Why You're Still Not Losing Weight

Lately, some commercials have cropped up touting the purported "safety" of high fructose corn syrup. In one of the advertisements, a young couple is having a picnic in the park. The woman offers her boyfriend an ice pop. He responds by looking at the treat, and then up at her saying, "I thought you loved me." She says, "I do. Take two bites." He mentions that the dessert has high fructose corn syrup in it. She asks what's wrong with that and he goes suddenly quiet, embarrassed that he can't think of anything to back up his word of caution. Smug, the girlfriend says, "That it's made from corn, has the same calories as sugar, honey and it's fine in moderation?"

The commercial ends with the boyfriend now wanting the pop and an announcer advising the viewers at home to "get the facts."

Good idea!

Here they are:

Fact 1: High fructose corn syrup is not "natural" as the commercial suggests. It is a synthetic, man-made artificial sweetener.

Fact 2: HFCS has no nutritional value and encourages weight gain since its sugar quickly converts to fat and is stored by the body.

Fact 3: Research shows that HFCS, though sweet enough to cause a blood sugar spike, causes an increase in sugar cravings and fools your body into thinking it's hungry!

Fact 4: HFCS didn't replace sugar in the 1970's because it's good for you, it's simply cheaper and easy to transport.

Fact 5: HFCS has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and depressed thyroid function.

So, unlike what the makers of this cheap, processed sugar substitute would like you to believe, high fructose corn syrup is not good for you and should be avoided.

High fructose corn syrup is in everything from condiments to yogurt so it's important to become a label-reader. You'll find, once your replace the HFCS-laden condiments, juices and desserts with those containing natural sugar, you'll not only lose weight but you'll have more energy and notice how much better everything tastes!

Sources: Online research and my former roommate who lost weight when she cut high fructose corn syrup from her diet.