We've discussed the importance of insulin in longevity.  One of the most insidious causes of insulin spikes is high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS.  While it has gained some attention in the media, HFCS is still used in many foods, and the health consequences have not changed.

In fact you may say that the simplest way to slow down aging is to cut out the foods that still use it.  Here's why (and what to tell your friends):

• HFCS bypasses normal sugar processing, and piles up in the liver, where it is converted to fat.
• Since your brain doesn't recognize HFCS as a food, the appetite center never shuts off, so you keep eating, spiking insulin, leading to a crash.
• It's loaded with mercury.  Fr0m below 0.005 up to 0.570 micrograms mercury per gram of HFCS.  The average 12-ounce soda contains 39 grams.  The average American consumed over 40 pounds in 2010.

Notice how the first two have to do with making you fat?  Does it bother you that the last one involves you ingesting mercury, a known neurotoxin?

Happily, we have some good news from the food industry for a change:

• ConAgra is banning it from Hunt's Ketchup.
• Kraft is taking HFCS out of Wheat Thins.
• You'll no longer find it on the ingredients list in Snapple.

This on the heels of a study that showed rats that ate HFCS gained more fat than rats fed the same amount of table sugar.  Another study from the Duke University Medical Center stated: "We found that increased consumption of high fructose corn syrup was associated with scarring in the liver, or fibrosis, among patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)."

So we're out of the woods, right?

Not quite.  Just because HFCS is worse for you than sugar, and food manufacturers are using less of it, doesn't mean that sugar is the answer.  Sugar intake must be monitored to prevent insulin spikes, regardless of whether its table sugar, fructose, or HFCS.

Fructose – a wolf in sheep's clothing

HFCS is particularly bad because the combination of fructose and glucose heightens their negative effect.  That is not to say that fructose by itself is not problematic.  Fructose has most of the same negative effects as HFCS, including hampering brain function, and being stored as fat.  For every 120 calories worth of fructose consumed, the body creates 40 calories of fat.

The bottom line is that the deleterious health effects of HFCS are brought on largely by consumers' massive levels of consumption. This level is exacerbated by economics: the cost of production for HFCS is far less than that of table sugar.

But there is a price pay.  We pay for that sweetness with our health.  And merely replacing one sugar with another will not solve the problem.  To maximize health, we may have to become reacquainted with other tastes, such as bitter and sour.  These foods, such as unsweetened yoghurt, have been shown to promote so-called good bacteria in our gut, which brings a cascade of health benefits.

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