The following material is taken from the web site of Dr. Joseph Mercola and doctors he interviews. Mercola.com is the world’s #1 ranked natural health website with over one million subscribers.
Americans spend up to 90% of their food budgets on processed foods, the root cause of most health problems.
While table sugar raises the blood glucose level then crashes it below the fasting baseline within 25 minutes of ingestion, high fructose corn syrup, within an hour of eating, is converted to body fat, especially in the belly area. Adipose tissue is deposited all over the body, often leading to morbid obesity, which is becoming more prevalent today. The results of eating HFCS are insulin resistance leading to diabetes, higher blood pressure, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and the buildup of plaque and narrowing of arteries, often causing heart attacks and strokes.
One-hundred percent of fructose eaten goes to the liver and is the reason for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and failure. In the metabolism of fructose by the liver, a long list of waste products and toxins are created, including uric acid, which drives up blood pressure and causes gout and kidney disease.
Crystalline fructose, a super potent form of HFCS the food and beverage industry is now using, may contain arsenic, lead, chloride, and heavy metals. Half of tested samples of HFCS by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy found mercury in nearly one third of 55 popular brand name foods where HFCS is the first or second ingredient. These tested samples came from brands as Quaker, Hershey, Kraft, and Smuckers. Dr. Mercola has reported on the dangers of this neurotoxin to the brain and nervous system. It has been connected to Autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, M.S., brain disorders, heart disease and a host of other illnesses.
In a 2009 study from the University of California, Dr. Davis says scientific studies show consuming HFCS is the fastest way to trash one’s health.
A book of interest is Fat Switch by Dr. Johnson available on the Mercola website.
