High Fructose Corn Syrup
I wanted to take a minute to talk about a sugary substance that is a food additive to a TON of the processed foods we see on grocery shelves in America today. It is high fructose corn syrup, and it has very destructive effects on the blood sugar and on the human body in general by encouraging obesity and weight gain.
Parents should really try to keep their kids away from products sweetened with this sugary substance. It is used in so many foods to sweeten them today because it is a dirt cheap sweetener. My husband and I actually splurged on pancakes yesterday for breakfast, and I looked at the label on my “maple syrup” and found that the first and foremost ingredient in the stuff was high fructose corn syrup. Maple was nowhere to be found.
Is is found in most soft drinks, many other sweetened drinks, cookies, cakes, candies, ice cream and just about every other processed sweet goodie you can think of. It’s addictive too, so it makes the body crave even more sugar when you eat foods that have a lot of it.
It is one of those food additives that is like MSG – very destructive, yet still found everywhere because it is such a cheap, long shelf life additive. If you really want to avoid ingredients like this, you are unfortunately going to have to spend a little more money and read your labels.
The reason I say you’ll have to spend more money is that the brands that are aware of this, and do not have these types of ingredients, actually use “REAL” ingredients that are not as harmful to the human body. They don’t use these frankenfood additives, and they do accordingly have to charge more for their foods because they simply cost more to make.
Makes sense. I know it can be a bit more painful when you get up to the counter to pay, but it’s well worth if for you and your family. And guess what, in the end it all evens out because you and your family aren’t getting the same huge appetite and crazy cravings, so in the end, you’ll likely be eating less and buying less groceries any way.
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Vitamin D and Blood Sugar
Well, well. Vitamin D is, after all, turning out to be quite the wonder vitamin. Vitamin D, a very easily obtained vitamin which is also fairly inexpensive in pill form, and can be freely obtained via sunlight exposure, has long been thought to be a pivotal part of preventing cancer, helping to maintain bone density, and helping to prevent asthma and heart disease, among a host of many other health benefits.
After the villification of the sunlight as a cancer causing agent, a lot of research has instead pointed to combining sunlight with hazardous chemical-laced sunscreens and tanning products as a major contributor as well. This is not to say that excessive exposure to sunlight cannot cause skin cancer.
It most certainly can. However, it seems more and more likely that a combination of not having enough vitamin D circulating in the blood stream and antioxidants, may be more the culprit than the sunlight itself in the burning and cell damage done on some people from the sun.
Researchers in Australia are also now uncovering significant evidence that vitamin D levels circulating in the blood may be linked to blood sugar levels remaining stable. They found a correlation between low vitamin D levels and diabetes, showing that those with low vitamin D levels had over a 50% higher chance of developing diabetes.
It is not known exactly why vitamin D seems to protect people from developing diabetes throughout their lives. Perhaps we will know why in our lifetime, this vitamin seems to be so pivotal to so many human body functions, including now diabetes prevention.
I must say that since I have been taking vitamin D and getting artificial sunlight via a UVB tanning booth twice a week, I have not gotten sick once. So I firmly believe that vitamin D levels contribute heavily to an awesome immune response, among a huge range of health benefits.
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