I’m sure most of you have heard about mercury poisoning and how it is definitely damaging our health. The most common ways to get mercury toxicity is from amalgam (silver) fillings in our teeth; consuming too much seafood or fish; and from vaccinations. However, now new research is coming forward with a much more insidious way that we are being exposed to mercury: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).
I’m sure many of you are unaware exactly how much of HFCS you are actually consuming. But let me warn you: it’s in virtually everything. It is a VERY cheap form of sugar and food manufacturer’s use it much more often to sweeten items like: sodas, barbecue sauce, weight loss bars/drinks, jellies and jams, ketchup, peanut butter, etc. The list goes on and on and quite frankly, I could write several articles about the dangers of HFCS and all the various forms you can find it in, but that is not the subject of this post.
Since our consumption of HFCS is on the rise that means that we are also becoming more exposed to mercury toxicity. But how does corn syrup get mercury in it? Well, four of the big plants that make corn syrup, use mercury-cell technology in the production of caustic soda, an ingredient used in the corn conversion process. It’s a very technical process, but the bottom line is…..mercury is being found in food products. Fortunately, we have consumer watchdog groups like “Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy“ that did the testing and research and discovered this fact.
But why is mercury bad, you ask? Well first of all, it damages your nervous system. This is one of the primary risks for pregnant women and their fetuses and why pregnant moms and also babies and children are encouraged to avoid seafood. Also, vision problems, impairment of speech, walking and muscle weakness are another issue. Some people have insomnia, headaches, emotional issues, and skin problems. And of course, it’s been linked to autism and ADD and ADHD because mercury can cause such severe brain imbalances.
So quite simply, this is yet another reason to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. Not only does it contribute to obesity, diabetes and a whole host of other health problems, NOW mercury toxicity has been linked to it. Please do yourself a favor and start reading food labels and please avoid any product that has High Fructose Corn Syrup.
You can read the whole article here:
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4662&src=
Tags: Nutrition/Food
May 28th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Great article Melissa! I think sugar and refined carbohydrates are one of the primary reasons why there’s so much poor health around us.
I recently read an article about how the government is trying to claim high fructose corn syrup is no worse than regular table sugar. According to Gary Taubes’ Good Calories Bad Calories, fructose is only processed by the liver and is converted into fat. It also blocks the liver from processing glucose which leads to an increased demand for insulin. Since high fructose corn syrup contains both sucrose and fructose, it culminates into the worst case scenario of both sugars, and this is in addition to mercury. Bad stuff!
Another one of many reasons to stick with whole foods.