HFCS or "despite my near-daily nutrageous"

everyday at work i hear a deep rumbling from the lower-level, an almost audible mechanical shout of my name: "miranda!"

damn vending machine. the quarters in my pocket follow me down on the elevator, dive into the machine, and happily trade their lives with me for the company of their silver (actually, nickel and copper) brothers and sisters. and out pops a nutrageous. mmm, chocolatey candy with peanuts, caramel, peanut butter and corn syrup.

despite my near-daily nutrageous, i have been making an effort to reduce the amount of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) i consume. having been overweight my entire life, HFCS may or may not be the least of my issues to be dealt with. but, cutting down on HFCS might be a good way to reduce the amount of processed and genetically modified materials i put into my body.

most surprising places i found corn syrup: my bologna and soy sauce.

while studies about HFCS seem to remain skewed and inconclusive, katherine zeratsky (a registered dietician with the mayo clinc) offers the following advice:

if you're concerned about the amount of high-fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners in your diet, consider these tips:

• limit processed foods.
• avoid foods that contain added sugar.
• choose fresh fruit rather than fruit juice or fruit-flavored drinks. even 100 percent fruit juice has a high concentration of sugar.
• choose fruit canned in its own juices instead of heavy syrup.
• drink less soda.
• don't allow sweetened beverages to replace milk, especially for children.

ew. milk.

here's what got me thinking about HFCS.

next task: cutting out artificial sweeteners!