What's my name? I'm a thief but I'm in high demand. You don't have to travel far to find me as I'm probably in your house right now. Even though I have my faults, people tend to put up with me anyway. I'm cheap and addicting but by nature I'm really pretty sweet regardless of all my faults and I tend to hang out in breads, cereals, breakfast bars, salad dressings, ketchup, yogurt, pudding, and fruit juices just to name a few. Those are healthy, right?
Do you know who I am? Did you guess, sugar? No, sugar got the boot a long time ago by most processed food industries. I'm really number one now. Some say that I upset the normal appetite function and that I could be a source for mercury, a known neurotoxin, and that I have the ability to destroy your memory. Am I being slandered?
They say that I have no nutritional value and can't be metabolized unless I rob you of a few nutrients and I tend to be stored in your liver and may contribute to cardiovascular disease. I'm mostly extracted from genetically modified corn. But don't look at all my faults, remember I'm really sweet and that should make up for all my faults, right? My name is much more impressive than just plain old sugar - why I'm High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)! I think people love me so much mainly because I'm cheaper than sugar and we all know that in today's world it's all about money. I can help fast food producers and processed food plants by allowing them to make their product cheaper and get it out there to all you good folks just waiting for me, regardless of what effects I may have on your health. Some people like me so much that they have added me to honey to stretch that product.
If you can't find my long name on the food label then maybe you will know me as just plain old corn syrup or corn sugar.
Author's note: This blog is not written in defense of sugar. Sugar also has many unhealthy effects but I would have to say that HFCS takes the cake!
Photo Credit: Flickr
Do you know who I am? Did you guess, sugar? No, sugar got the boot a long time ago by most processed food industries. I'm really number one now. Some say that I upset the normal appetite function and that I could be a source for mercury, a known neurotoxin, and that I have the ability to destroy your memory. Am I being slandered?
They say that I have no nutritional value and can't be metabolized unless I rob you of a few nutrients and I tend to be stored in your liver and may contribute to cardiovascular disease. I'm mostly extracted from genetically modified corn. But don't look at all my faults, remember I'm really sweet and that should make up for all my faults, right? My name is much more impressive than just plain old sugar - why I'm High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)! I think people love me so much mainly because I'm cheaper than sugar and we all know that in today's world it's all about money. I can help fast food producers and processed food plants by allowing them to make their product cheaper and get it out there to all you good folks just waiting for me, regardless of what effects I may have on your health. Some people like me so much that they have added me to honey to stretch that product.
If you can't find my long name on the food label then maybe you will know me as just plain old corn syrup or corn sugar.
Author's note: This blog is not written in defense of sugar. Sugar also has many unhealthy effects but I would have to say that HFCS takes the cake!
Photo Credit: Flickr
