Monetizing This Blog Brings You HFCS Propaganda! Read On...

Since more folks are stopping by this blog, I've added the monetizing feature Blogger offers, and often the ads are relevant and in harmony with my sentiments and values. Today, however, I am seeing the "Sweet Surprise" links about the "truth" about High Fructose Corn Syrup in a couple of places here. I've posted several very negative, detailed blogs about HFCS, so this is no accident, so I'm just warning readers, HFCS is no good for you, no matter how much they assure you otherwise. It's way too concentrated, as any refined sugar is, but it enters your bloodstream faster than cane or beet sugar because the molecular structure has been tampered with.

A Princeton University study published in 2010 challenges the "Sweet Surprise" propaganda:

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.


In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.


"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."

I have no intention of giving the Corn Refiners Association free publicity, so I will post no links, but you'll probably still see them below and to the lower right of this blog post. Get that? The Corn Refiners Association sponsors the Sweet Surprise site, and, get this, their mailing address is in Washington DC. Last I heard, no farmers are raising corn in DC. Maybe First Lady Michelle Obama has a few rows of corn in the White House garden, but that's not what we're talking about.

Not only is HFCS downright deadly to at least some living beings, but much of the commercial corn raised in the US is genetically modified to be disease resistant, pest resistant, and weed resistant. What's wrong with that? HuffPost Green states it well:

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

I love farmers. I love the red barn and tractor thing big-time. I love the bib overalls and wheatstraw look. Honest I do.

But I don't love monster agribusiness that pollutes, overcontrols, and buys votes in DC with lobbying. I abhor factory beef, pork and poultry and egg operations, and I hate fish farming. Sorry kids, but raising the eggs you buy in your supermarket is cruel, and there's no Auntie Em tossing grain to the hens in the front yard. Beaks are cut without anesthesia and wings and legs break all the time. You don't want to know. But if you do, head to the Mercy for Animals website (No link given because a video will play and I want you to see it willingly; but that's how Nature Maven became a vegetarian!)

I love organic farmers and folks who love the land and the people they feed more than monster profit margins. If they raise animals for food, I don't love them as much but I celebrate those who treat their animals very well and make their deaths as non-traumatic as possible (thank you, Temple Grandin!).

So, go ahead and read the CRA propaganda, click on those links as much as you want, but be sure you read the flip side. Knowledge is power. And, totally anecdotally, this vegan has found eating Oreos and other foods made with HFCS leads to that "phenomenon of craving" addictions experts refer to. I can eat three Oreos and be at serious risk of consuming a whole line of those bad boys. Three Newman's O's satisfy without starting the sugar monster going. Try it out for yourself!

Eliminating HFCS has caused me to carry my own ketchup packs (thanks, Whole Foods!) and always ask for pure maple syrup with my waffles, and read bread and salad dressing labels like a maniac. Shopping with me can be your worst nightmare! Del Monte makes HFCS-free ketchup. Wishbone regular dressings are HFCS free but not their Salad Spritzers. WTF? I have a bottle on the counter now with the receipt attached with a rubber band, ready to exchange for a Ken's no-HFCS dressing spray.

Nature Maven wishes all readers a wonderful Memorial Day. Here's a cute YouTube video on the subject of HFCS: