High Fructose Corn Syrup

I read monkeygirl's blog the other day about high fructose corn syrup (hfc) and first thing I have to admit that I hadn't really heard about it or better say paid attention to it.

Her blog entry basically said, that hfc is in everything from pop, over most breads, ketchup, to yogurts, even the low calorie ones and lots of other low-cal foods.
Then, I thought, since she was also mentioning, that it was connected to major health issues like diabetes and heart disease, I should educate myself a bit more.
Well, this is what I have learnt:

high fructose corn syrup is:
(HFCS) refers to a group of corn syrups which have undergone enzymatic processing in order to increase their fructose content and are then mixed with pure corn syrup (100% glucose) to reach their final form. The typical types of HFCS are: HFCS 90 (most commonly used in baked goods) which is approximately 90% fructose and 10% glucose; HFCS 55 (most commonly used in soft drinks) which is approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose; and HFCS 42 (most commonly used in sports drinks) which is approximately 42% fructose and 58% glucose.
(stolen at wikipedia)

are we smarter yet?

Now we know, what it is, but the part, that concerns (or better freaks out) a lot of folks is the health effects hfc has or supposed to have:
obesity, diabetes, insulin resistance which can lead to diabetes, heart problems, etc....scary shit!!

Even scarier: it is in almost EVERYTHING. Look at the labels of your favorite foods and check.
hfc is more commonly used as sugar today in the US. It's a syrup so it is easy to use. The corn-grower industry is BIIIG (surprise) and so they are pushing there "natural" product.
But from the corn to the hfc is actually a very complicated chemical process, that has not much to do with nature (some reading).

So, if you are watching your weight, your health or just trying to be a bit more aware of what you eat, look at the label and look out for the hfc.

You will be surprised and disturbed.......