Eating Sugar Makes You Fat

By Henry McCleary, DC

America is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and has the greatest appetite on earth for sugar, especially, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS is a blend of glucose and fructose and is significantly cheaper than table sugar, therefore making it very attractive to the food industry for its use as a sweetener. The scary thing is that we are consuming high fructose corn syrup and sugar in pharmacologic quantities never before experienced in human history; 140 pounds a year per person versus 20 teaspoons a year 10,000 years ago.

Over-consumes of HFCS can cause

Insulin spikes

Production of triglycerides and cholesterol is triggered

Toxic gut bacteria to enter your blood stream and trigger inflammation.

The FDA has determined that HFCS is safe in the correct amounts, but too much consumption of any sugar can have health consequences. The glucose that is absorbed causes insulin spikes leading to increased metabolic disturbances that can drive increases in appetite, weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and more.

With childhood obesity rates more than doubling in children and quadrupling in adolescents in the past 30 years, it's hard not to overlook the consequences of a diet that contains too much high fructose corn syrup in many of the foods we consume.

Effects On the Brain

Over-consumption of HFCS can deplete the body of the natural mineral zinc which is responsible for cleansing the body of heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, and cadmium, as well as aluminum and other toxins that are known to disrupt proper brain development.

Neurodevelopment can be adversely impacted when gene expression is altered by dietary factors such as zinc insufficiency/deficiency, or by exposure to toxic substances found in our environment like mercury or organophosphate pesticides.

The number of children ages six to 21 in the United States receiving special education services under the autism disability category increased 91% between 2005 to 2010. A study published in Clinical Epigenetics revealed that both the standard American diet and various toxic environmental factors could play a role in the development of autism.

To have any chance at successful weight loss and maximum wellness, we have to reduce the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates in our diets.