Turn over a cereal box, can of soda, bottle of tonic water, a frozen meal and your favorite snack food and chances are the ingredient list contains High Fructose Corn Syrup.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is sometimes cleverly disguised under the name of fructose, corn syrup or corn sugar, either way they are all bad and they are all killing you.

HFCS made it’s way onto the plates of Americans back in the 1950’s and surprisingly since then, the obesity epidemic began as did a rise in diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

The “recipe” for HFCS is heavily under wraps however, in order to make the syrup, sugars from corn are chemically extracted using caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and carbon to create a substance that is around 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose.

Fructose is a sugar commonly found in fruits and vegetables however, don’t let this fool you.

What makes HFCS different is that the fructose molecules are not bound to the glucose molecules, so instead of being digested and used for energy by the body like regular sugar, it goes straight to the liver where it triggers the production of fats. In fact, it causes so much stress on the liver and detoxification pathways that it causes liver disease and other metabolic disturbances.

These metabolic disturbances have been linked to heart disease, skin conditions, cancer, high cholesterol, obesity, dementia and diabetes.

Unlike this chemical syrup, when you consume fructose in the form of whole fruits and vegetables, the fructose molecules are bound and digested with the help of fiber and other nutrients.

Because of HFCS nature, it requires more energy to be absorbed, depleting the bodies fuel source and damaging the lining of the intestine causing inflammation, bowel problems, bowel cancers and leaky gut.

Nutritionist, Barry M. Popkin Ph.D states, “The digestion, absorption, and metabolism of fructose differ from those of glucose. Hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis (production of fat in the liver). In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight (to control appetite), this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain. Furthermore, calorically sweetened beverages may enhance caloric over-consumption.”

In 45% of HFCS samples tested, researchers also found high quantities of mercury which is believed to come from the use of mercury grade caustic soda and hydrochloric acid in the manufacturing process.

Mercury has been linked to a host of diseases including Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, depression, bi polar disorder, ADHD and some cancers.

There has been a 1000 percent increase in the use of HFCS in the American food industry from 1970 to 1990 and this number is rapidly expanding due to the cost effectiveness of using corn syrup as compared to cane sugar. One report claims that the average American consumes 55 pounds of HFCS each year.

Despite all the research showing the dangers of HFCS including it’s links to obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes, little has been done to regulate it’s use.

You can avoid consuming HFCS by reading all ingredient labels and by choosing natural, organic foods.