More 'sweet' facts to know if we need to survive

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is about as healthy as heroin. Here's why...

v You should know that in spite of the name fructose sounding like the word fruit, HFCS is anything but natural. Most corn used to make it is genetically modified, as are the enzymes and fungus necessary to transform corn starch into this form of sugar.

v You may end up with the following problems after eating too much fructose:

· high cholesterol

· anemia

· heart hypertrophy (enlarged heart)

· delayed testicular development

· infertility in women

· increased appetite

· improper connective tissue production

· increased insulin resistance

· increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome

· increased likelihood of type 2 diabetes

· reduced antioxidant activity in the body

· iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc deficiencies

· cirrhosis of the liver
In other words, HFCS wreaks havoc on your immune system, bones, heart, liver, energy level and reproductive system. In addition, it increases your risk of diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer, including prostate and colon cancer. Sounds sweet, doesn't it?



2. Hard facts about soft drinks.

Here is what happens when you drink a soft drink:

v In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system (100% of your recommended daily intake). You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.

v 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat.

v 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.

v 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.

v 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.

v After 60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that were headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.

v >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the soft drink. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

Soda Pop or Solvent?

If high levels of sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives and artificial coloring in soda pop don't convince you to find an alternative beverage, perhaps this will:

v Recently in Britain , as much as 36 times the accepted level of highly toxic benzene have been found in soda pop. Benzene is a flammable petroleum product that is a key component in many solvents and cleaners as well as in gasoline. It's also a known carcinogen with strong links to leukemia in humans.