that contain HFCS.  Pepsi has made strides to put original cane sugar back in it's drinks with it's "throwback" line.

Main point: Don't just listen to the talking heads.  These days no one is going to find out the entire story for you least of all the popular media.  Be aware of what you put in your body and how it effects you.  Here is a challenge for you: The next thing you eat that has nutritional facts on it, pick a ingredient you don't recognize and look it up.  Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for you and just because it's artificial doesn't mean it's bad.  As George Carlin said "crap is all natural, that doesn't mean I want to eat it."

Happy living
/Actuator/

Still Awake (A cautionary tale)

So I sit here awake at almost 1 am. I need to be up at 6:30 for a doctors appointment and then to get to work.  Why are you still up, you ask?  Because I am silly and competitive. I didn't have much time for a workout today so after dinner and homework and such I decided to get some planks and pushups in.  I went to my favorite fitness social media site, Fitocracy.com, to enter my workout for the day and found I had been bumped down a couple spaces in the push-up challenge.  Well we can't have that now can we? I should have let it go.  So I figure out how many more I need to do and go on my way.  I enter in my new points and see that I'm still not back where I should be.  Undaunted I keep going.  Still not there. Now I know something is wrong.  I realize that this must mean the the person I can not pass is also logging pushups as he goes. The nerve of some peoples kids. I "followed" (similar to twitter) the gentlemen and kindly asked that he stop doing push up so that I could go to bed.  To my surprise he obliged although it was not nearly as late for him in some other timezone.

(Takes a sip of Sleepy Time tea)

So now I sit here having done two hundred some pushups and four minutes of planks.  My triceps are unhappy with me.  However the other thing I now remember is that when you push yourself you open up adrenal glands and get extra energy.  It is commonly recommended that you do not work less than 4 hours before you plan to go to sleep.  I have now taken a long hot shower and am sipping some tea trying to relax enough to go back to bed and try to find elusive sleep once more.

Goodnight humanity. Please remember sleep is just as important if not more important than any exercise you do.  It is when your body does it's best recovery and repair and it doesn't matter how many pushups you do if your not sleeping you won't get any better at it. (-sigh- sips tea again)

/Actuator/