Wow, this is very bad news considering my complete and utter addiction to Coke. But Dr. Chi-Tang Ho, professor of food science at Rutgers University has uncovered evidence that our addiction to canned drinks is directly linked to diabetes because of the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

HFCS is a sweetener found in many foods and beverages, including non-diet soda pop, baked goods, and condiments. It is has become the sweetener of choice for many food manufacturers because it is considered more economical, sweeter and more easy to blend into beverages than table sugar. Some researchers have suggested that high-fructose corn syrup may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes as well as obesity, a claim which the food industry disputes. Until now, little laboratory evidence has been available on the topic.

In the current study, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found ‘astonishingly high’ levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage, says Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are “bound” and chemically stable, the researcher notes.

So, I went shopping after I read this article with a renewed interest in avoiding products with high fructose corn syrup in them, and I could not believe how many of my every day items are on the list…
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