High Fructose Corn Syrup is getting replaced by sugar in many packaged foods and drinks. High Fructose Corn Syrup has recently gotten a bad reputation as an artificial sweetener. It is heavily processed and offers little nutritional value

Problems with Sugars

Changing to sugar is almost a marketing gimmick. Researchers have concluded that sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup have the exact same effect on obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Biochemically they are almost identical. One is not better than the other. Consumers should seek less sweet alternative products. The American Diabetic Association has stated that studies have found little evidence that high fructose corn syrup differs from sucrose. Some corn syrup comes from Genetically Modified corn, making you part of an experiment to ensure that this does not cause long term problems.

Soda and Hidden Fat Increase

Danish researchers found that drinking non-diet soda leads to dramatic increases in dangerous hidden fats like liver fat and skeletal fat. (February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

Flame Retardants in Soda

Some citrus flavored soda, including Mountain Dew, uses brominated vegetable oil or BVO—a toxic flame retardant, as an emulsifier, to keep their artificial flavoring from separating from the rest of the liquids.

Some restaurant and products have replaced high fructose corn syrup with agave nectar claiming that it may be better. Unfortunately it is high in fructose, ranging from 50% to 100%. A diet high in fructose raises lipids and reduces insulin sensitivity. Glucose doesn’t have these negative effects.

Sugar and Yogurt – Greek Yogurt

Greek Yogurt is now the trendy dairy product to eat. It is thicker and more flavorful. Greek yogurt is just regular yogurt strained, so that sugar, water, lactose, and some whey has been removed.

The good things about Greek yogurt:

• Twice the protein
• Half the sugar
• Half the carbohydrates
• Half the sodium
• Same number of calories as regular yogurt

The bad things about Greek yogurt:

• Half the calcium of regular yogurt
• Normal Greek yogurt has 3 times the saturated fat compared to normal yogurt

So we recommend people select a fat free yogurt to maximize all the benefits of Greek yogurt. We like Chobani Greek yogurt ourselves. You can find it at Costco, although you will be limited in the number of flavors you get.

Quest for Sugar Elimination

Recently went looking for some simple unsweetened iced tea at a Walgreens and in a gas station, we found nothing but sweetened versions of the drink. If you wanted to do without sugar you have to buy bottled water.

People need to drink water instead of soda. Snack on fruit instead of cookies. Yes they are not as appetizing, but they are far healthier.

Check out this video that talks about the problems with sugar.

Health concerns of Diet Soda

Many people switch to diet sodas to avoid all the calories of regular soda. Health concerns of Diet Soda are still present.

Some problems with diet soda:

• Consumption of diet soda has been correlated with weight gain in one study.
• Consumption of diet soda correlates with increased metabolic syndrome. Of the 9,000 males and females studied, findings stated that 48% of the subjects were at higher risk for weight gain and elevated blood sugar.
• Diet soda drinkers were less likely to consume healthy foods, and that drinking diet soda flavored with artificial sweeteners more than likely increases cravings for sugar flavored sweets.

How does water sound?

Alcohol and Empty calories

We all know that soda is a major problem with regard to sugar and calories. Soda and other sweetened beverages consume roughly 6% of the calories an adult takes in. Did you know that alcoholic beverages are close behind at 5%?

Alcohol, like soda, has few nutrients and a ton of calories. The average person gets 150 calories from alcohol each day, roughly the same as a can of beer. Five ounce glass of wine contains 100 calories. So the next time you are ordering a drink, think about its calorie content. Alcohol and soda both fill you up with empty calories.

Sugarless Gum Problems

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

I saw an article that mentioned that the artificial sweeteners used in chewing gum could cause problems. A Google search shows many articles that talk about sweeteners such as Sorbitol, Mannitol, and Aspertame causing stomach problems in some people. Better living through chemicals. Also the mechanism of chewing causes swallowing lots of air, which can cause gas and bloating.

Let’s not even get into all the waste gum packaging has or gum littering the ground…