my friend's paper :)

 By: Jacquelynn Rostel, 6 December 2013
High Fructose Corn Syrup-The One Step Choice
You hear it on T.V ads, in T.V shows, when you are in the car on your way to work or school, and especially when you get online to either check Facebook, go on Pintrist, Tumbler, whatever it is that you enjoy. What is it that you hear and see; fitness motivation, workouts, all of the different types of diets that are out there. But what if one simple step could help you to potentially become healthier and lose weight. I am not saying you will lose pounds but it will get you on the right track of eating healthier and losing weight. The way we eat is a problem; it is proven by the increased rates of obesity and the increased rates of those who are getting sick from high fructose corn syrup. However, it seems that the new idea is in eating heating healthy, like the idea of “all natural” foods, or baked chips instead of regular chips. Overall, even the fast food restaurants are beginning to advertise for natural foods, or that they use healthier types of oil. Thus, people are now concerned with the number of obese children and adults that are overwhelming the country. High fructose corn syrup is dangerous for the consumers of our society, this sweetener affects the way that the body should function correctly to be healthy. Since the body doesn’t process it naturally it can increase the likely of obesity and diseases.    
When I was in sixth grade my first experience on poor food quality appeared in my life. My sister became very ill because of high fructose corn syrup; her body just decided that she couldn’t process it anymore. Her body told her she could only eat natural foods, and some boxed foods. Since she couldn’t eat any canned foods or anything with high fructose corn syrup, she weaned the rest of the family from it as well. At that point I was very disappointed because almost all food had high fructose in it. I didn’t understand why we all had to stop eating foods with it in it. But then after a year or two went by, I didn’t even notice that the foods we ate didn’t have high fructose corn syrup in them.
So how do you become healthier in one simple step? The answer is easy, cut high fructose corn syrup out of your diet.
Why should you cut high fructose corn syrup out of your diet?
High fructose corn syrup is not a safe substitute for natural sugar- High fructose corn syrup is made is through a chemical process. Cane sugar is made from two molecules that are tightly bound together with an even ratio. High fructose corn syrup on the other hand also contains two sugar molecules but the chemical bond doesn’t have a 50:50 ratio. Because of this bond the sugars are not processed like the cane sugar. “Since there is there is no chemical bond between them, no digestion is required so they are more rapidly absorbed into your blood stream. Fructose goes right to the liver and triggers lipogenesis (the production of fats like triglycerides and cholesterol) this is why it is the major cause of liver damage in this country and causes a condition called “fatty liver” which affects 70 million people” (Hyman). The synthetic creation of high fructose corn syrup is not easy for our body to process and digest. In summary our bodies don’t process the sugar correctly and it is harder for our body to maintain a healthy functioning system with artificial sweeteners. So it is better that we try to cut out as much un-natural sugar from our diet as possible to help maintain a healthy diet.
High fructose corn syrup also limits the secretion of a hormone called leptin- which is used to communicate with our body to tell us if we are full or not. “Because of the way that HFCS is processed in the body, it is said to limit the secretion of the hormone leptin, which signals the body that we’ve had enough to eat. Without the proper signal to stop eating we consume more than necessary” (Let’s start). Since our bodies don’t know when to stop people just continue to keep eating until they feel satisfied.
Increased risks of diseases- With glucose the body is able to store it in the liver and use it for later energy. Fructose instead is rapidly metabolized in the liver, and goes into fat storage rather than stored in the liver for later use, like glucose. “Increased fat storage in the liver may lead to an increased incidence in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and this is one of several links between high fructose corn syrup consumption and obesity as well as the metabolic syndrome” ( Flavin).
Now the question is what can you do differently?
Eat healthy, cut out all high fructose corn syrup and let your body adapt to the natural foods again.
If completely cutting out high fructose corn syrup is too hard than just stop drinking soda- Drinking soda is one of the worst things you can do if you want to lose weight and become healthy. Soda has an extremely high sugar content that makes it difficult on the body to process
At the beginning this process will be difficult, you may want to start with just cutting it out of a few items that you consume. Then gradually as your body adjusts you can take out more of the high fructose corn syrup until you are free from it. In the end you will have more energy, and feel healthier which makes the pain worth it.

Works Cited
Flavin, Dana. "Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup." Life Extension Magazine. N.p., 2008. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. <http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/dec2008_Metabolic-Dangers-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup_02.htm>.
Hyman, Mark. "5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You." Dr. Mark Hyman. N.p., 4 May 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. <http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/05/13/5-reasons-high-fructose-corn-syrup-will-kill-you/#close>.
"Let's Start at the Beginning-What is High Fructose Corn Syrup." Grace Communications Foundations. N.p., N.p. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/704/high-fructose-corn-syrup-if-this-doesn-t-convince-you-nothing-wil>.