Lisa's Nag...the ONE THING you need to give up this year

So Sophie talked about the Neti pot. And we've had lots of Pens weigh in on nagging themselves and others.

I'm going to talk about the ONE THING you need to give up this year (or at the very least, cut back on).

High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Fructose. Crystalline Fructose. Sugar (which is half fructose).

The first three are found in many, many manufactured products on our grocery shelves. Protein bars, gatorade, ketchup, baby formula. The addition of sugar, fructose, crystalline fructose and HFCS is insidious.

Why should you give it up?

Below is a fascinating video regarding the evolution of the food industry, beginning with Nixon's wish to create low-cost, affordable for everyone food sources, touching on the research that lead the FDA to recommend a diet that is slowly killing us (low fat, high carb) and ending with the current state of Americans health.

I had never heard of Metabolic Syndrome until I watched this video. Now I see the term everywhere. And before you say...yeah, it's one guy's opinion. He's a Dr. and Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology.

The video is long (however if you care about your health and your kids' health I really, really recommend taking the time to watch the entire thing).

But I'll give you my take away points. The things that totally blew me away.

*The way our body metabolizes fructose is just the same as alcohol. Except that adults and kids ingest far more sugar/fructose/HFCS than they would drink alcohol.

*The body cannot process the amount of fructose ingested, it literally turns toxic in your liver.

*The way fructose works, it doesn't send signals to the brain to tell your body that you've eaten, so people eat more.

*We have a huge percentage of overweight INFANTS in the US (I want to say 50 but I can't remember the exact statistic). He believes it is due to the fructose in infant formula.

So there's my nag for the week. :)

Lisa