According to a University of Colorado study, avoiding the risk of high blood pressure takes more than eating a healthy, low-sodium diet. Their research showed that the now notorious food additive, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)—an ingredient in almost all processed, prepared, or packaged foods—increases blood pressure by up to 32%.

The study says HFCS causes inflammation in the bloodstream, which causes the blood vessel walls to tighten, resulting in blood pressure increases. What was so alarming was that even the most consistent and rigorous healthy eaters experienced this blood pressure increase with just a periodic and slight ingestion of HFCS. Scary.

And buyer beware, even though there’s been a movement afoot the last few years to expose it, HFCS is still hanging around and shows up on labels under a variety of names: corn syrup, corn maltodextrin, fructose, high fructose sweetener, natural sweetener, or any other type of sweetener title; it is all still the same health-damaging sweetener.  Even foods that claim to be “natural” frequently include HFCS.  This nasty stuff is most common in soda and processed foods labeled “low-fat” or “non-fat.”  

Do you wonder why food manufacturers add high-fructose corn syrup to their products? It’s all about money—HFCS adds flavor to fat-reduced foods (which taste like crap without it—can I say “crap?”). Sales obviously go up if a product tastes good. And finally, HFCS happens to be extremely cheap—flavor is enhanced at next to no cost.

Now my main point—here are some surprising foods that use this junk:

Yogurt—we eat it for its so-called health benefits, yet we’re actually shooting ourselves in the foot!

Baby Formula—sure, let’s get our children hooked on sweets and junk food from the get-go!

Cereal (even so-called healthy cereals or cereals intended for children)—what’s wrong with this picture—is anyone seeing the numbers of overweight children in society today? WHY are we OK with giving them this garbage?

Salad dressings—same issue as for yogurt—eat a salad for health but slog it up with HFCS!

Canned soups—WHY is this ingredient necessary? Could it be its addictive properties means we’ll want more so we buy more?

Condiments—some ketchup labels are now sporting a bright circular message stating there’s no HFCS included—it’s about time!

Crackers (even “whole grain” crackers)—same issue as for granola and granola bars—if you have to add HFCS to enhance their flavor, you oughtta look at changing your recipe!

Granola and Granola Bars—if you have to add HFCS to enhance their flavor, then you have one crummy recipe!

And there’s one more problem with HFCS:  most corn and corn-derived foods on the market are made with genetically-modified (GM) corn. Pay attention to this one—even though there isn’t yet much testing on the effects of consuming GM-foods, the testing that has been done is clearly showing many negative health consequences.

One last word: Don’t confuse HFCS with the fructose found in fresh fruit. Research shows that consuming fruit has no negative impact on blood pressure. In fact, studies are showing fruit can even improve it.

So, what can you trust in this HFCS-laden world? Only fresh whole foods and foods you create in your own kitchen are guaranteed to be devoid of HFCS. No surprises there! And with that thought in mind, I’ll close with a favorite recipe for homemade granola bars—a handy treat anytime!

This recipe was found on www.inspiredtaste.net, and the Inspired folks say “These homemade granola bars are so much better than what you can buy at the store, especially since you can substitute for your favorite dried fruit or nuts. While these are very simple to make, there is a 2-hour wait for the bars to firm up enough to cut. Feel free to add your favorite dried fruit, nuts or chocolate to these – it’s completely up to you. Since we only use a 1/3 cup of honey, we like to splurge on higher quality honey.”

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