Do you ever read food labels? If you don’t you SHOULD! Check out what you are putting into your body. There are so many “bad” things that are added to our food that it’s disturbing when you start reading what those ingredients are! High Fructose Corn Syrup is one of those “innocent” (as the marketers for HFCS say) ingredients, but actually when you read studies on HFCS you will want to stay away from it.

The liver is the only organ that can metabolize fructose in significant amounts. When your liver gets overloaded, it turns the fructose into fat. Some of that fat can lodge in your liver, contributing to fatty liver. High fructose consumption is also linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Chemical Structure

HFCS derived from genetically modified corn and is added to many things to sweeten them. Mainly processed foods and soda drinks. It is a chemical that is 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose. Sugar is 50 percent fructose, 50 percent glucose. So they are pretty close, but there are other types of HFCS that are 90-10 ratio.

There is not chemical bond between HFCS, (since it is made from corn) unlike sugar which has a bond between the fructose and glucose. Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your blood stream.

Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol). Which causes a condition called “fatty liver” and affects 70 million people in the USA. The rapidly absorbed glucose triggers big spikes in insulin–our body’s major fat storage hormone.

These features of HFCS lead to increased metabolic disturbances that drive increases in appetite, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more.

Side Effects of Consuming HFCS

The effects of HFCS on metabolic and immune functions of the body have been extensively studied. A study published in 2015 revealed that HFCS intake damaged a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for long-term memory and mood regulation, and caused inflammation in the body’s nerves, particularly in the brain. (PubMed)

Also in a 2015 study by Stanhope, (and others) the results revealed a positive association between the intake of beverages sweetened by HFCS and the risk for cardiovascular illness in young adults. The higher the percentage of HFCS in a drink, the bigger the increase in the following heart disease risk factors – 1. low density lipoprotein (or bad cholesterol), 2. total cholesterol, and 3. uric acid. In the same study, HFCS disturbed the ability to the body to lower blood glucose levels after eating, causing prolonged elevated levels in the blood stream which causes damaged to the body’s organs and tissues. (PubMed)

Chiropractic

Chiropractic is whole body wellness. When the central nervous system is functioning at higher levels (due to the chiropractic adjustment) your body can handle the stresses (pollution, stress, bacteria, viruses, toxins, poor choices, sugar and many more) of life better. Good nutrition helps nourish your body to protect and support the processes in which the body functions.

Start reading labels! Invest in your health through food and spinal health. If you want any information on how chiropractic can help you, give us a call or call a chiropractor near you! Investing in your health now will save you in more than one way later.

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, INC.
El Reno, OK 73036