HFCS
I want to take a moment to write about a really exciting subject..... SERIOUSLY EXCITING!!!
Are you PUMPED?!?! Are you all a-quiver ?!?!
I want to write about high fructose corn syrup.
No, not kidding.
Wait!! Where are you going?!?!?!
Look- the reason I want to write about this is because I kind of had a.... sort of breakthrough....at least to me- about something over the course of the past month.
I've been eating less.
Now I love food- and I love a LOT of food, but I sit at a desk all day, and there is no movement from that desk. And when I eat a lot without moving a lot it does bad things to my knees and my blood pressure and my arteries, energy level, circulation, and mobility. This isn't good. I like being active and I don't like pain in my joints or numbness in my fingers. I have stairs in my house and I can't have my knees giving me trouble.
Anyway. I have come to believe that I am very susceptible to bad reactions to high fructose corn syrup. (HFCS) There are studies that have said that HFCS does not stimulate insulin secretion or stimulate leptin. Leptin is a hormone in your body that tells your brain that you are satisfied after you've eaten. These studies are proposing that since HFCS does not trip your internal chemistry to feel satisfied, that a person could easily eat more to compensate.
HFCS is everywhere. I've looked on a million different food items and drinks, and I can't seem to get away from it. Even worse- it's in salad dressing. That's a total rip off. If I'm eating a salad, it's because I want to eat something that is good for me. Putting a chemical in my salad dressing that is going to undermine my body's chemistry is a bunch of shit.
So I cut out HFCS from my diet in the beginning of July. All of it. Period. And I added breads made with 100% whole grains for breakfast every morning, because whole grains take a long time to break down in the digestive system and make me feel satisfied longer.
In the first week my stomach shrunk.
Now I've also added a lot of fruits and veggies to my diet as well, and I consider starch a treat. And I've cut out hydrogenated oils too, if I know they are there. The only absolute forbidden stuff is still fur, feathers and soda.
But really- I'm not eating in some totally denied state. I just eat less than I used to, without feeling unsatisfied and hungry. I still like going to the sushi bar, but now I have eight pieces of sushi instead of twenty. I still go to the Hawthorne Fish House, and to my favorite Thai places, but I can't finish my dinner (and Rebecca's dinner) any more. I still love Mediterranean food and Blue Moose, but now I'm happy with a small cup of lentil soup, or a World Peas salad and a half of an Easy Being Green sandwich with mustard on Dave's Killer Bread.
Rebecca never had this problem. She would eat, and stop when she was full, and usually leave a quarter or a half of her plate behind. So when she has HFCS it does not seem to defeat her body's chemistry as easily as it does for me.
So right now I'm just seeing how long I can avoid this junk. In doing this, I've rediscovered my addiction to a basic Mediterranean diet.
Also- I've started researching (of course!) why the hell HFCS is in everything.
The more I read about it, the more I think that the American Corn Refiners Association is the equivalent of the "new big tobacco".
So I bought a movie today called King Corn and I'm kind of interested to see what it is going to be about. However, I already have a bad feeling about what direction it is going in. For one reason, you can buy a Coke anywhere in the world and it will be made with sugar, EXCEPT in the United States!! (During Passover, Coke becomes available with sugar, but only in 2 liter bottles.)
Worse than this, HFCS is in most American soft drinks, and these sodas have been linked in scientific studies to diabetes.
And diabetes is in my family medical history. I will post about my late Aunt Barbara and her illness at some point, when I can do so with sympathy and respect for my Uncle John. But right now, I’m getting a bit outraged. This is so typical of the corporatocracy that is emerging in the US.
So I’ve 86’ed HFCS, and I feel better. Of course, the Corn Refiner's Association and the American Beverage Association that have conducted their own "research". But how do I know that they didn't stack their laboratories with people like Rebecca that may not be as susceptible to HFCS and the havoc it can play on metabolism and body chemistry? Hell, for that matter, they could have done anything to their testing to get it to pass.
Finally... as if I needed another reason to not drink a Coke... I also happened to find Coke’s political contributions...