What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking, in my opinion is a whole process. It's an ability that involves taking information you have recently gathered and analyzing it's meaning (is there a deeper meaning?), evaluating the information and seeing if it's useful for your purpose, and then applying the information you have recently gathered and using it appropriately. 
I believe that critical thinking forces you to be open-minded and take your own beliefs out of the picture.

More Research

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a liquid sweetener that can be found in many of the products that we consume today. There has been a dramatic increase in the use of HFCS over the years because it’s cheap and can be easily manufactured. As the use of HFCS increased, so has obesity rates in the United States. Could high fructose corn syrup be a leading cause in the obesity epidemic in the United States?

The continuously growing obesity epidemic in the United States is a significant problem. The authors of the article, A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, state that,

“According to the body mass index (BMI) categories defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 65% of the U.S. adult population aged 20-74 years is currently overweight. In 1976-80, only 47% and 15% of adults in the United States were considered overweight and obese, respectively (CDC, 2004). About 16% of American children and adolescents aged 6-19 years are also currently overweight. Two decades ago, about 6% of individuals in this age group were classified as overweight (CDC, 2004). Prior to 1976-80, such dramatic overweight and obesity rates were not observed in the United States."

Because the obesity rates are increasing significantly, other health problems that are caused by obesity are on the rise, as well. For example, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancer rates are all increasing. Because of this, as you can imagine, “overweight and obesity increase health care costs and mortality rates.”  

If you look at the ingredients of  your chocolate milk, Fruit Roll-Up, favorite soda, you’ll notice a similar ingredient; High fructose corn syrup. Not just those few products contain HFCS, things like bread, Heinz Ketchup, Miracle Whip, Kraft Cheese Nips, Yoplait Yogurt, Campbell’s Vegetable Soup, and Smucker’s Grape Jelly just to name a very small few. HFCS is a common ingredient that we come in contact on a daily basis. “In the United States, HFCS has increasingly replaced refined sugar (sucrose) in many foods and most sweetened beverages. Outside the United States, HFCS is not used extensively, and sucrose continues to be the primary caloric sweetener,” the authors of the article, A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, state.

Princeton University seems to agree with the idea that there is a significant link between obesity and the consumption of HFCS. Princeton University researchers, after they conducted an experiment with rats, concluded  “…that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.” Does this mean that there really is an evident link to obesity? The Princeton University research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.

What's the bigger issue?

There are a lot of issues regarding the ingredient High Fructose Corn Syrup. The two that sounded the most interesting me were health related.

1. Is HFCS a factor in the obesity epidemic in the United States?

According to the article, A Critical Examination of the Evidence Relating High Fructose Corn Syrup and Weight Gain, "The use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has increased over the past several decades in the United States while overweight and obesity rates have risen dramatically." Could HFCS be the reason for the rise in obesity? In the United States, HFCS has replaced, almost completely, refined sugars.The article states that, "Outside the United States, HFCS is not used extensively, and sucrose continues to be the primary caloric sweetener." Personally, I never hear about any other countries dealing with an obesity epidemic. 


A Princeton University research team has recently conducted a study regarding the hypothesis of whether or not HFCS leads to obesity. They concluded that "...all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same." Also, this research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.


2. Does HFCS contribute to the rise in diabetes?
 
In the article, The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup, the authors discuss diabetes. As a lot of you know, diabetes is a disease that affects the sugars in our body. So, it's obvious that people with this disease need to monitor their sugars and what they're eating. The article states, "...Insulin also controls another hormone, leptin, so its release is necessary.
Leptin tells your body to stop eating when it’s full by signaling the brain to stop sending hunger signals. Since fructose doesn’t stimulate glucose levels and insulin release, there’s no increase in leptin levels or feeling of satiety. This can leave you ripe for unhealthy weight gain."

Overall, I think that the research topic of obesity would be a good topic. This is because there is a lot of information about HFCS and obesity and it's something that really interests me.

The sources I used were helpful in many ways. First of all, the sources I found provided me with the direct information I was looking for. When I searched for HFCS + Obesity, the sources I found discussed only that.  Also, they were helpful because they were credible and I was able to site them within the post.


 -Other Useful Information
"High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a fructose-glucose liquid sweetener alternative to sucrose (common table sugar) first introduced to the food and beverage industry in the 1970's."

Resources:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a780775427&fulltext=713240928
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2008/08/20/4274/the-dangers-of-high-fructose-corn-syrup/ 

Update: 

After giving up HFCS on the first, i've had a lot of difficulties finding food that doesn't contain HFCS. I had to give up my cereal, bread, chocolate milk, yogurt, and some snacks like fruit roll-ups. In the cafeteria, I've had the food but, unfortunately, there is no ingredient list. I'm not sure if what I'm eating contains HFCS?

High Fructose Corn Syrup

If you were to look at the ingredients of your favorite cereal, your favorite snack or even you're favorite desert, you'd probably notice a familiar ingredient, high fructose corn syrup. This topic is relevant to me, as well as a lot of others, because it is in a lot of products that I consume on a daily basis, and right now, there is a huge debate regarding whether or not HFCS is a cause of obesity/diabetes.

High fructose corn syrup or HFCS is a widely used ingredient that is found in a great deal of products in the United States. It's an artificial sweetener that comes from corn syrup. In the United States, we use HFCS as a sugar substitute, and is very common in processed foods and beverages. According to sweetsurprise.com, "High fructose corn syrup is composed of either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, with the remaining sugars being primarily glucose and higher sugar.[1]" Many food companies use HFCS because it is easily accessible and can be purchased at a fairly low cost. 

The production of HFCS is quite a process. According to http://sweetscam.com/how-its-made/, they state: 

• "To make high fructose corn syrup, the corn is first harvested and sent to the wet mill.
  
• Next, the corn is crushed in a mill and then run through screens in order to separate the corn starch from other parts of the kernel.
  
  
• After being separated, natural enzymes are added to the liquid, which converts some of the sugars in the liquid from glucose to fructose. The resulting liquid is typically 42 percent fructose and 58 percent glucose.
  
  
• From there, the liquid is passed through activated carbon and filtered.
  
• The final product is called HFCS-42, and is used to sweeten many baked goods.
  
• Some of the HFCS-42 then goes through a liquid filtration process to increase the fructose content, creating a liquid that is 90 percent fructose. This product is called HFCS-90.
  
• Finally, the two liquids, HFCS-42 and HFCS-90, are blended to make a mixture that is 55% fructose. The final blend, called HFCS-55, is widely used as a sweetener in sodas [2]."

I was unable to find a site that told me how much HFCS was consumed and produced in the U.S. The websites I found all contradicted one another. Most websites concluded that there was a significant increase in the production of HFCS within the last few years because of the economy. Since, like I previously stated, HFCS is cheaper to produce and harvest as opposed to simple table sugar, companies who were affected by the economy have turned to cheaper alternatives to their ingredients. Unfortunately, one of them is HFCS.

There are many debates going on right now regarding whether or not HFCS is actually a reason why there is an obesity/diabetes epidemic going on in the United States. According to ajcn.org, "The consumption of HFCS increased > 1000% between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the changes in intake of any other food or food group. HFCS now represents > 40% of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States. [3]" Could this be the reason for the rise in obesity?

HFCS is in so many products that you wouldn't think of...Breads, cereals, yogurts, and even in nutrition bars. It's really shocking to see that is really is in almost everything. Starting on OCT. 1st, I gave up consuming products that contained HFCS. So far, it's been challenging finding products that DON'T contain HFCS. Maybe i'll loose weight. 

If there is so much evidence and studies about HFCS and how it negatively affects health, how come the FDA is still allowing it to be produced?

Resources:

1. http://www.sweetsurprise.com/myths-and-facts/faqs-high-fructose-corn-syrup?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=high%2Bfructose%2Bcorn%2Bsyrup&utm_content=HFCS%2BFacts&utm_campaign=HFCS%2BFacts&gclid=CP-SjomFuqQCFQHW5wod73Uwyw

2.http://sweetscam.com/how-its-made/

3.http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537?ijkey=3a74469113059287563c0dbc3f9b874276f46666