High Fructose Corn Syrup Nazi

“No soda for you!”
“No juice for you!”
“No bread for you!”

I was sounding like a Jerry Seinfield rerun.
My family was putting up with me reading labels and declaring certain foods off limits. They rolled their eyes good-naturedly, saying, “Mommm!” until I declared ketchup and Miracle Whip off limits as well. Then they put their collective foot down.

What started this dietary upheaval?

My husband came home from work with a story of a co-worker taking high fructose corn syrup out of her diet and losing weight. Since my husband and I were looking to take a few inches off, we started reading the good, bad and ugly of HFCS.

To put it in a nutshell, our research found HFCS is corn syrup that has been modified. Research is still ongoing but what has been shown is that HFCS doesn’t seem to trip the body’s sugar sensor (insulin) telling the body its had enough sugar so we tend to intake more.

And the body doesn’t know how to process HFCS so it is stored as fat…fat that is hard for the body to get rid of.

After our research we decided to try and cut HFCS out of our diet. How hard could it be?

I am here to tell you not only was it hard, is was annoying. With the potential of being expensive.

HFCS is present in almost every food group from breads to meats to juices to sweets. I found it in ketchup, white bread, wheat bread, bagels, lunch meat, breakfast foods, pop-tarts, granola bars and the list goes on.

Why is HFCS in so many foods?

High fructose corn syrup is used to make food softer and sweeter and extend shelf life, cheaply.

So I diligently read labels and switched brands. I didn’t notice any change in my health or waistline right off and to be honest, I wasn’t sure where to look. Two months went by before I realized my pants fit looser around the waist. I asked my husband if he had detected any change. His pants were looser, also.

I can’t tell you for sure we lost inches as a direct result of less high fructose corn syrup. I do know we didn’t change anything else in our diet and we didn’t exercise at all.

I noticed a change in my wallet; foods without HFCS tend to be more expensive but most naturally made foods are.

Is HFCS bad, good or ugly? I don’t know. But I do know that I read labels more carefully in the grocery store. And that has made all the difference in how I see food.