First of all what is HFCS?
HFCS is short for High Fructose Corn Syrup (also known as glucose-fructose in Canada). It is usually made from corn syrup which has a very high glucose content, on average about 80% but can range from anywhere between 20% and 100% , while your basic table sugar is about a 50/50 mix of glucose and fructose. As a result of enzymatic processing the fructose content of HFCS is increased to a level almost at par with table sugar; consequently giving it a similar level of sweetness to basic sugar.
What does it have to do with summer?
When you think of some summer foods the things that often come to mind are slurpees or slushies, popsicles and freezies. What do these "foods" all have in common... sugar of course but one type of sugar especially… high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is also found in canned and bottled beverages, all different types of fast food and many other items.
Why is HFCS harmful?
First of all it is manmade; it is a processed substance, it comes from processing corn syrup and corn syrup comes from processing corn starch (a separate post on the harmful effects of processed foods to come). In addition, it is often perceived as the "healthier" sweetener because people often associate the word fructose (the sugar from fruit) with fruit and fruit is healthy, and as a result of this train of thought they ingest more of it. However, sugar is still sugar and will have similar effects nonetheless. Also, most whole fruits are made up of at least 80% water and usually contain some fiber which helps regulate insulin levels spike from the fructose.
The main reason that HFCS is harmful is the path it takes through the good ol' digestive tract. When HFCS is consumed it takes a b-line to the liver and then the liver gives the body a signal to start storing fat. Furthermore, there is no pancreatic response when HFCS is digested; therefore, there isn’t any insulin secretion and without any insulin (a chemical in our blood produced by the pancreas) the brain still thinks it's hungry and we keep on eating.
Everyone who reads a newspaper or watches the news knows that diabetes and obesity rates have been rapidly rising over the last 15-20 years. There are many factors that cause this hasty increase; however, one that gets overlooked a lot is HFCS. Take a look at the graph below, it shows how our more natural sugars, cane and beet (the blue line), have decreased dramatically, and HFCS, an artificial sugar (the turquoise line) has increased a substantial amount.
To sum it up it's simple:
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