Clean Eating Grocery List

These are things I keep on hand so I always have something available for lunch and dinner.

HFCS-The Evil One

When you are a practicing real foodist as I am, enemy #1 is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Many people acknowledge how bad it is but often do not know why. This post is a little high fructose corn syrup 101.What is it?
High fructose corn syrup is also known as corn sugar. When corn is heated to very high temperature the corn breaks into Glucose and Fructose. The problem with HFCS is just as the name implies, it has a greater concentration of fructose then glucose. Long-term high concentrations of fructose have been studied and shown to cause our bodies to break down which in turn causes chronic health problems.Why it is in everything?
The primary reason HFCS is in everything is because it is much cheaper to
produce. The second reason is because it has a very long shelf life. General rule of thumb, if an ingredient is in many packaged products it is most likely a derivative of soybean or corn and it is easy and cheap when it comes to production.

Why is it bad?
The University of Colorado Denver Health Science Center has become the research/study center for all things HFCS. Multiple studies have been conducted and reported on from this university in regards to HFCS. After multiple research studies at the university the four most common ailments associated with increased consumption of HFCS are, Hypertension (high blood pressure), Heart problems, kidney disease, and metabolic syndrome. The constant thread in all of these diseases is an increase in blood pressure. According to an article in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, fructose is the known culprit of raising blood pressure in the human body.

Where is it?
HFCS is the number one ingredient in almost ALL processed food and is the primary ingredient in soda. The Corn Refiners Association disputes all claims that HFCS is harmful to your health, in the same way the Tobacco companies disputed claims that smoking caused cancer. The CRA states that HFCS is safe in moderation but most people do not realize that it is in everything they are consuming. Advertising campaigns paid for buy the CRA focused on HFCS in juice and punch failing to point out that it is is everything from meat, chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn, nuts.

My challenge for you!
Start looking for HFCS in the unexpected places. I bet you will find it there. Pick up the items at the grocery store where you wouldn’t expect sugar and see if it is there. Let me know what you find. Here is a tip, the middle isles of the grocery store are FULL of HFCS.

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