And you clearly never heard of the insidiousness of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and how its rise since the late 70s correlates with the rise in obesity rates.
It's been that way since the late 70s - early 80s. US subsidies ensure an overproduction of corn; something needs to be done with the excess. It can't all be fed to farm animals or plowed under. HFCS was developed at the same time that demand for corn oil margarine declined.
Sugar got dropped in favor of HFCS as the primary sweetener in sodas, snacks, cereals, condiments, you name it, as being a more cost-effective sweetener, leading to higher profits.
We as a nation consume far more HFCS than we do sugar. Its metabolic (all fructose is metabolized in the liver, whereas all of the cells of the body can metabolize glucose) and habit-forming issues are just side benefits to agribusiness. Check your 'health foods' carefully; it's in many of them, too.
The facts are in:
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is processed from hydrolyzed corn starch (so it’s not completely natural) and contains a high level of fructose (which is naturally occurring in fruits and honey) and a simple sugar carbohydrate, just like sucrose. It is about 75% sweeter than sucrose, less expensive than sugar, and mixes well in many foods. Food manufacturers (especially soda manufacturers) began using HFCS widely in the early 1970s to save money, and it was thought of as a revolutionary advance in food science because of its stability and usefullness in a variety of foods.
(snip)
While many reports show that Americans consumption of white refined sugar has dropped over the past 20 years, it is mostly a result of the switch by food companies to HFCS, which according to USDA figures shows an increased consumption by 250% over the last 15 years. Estimates are that we consume about 9% of our daily calories in the form of fructose.
(snip)
Corn syrup’s sugar is primarily glucose, which our body burns as a source of immediate energy, is stored in muscles and our liver for later use, and releases insulin.
Fructose, on the other hand, does not release or stimulate insulin. Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone that helps to metabolize our foods by pushing carbohydrates into our muscle cells to be used as energy, and allows carbohydrates to be stores in our liver for later use. It also stimulates production of another hormone, leptin, which helps to regulate our storage of body fat and increases our metabolism when needed. These two hormones keep our body fat regulated and tells us, for all intent purposes, when we are satisfied and sends the message to our brain to stop eating.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that men who consume very high levels of fructose elevated their triglyceride level by 32 percent. As trygliceride enters our blood stream, it makes our cells resistant to insulin, making our body’s fat burning and storage system even more sluggish.
http://www.supermarketguru.com/page.cfm/2925 Yes, we all have choices to make, but sometimes, the cards are stacked against us to make the game a lot harder to win. "Personal Responsibility" is a big Republican talking point.
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