The Truth about High Fructose Corn Syrup

Fructose doesn’t trigger satiety hormones like other types of glucose do—one reason why it’s been targeted as a prime suspect in the rising obesity epidemic. But that’s not all: Studies have also linked HFCS to elevated triglycerides, (bad cholesterol), insulin resistance… and even increased risk of colon cancer.

Finally, when you consider yet another fact—that you’ll find HFCS hiding in a seemingly endless number of processed foods, from yogurt to soup to salad dressing—moderate intake of this particular ingredient proves to be a major challenge. In fact, the average total consumption of HFCS is approximately 13 teaspoons per day—likely even higher among certain populations, including children and teens.

That’s precisely what makes this next piece of recent research so disturbing.

This past January, a study published in Environmental Health revealed that nine out of twenty samples of commercial HFCS contained detectable levels of the heavy metal mercury—presumably, the result of contamination with “mercury-grade” caustic soda during the HFCS manufacturing process. Even more shocking, these samples came in the form of a variety of popular name-brands—Smucker’s, Kraft, Hershey’s, Quaker, and Yoplait, to name a few.

In the United States, current regulation is limited only to methyl mercury in fish—but if these results are any indication, new practices are undoubtedly in order. In the meantime, keeping products containing HFCS as far away from your plate as possible appears to be the only truly safe precaution.

That said, it’s important to note that a scientific consulting firm, ChemRisk, was hired by the CRA to examine this new research. ChemRisk did so, and subsequently dismissed the offending report as “flawed and misleading”—citing that only one-third of the tested products yielded barely detectable levels of mercury, levels that were still at concentrations notably lower than you will find in other common foods.

This rebuttal might come as a relief to some. But it doesn’t to me.

Heavy metal toxicity is a major health problem with frightening consequences for both children and adults. It’s a modern crisis that should not—and cannot—be ignored. If nothing else, this study sheds light on just one more potential (and very prevalent) source of exposure to toxins.

That’s why I’d like to encourage you to read the report I’ve put together on heavy metal toxicity—and to share it with anyone you know who wants to learn more about this critical concern. You can download it from my website here—and as always, it is absolutely free.

Yours in good health,
Isaac Eliaz, M.D., M.S., L.Ac.