Fructose Watch...

One other consequence of the flea market experiment, apparently, has been me gaining a few pounds back.

A year and a half ago, when I hit 245, I decided to take a simple step to cut back on calories- switch from soft drinks to a zero-calorie drink mix such as Crystal Light. Unfortunately, this only works at home; when I'm out for extended periods, it's damn near impossible to find a cold drink that isn't a carbonated and/or sweetened beverage. Tea is about the only option, and I can't stand the taste of boiled leaves.

There's also another factor: virtually every soft drink made that isn't a "diet drink" is sweetened not with sugar, but with high fructose corn syrup. Sugar (sucrose) turns into glucose (blood sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar) in the stomach at about a 50-50 ratio; HFCS is usually heavier on the fructose, either 55/45 or 90/10 depending on the product it's in.

Unlike glucose, fructose doesn't really digest properly. Instead it's metabolized in the liver, usually turned direct into fats (specifically, "bad cholesterol" VLDLs). In the process the syrup scars the digestive system, the fructose scars the liver, and most of all, fructose triggers hormones which INCREASE, not decrease, hunger. (And on top of that, fructose doesn't trigger the production of insulin, which is one reason why fructose increases the risk of diabetes.)

Bear in mind that high fructose corn syrup is not the same as plain old corn syrup, which is nearly all glucose. Corn syrup is about as good a sugar as there is, although all sugar is bad in anything more than small doses. HFCS is made through an extensive processing system- and this is the part that galls me- SUBSIDIZED BY OUR FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS. In other words, Washington is paying Archer Daniels Midland and three other companies to poison us, and we gobble and guzzle it down happily and ask for more.

If y'all could do me a favor? Check the stuff on your shelves and what-all, as you use it. Look in the ingredients. Look especially to see if the words "high fructose corn syrup" appear BEFORE "sugar." Sugar might not be in there at all. I'm going to avoid future purchases of products which are sweetened primarily or entirely with HFCS. Satisfying a sweet tooth is one thing, but HFCS is another.

(Happily, Blue Bell ice cream seems to be primarily sugar sweetened, with some corn syrup but not HFCS.)

OH- and you know how many states, including Texas, are forcing schools to abolish sodas in favor of fruit juices and drinks? Most fruit drinks have HFCS added- or even pure fructose- making them in MORE FATTENING THAN COKES.

I shit you not.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Fructose Watch...

One other consequence of the flea market experiment, apparently, has been me gaining a few pounds back.

A year and a half ago, when I hit 245, I decided to take a simple step to cut back on calories- switch from soft drinks to a zero-calorie drink mix such as Crystal Light. Unfortunately, this only works at home; when I'm out for extended periods, it's damn near impossible to find a cold drink that isn't a carbonated and/or sweetened beverage. Tea is about the only option, and I can't stand the taste of boiled leaves.

There's also another factor: virtually every soft drink made that isn't a "diet drink" is sweetened not with sugar, but with high fructose corn syrup. Sugar (sucrose) turns into glucose (blood sugar) and fructose (fruit sugar) in the stomach at about a 50-50 ratio; HFCS is usually heavier on the fructose, either 55/45 or 90/10 depending on the product it's in.

Unlike glucose, fructose doesn't really digest properly. Instead it's metabolized in the liver, usually turned direct into fats (specifically, "bad cholesterol" VLDLs). In the process the syrup scars the digestive system, the fructose scars the liver, and most of all, fructose triggers hormones which INCREASE, not decrease, hunger. (And on top of that, fructose doesn't trigger the production of insulin, which is one reason why fructose increases the risk of diabetes.)

Bear in mind that high fructose corn syrup is not the same as plain old corn syrup, which is nearly all glucose. Corn syrup is about as good a sugar as there is, although all sugar is bad in anything more than small doses. HFCS is made through an extensive processing system- and this is the part that galls me- SUBSIDIZED BY OUR FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS. In other words, Washington is paying Archer Daniels Midland and three other companies to poison us, and we gobble and guzzle it down happily and ask for more.

If y'all could do me a favor? Check the stuff on your shelves and what-all, as you use it. Look in the ingredients. Look especially to see if the words "high fructose corn syrup" appear BEFORE "sugar." Sugar might not be in there at all. I'm going to avoid future purchases of products which are sweetened primarily or entirely with HFCS. Satisfying a sweet tooth is one thing, but HFCS is another.

(Happily, Blue Bell ice cream seems to be primarily sugar sweetened, with some corn syrup but not HFCS.)

OH- and you know how many states, including Texas, are forcing schools to abolish sodas in favor of fruit juices and drinks? Most fruit drinks have HFCS added- or even pure fructose- making them in MORE FATTENING THAN COKES.

I shit you not.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Page 123 Meme

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

Okay, the closest book was a graphic novel- the first volume of Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio (softcover first printing), which doesn't have 123 pages in it- not even close. The second closest book is The Star Wars Sourcebook by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith, for the old West End Games Star Wars RPG. I don't think that's quite in the spirit of the meme, but the sentence is:

"Kenobi, suspecting that the Imperial forces would be searching for the Droids, immediately began preparations to leave."

Tucked under that, however, was an actual book book, although an old guilty pleasure.

My nose had taken a good knock and was bleeding nicely down the front of my shirt.
--- The Stainless Steel Rat for President by Harry Harrison

(Harrison writes some adequate stuff and some truly stinky crap, but the Stainless Steel Rat stories are generally tolerable. As a guilty pleasure, that is.)

EDIT: Most people I know are not in the habit of reading books while sitting at the computer. Such books are are going to be near the computer will either be reference material, stuff for sale, or (in the case of utter slobs such as myself) random material.

So let's start two new memes, shall we?

BATHROOM READING MEME
1. Grab the book nearest to your toilet.
2. Open the book to page 86.
3. Find the second sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Use the one book nearest to your toilet.

(I have an advantage here- Sunday night I installed an unsold tiny bookshelf on the wall of my personal half-bathroom next to my office. Ha ha!)

Two or more players put bills into a pot, the serial numbers face down.
--- Games You Can't Lose: a Guide for Suckers by Harry Anderson and Turk Pipkin

BEDTIME READING MEME
1. Grab the book nearest to where you sleep- ideally the book lying on top of your bed, or on top of the pile on your bed.
2. Open the book to page 40.
3. Find the twelfth sentence (or last, if there aren't that many on the page).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Use the one book nearest to where you sleep.

(As should surprise nobody, a lot of this is porn or other comic material, so let us exempt those:)

Hawkeye Pierce, informed of this action, arrived just in time to catch Boom-Boom's exit.
--- M*A*S*H Mania by Richard Hooker

Page 123 Meme

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

Okay, the closest book was a graphic novel- the first volume of Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio (softcover first printing), which doesn't have 123 pages in it- not even close. The second closest book is The Star Wars Sourcebook by Bill Slavicsek and Curtis Smith, for the old West End Games Star Wars RPG. I don't think that's quite in the spirit of the meme, but the sentence is:

"Kenobi, suspecting that the Imperial forces would be searching for the Droids, immediately began preparations to leave."

Tucked under that, however, was an actual book book, although an old guilty pleasure.

My nose had taken a good knock and was bleeding nicely down the front of my shirt.
--- The Stainless Steel Rat for President by Harry Harrison

(Harrison writes some adequate stuff and some truly stinky crap, but the Stainless Steel Rat stories are generally tolerable. As a guilty pleasure, that is.)

EDIT: Most people I know are not in the habit of reading books while sitting at the computer. Such books are are going to be near the computer will either be reference material, stuff for sale, or (in the case of utter slobs such as myself) random material.

So let's start two new memes, shall we?

BATHROOM READING MEME
1. Grab the book nearest to your toilet.
2. Open the book to page 86.
3. Find the second sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Use the one book nearest to your toilet.

(I have an advantage here- Sunday night I installed an unsold tiny bookshelf on the wall of my personal half-bathroom next to my office. Ha ha!)

Two or more players put bills into a pot, the serial numbers face down.
--- Games You Can't Lose: a Guide for Suckers by Harry Anderson and Turk Pipkin

BEDTIME READING MEME
1. Grab the book nearest to where you sleep- ideally the book lying on top of your bed, or on top of the pile on your bed.
2. Open the book to page 40.
3. Find the twelfth sentence (or last, if there aren't that many on the page).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Use the one book nearest to where you sleep.

(As should surprise nobody, a lot of this is porn or other comic material, so let us exempt those:)

Hawkeye Pierce, informed of this action, arrived just in time to catch Boom-Boom's exit.
--- M*A*S*H Mania by Richard Hooker