A diatribe on artificial sweeteners

Last year my new year's resolution was to stop using the word "dude" (unless, of course, it was in reference to the Big Lebowski). I was successful, for the most part. I still slip up now and again, but I figured it was an easy goal to attain, and I did.

This year, however, I decided to set my sights on personal improvement a little higher. This year I fell victim to the oldest one in the book: eating healthy. This resolution actually started a few months ago, when I decided that my breakfast regimen of pork roll egg and cheese sandwiches and bagels had to go. I read that it's best to wean yourself off of these things, so by definition, I still eat them, just with much less regularity. Two other health decisions I already made a long time ago: 1) eat way less fast food 2) try not to drink anything containing "high fructose corn syrup".

I think #2 is something everyone should read up on. High fructose corn syrup is a substitute for pure cane sugar, but is processed in a way that is considerably less healthy. A passing glance at articles on the subject reveal that HFCS is known to cause
-liver damage
-obesity
-diabetes
-complications from diabetes including eye and nerve damage, and foot ulcers
-insulin resistance
-cardiovascular disease

Wikipedia: High Fructose Corn Syrup
The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup
The Mayo Clinic: Why Is HFCS Bad For Me?

A Google search for "high fructose corn syrup" reveals a myriad of articles pertaining to a wild assortment of health risks. Ever since reading a bunch of them, I've become quite the "ingredients" detective. Obviously, it's no shock that almost every major brand of soda uses HFCS, so it's impossible to avoid it completely, but when I started checking major brands of juice, the results were surprising. I mean, it's juice, it's supposed to be healthy! Sugars are found naturally in fruit, we don't need a bunch of sweetener in them... right? Well, apparently, we do. So far, the only major brand of juice that is actually "100% juice" (that I've found recently, and I'm talking major brands here, not specialty), is Dole. Snapple, Ocean Spray, Tropicana, et al, all add this gross sweetener to my beloved juice. Juice... it's something you associate with health and purity, but here it is, tainted by this incredibly artificial product.

Of course, American drink makers are beholden to the use of HFCS because some stupid corporate conglomerate:

The preference for high-fructose corn syrup over cane sugar among the vast majority of American food and beverage manufacturers is largely due to U.S. import quotas and tariffs on sugar. These tariffs significantly increase the domestic U.S. price for sugar, forcing Americans to pay more than twice the world price for sugar, thus making high-fructose corn syrup an attractive substitute in U.S. markets. For instance, soft drink makers like Coca-Cola use sugar in other nations, but use high-fructose corn syrup in their U.S. products.

Large corporations, such as Archer Daniels Midland, lobby for the continuation of these subsidies.^[16] Since local and federal laws often put a limit on how much money one particular lobbyist can contribute,^[17] ADM's contributions are often given by numerous smaller entities under the authority of ADM. This is commonly called bundling political contributions.

Obviously, I'm not a health store nut or anything, I mean, I still have a ways to go to be "in shape", and we are talking about sugar here - when we should be talking about vegetables or food pyramids or something - but it's a start. I just hate the idea of putting this nasty stuff in my body. It's also good to see I'm not the only one who feels this way. The consumer rebellion against all this impurity has already begun. My local Wawa and QuickChek's both carry this "Naked" juice. I've become a dedicated fan of "Naked" juice, with it's two pounds of fruit in every bottle, it's gotta be the healthiest thing in the store. Also excellent for your coffee needs is "Sugar in the Raw", which is unrefined Hawaiian pure cane sugar. It actually contains small amounts of nutrients and has a more natural flavor than standard sugar.

As Joe Jackson once sang, "everything gives you cancer". Which is pretty much true. But I sure as hell ain't going down with foot ulcers, and if anything is gonna destroy my liver, it's not gonna be some stupid soda and fake juice.

Good to note: You can still buy Dr. Pepper made from pure cane sugar here.