There is almost a one-to-one correlation of the use of HFCS and incidence of type II diabetes
That's very interesting. There's no doubt that type II diabetes has become an epidemic in many countries, mostly those dominated by the giant international foodstuffs corporations. I have a theory, that I've also read elsewhere but have never so far seen any hard evidence for, that this isn't coincidental and that there's a causal relationship. There is SO much rubbish being put into our food, either at the final processing stage that we've been talking about, or earlier with GM crops and cattle routinely fed large quantities of antibiotics. I don't care what Monsanto or any of these companies say - there is no convincing evidence that they have any idea what they're doing, other than making a lot of money and destroying traditional agriculture so that they will continue to make lots of money into the future.
Prince Charles has acquired a bit of a reputation as a bumbling wacko, but whether or not this is true it's certainly in their interests for the food corporations to perpetuate that idea. He recently came out strongly against GM crops, not because he knows they're bad for us but because he doesn't know whether they are, and neither does anyone else. He is genuinely terrified that for purely financial reasons the world is allowing these crops to take over, without having a clue what effect they will have on the environment.
It's already caused havoc in India, where traditional good farming practices of keeping back some of the seed from this year's crop to plant next year is rapidly becoming impossible, as GM crops are sterile. The farmers have to go back to Monsanto and the others every year to buy more seed. At the same time I've read that GM crops apparently demand far more water, and that is causing its own problems. We really do live in frightening times.
Do you know that in the EU it is legal to describe an artificial chemical/protein/whatever as natural if it has been manufactured with the intention of being the same as the naturally-occurring substance? Never mind whether it IS identical or not, and of course a naturally-occurring chemical has so many complex strands to it that it's impossible to replicate in the laboratory. Means that food manufacturers can say "only natural ingredients" when in fact the whole shooting match came out of a test-tube. Or the "manufactured natural ingredients" needn't be mentioned when it comes to saying what's been added. This is EU law, which by sleight of hand our British political leaders have ensured now applies to the UK.
All this said, my type II followed on a few years after I had a very severe bout of Hepatitis A (the infectious sort). My research suggested that there was likely a causal link, as I had been unable to find any member of my family, going through the family tree vertically and horizontally several levels and covering over 50 people, who had ever been diagnosed with diabetes or had exhibited undiagnosed signs. My doctor thought I was probably right. At that time (late '80's) diabetes was not a particularly common condition, but of course it's sky-rocketed since.
One specific question - what is in "Sunny D"? I've never tasted it and have no desire to, but I do know that fruit hasn't been much closer than on a truck driving past the factory. I am deeply suspicious of "foods" like this.
Edited by peterbj7, 14 August 2008 - 12:40 PM.