HFCS Free - Week 1

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/



I've been hearing about the ills of High Fructose Corn Syrup for some time now. As a Pepsi Lover, I'm very skeptical about this. Here's my logic: Sucrose is table sugar; Fructose is the naturally occurring sugar in fruit. Fructose is often recommended OVER sucrose.

I recall an especially aggravating episode of Lazy Town, a children's show about Phys. Ed. and exercising and healthy habits. I hate the show in general, I find it annoying, but I don't mind my daughters watching it because of its important curriculum. (Unlike Yo Gabba Gabba which seems to have no curriculum other than "children are stupid, let's talk down to them.")

The episode in question involved Sporticus, the main character, who is sort of a superhero. I say "sort of" because his super power seems to be the ability to do amazing gymnastics and run around a lot. Teach my daughter gymnastics, and she could be Sporticus, which may just be the point. Anyway, his Kryptonite is revealed as being sugar. Sugar, meaning sucrose, candy. Robbie Rotten, the villain, replaces his apple with an apple made out of candy, and BAM, he loses energy and collapses. They save him by bringing him an orange which is healthy, and he comes out of it.

Encouraging kids to make healthy food choices. Good. Identifying the culprit as sugar, BAD. Why? Because the thing which gives you energy from fruit IS SUGAR! The difference is that it is fructose, not sucrose. Now certainly I don't expect a show aimed at preschoolers to make a distinction between the two molecules, but at least don't mislead them by saying SUGAR is bad, just that the wrong type of food is bad.

Anyway, my point is that there is a distinction between fructose being good for you and sucrose being bad for you. And yet, in sodas, the kind with high fructose corn syrup is bad, and the kind with sucrose (like Pepsi Throwback and 7up) is better for you. Our idiot Governor, David Patterson has even suggested that sodas with aspartame, and sucralose are better for you, but I KNOW that's not true. Aspartame (Nutrasweet, equal) leads to headaches, memory loss, stroke and memory loss. Sucralose (Splenda) is, so far, considered safe, because it doesn't absorb into your system at all; but it's only a matter of time. Plus Sucralose is made by replacing the Carbon atom that holds together the disaccharide Sucrose with Chlorine...

So, even though I don't subscribe to the idea that HFCS is deadly for you, I know the acids in soda can't be good. And certainly, to drink it as much as I do can't be good either. So, this Lenten season, I'm doing an experiment. My "fast", as it were, will be to give up Pepsi, and all other soft drinks, and also to give up snacking after 9pm.

I'm doing this for religious reasons, as a fast, giving up something I love that is a vice, but also to see what difference it has on my health in general.

So far, it's been a week. I've been drinking lots of coffee to compensate for the caffiene buzz I used to get from my Pepsi at lunch, and dinner, and twice before bedtime. Other than missing it, and breaking bad habits, all I can say is... I REALLY want a Pepsi. I think there was a little low level addiction to it. In Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock talks about food addiction. It's what makes you crave McDonalds, and feel better after having eaten it. Maybe Pepsi and HFCS is the same way.

I'm going to check in on this blog from time to time to see how I do, and if I notice any positive, or negative effects. In theory, I should lose some weight. HFCS is directly linked to childhood obesity, and eating lots of carbs and then going to sleep couldn't have helped my fat levels.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my water! Wish me luck!