Know What’s In Your Food
There are lots of candidates for worst food additive: trans fat, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), artificial sweeteners, artificial colours, sodium-based preservatives and some flavour enhancers. I think all of these things are “evil” but consider HFCS to be the worst.
Gluten and lactose are not evil but obviously have to be avoided by those with intolerances. Natural salts are okay in moderation. Sugar is okay in moderation. Fats and oils, aside from trans fat, are okay in moderation. Even fructose is okay – in moderation.
When you look at an ear of corn, it seems so wholesome and innocent. It’s hard to imagine it as the source of a food additive that contributes significantly to the development of obesity, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and yet, it does. What makes HFCS the worst, in my opinion, is that it is insidious. It shows up in savory foods and beverages as well as those that are sweet.
Fructose – “fruit sugar” – contributes to the development of metabolic diseases through its impact on the liver. People who consume excessive amounts of fructose develop fatty livers, a condition called non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
If untreated, NAFLD can progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), characterized by inflammation and mild fibrosis in addition to fat infiltration and, eventually, advanced scar tissue deposition, cirrhosis, and finally liver cancer, which constitutes the culmination of the disease. Notably, fructose is recognized as a major mediator of NAFLD, as a significant correlation between fructose intake and the degree of inflammation and fibrosis has been found in preclinical and clinical studies. Moreover, fructose is a risk factor for liver cancer development. Interestingly, fructose induces a number of proinflammatory, fibrogenic, and oncogenic signaling pathways that explain its deleterious effects in the body, especially in the liver. [1]
If you are not yet alarmed, here’s more food for thought:
Fructose metabolism in key metabolic tissues including the small intestine, liver, and kidney may contribute to diverse cardiometabolic risk factors including steatosis, increased glucose production, hypertriglyceridemia, increased adiposity, and hypertension. [2]
The good news is HFCS is easy to avoid if you limit your intake of highly processed foods and beverages. If your diet is based on a variety of whole foods which you prepare yourself, you’ll be able to bypass lots of food additives, including high fructose corn syrup.
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