MY NAME is Myrna Haag and I've created this Website as part of my work helping people in all walks of life obtain healthy lifestyles. I've worked with busy mothers who lack energy and can't seem to lose weight no matter what they do, and I've helped recovering cancer patients who want to armor their bodies against disease. I've even consulted to competitive athletes who are trying to reach peak performance. I consider myself an enabler, not an expert. I want to share with you what I've learned and motivate you to reach your personal goals.

THE DAILY BUZZPOINT*

Fructose VI

Conclusions

MUCH OF WHAT IS WRITTEN about fructose is controversial. The sweetener business is huge and self-protective. It is also increasingly fragmented: there are corn interests, cane sugar interests, artifical sweetener interests, and even oil and energy interests. The rapid rise of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) would not have been possible without fertilizers made with natural gas. The U.S. government has also played an important role by encouraging farmers to produce as much corn as possible and making good their losses in a falling markets. The net, provable result of all these factors is that the amount of fructose we consume has increased by 30% over the past thirty-five years. It's doubtful that, until recently, anyone bothered to ask what effects this might have on public health. And by the time anyone did bother to ask, private interests had hardened.

It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where smart, unbiased professionals could analyze health issues, reach conclusions, and affect public policy without undue pressure from the private sector. That world will probably never exist. No one seriously argues that we don't have a problem with overweight and obesity. But we don't seem to have a means to attack the problem collectively. Instead, we must all fend for ourselves. So, in the absence of definitive, uncontested data about fructose, here are some modest recommendations:

• Be careful of all foods with added sugars. If they are heavy in free fructose (and you might not be able to tell from reading the nutritional label and packaging) they might compromise your body's natural mechanism for telling you that you've had enough to eat. Also, fructose metabolism may produce triacylglycerols that become stored as fat.
• Don't be afraid of eating fruit just because it contains fructose. You'd have to eat three small apples to get the same amount of fructose in a soft drink, but the total sugar in the soft drink would be almost four times as much--and without the fiber and vitamins.

The Buzzpoint* archive can be browsed (it will grow!)...

*Buzzpoint: Something between a practical tip and a motivating story.

NEWS

Myrna Bars can be reserved online.

The recipe for Myrna Bars is now available online.

Myrna Bars featured in a St. Petersburg Times article.

In the Food Section... Whole Wheat Couscous