There are plenty of arguments out there supporting the idea that high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy. Rather than getting into a bunch of supportive arguments about whether it is or not there is one thing for certain and there is one thing that I feel uncertain about.
The one thing that is certain is that our country as a whole consumes too much sugar and this has caused increases in health problems such as diabetes and obesity. High fructose corn syrup is a contributor to this and as a consumer for the rest of the year I am going to hold myself responsible not to have any more. In the end what companies (such as Welch's along with many others) produce depends on what people buy.
The one thing that I feel uncertain about is corn. Corn has been mutilated genetically and transformed into a staple crop in our diets. What makes me uneasy is that our bodies were never meant to digest all of corn. It seems much more logical (especially as a vegetarian) to ingest foods that our bodies will benefit 100% from during digestion. I'll soon be reading the Omnivore's Dilemna to help form my opinion about the matter but starting this week no more high fructose corn syrup for the rest of 2014.
The one thing that is certain is that our country as a whole consumes too much sugar and this has caused increases in health problems such as diabetes and obesity. High fructose corn syrup is a contributor to this and as a consumer for the rest of the year I am going to hold myself responsible not to have any more. In the end what companies (such as Welch's along with many others) produce depends on what people buy.
The one thing that I feel uncertain about is corn. Corn has been mutilated genetically and transformed into a staple crop in our diets. What makes me uneasy is that our bodies were never meant to digest all of corn. It seems much more logical (especially as a vegetarian) to ingest foods that our bodies will benefit 100% from during digestion. I'll soon be reading the Omnivore's Dilemna to help form my opinion about the matter but starting this week no more high fructose corn syrup for the rest of 2014.
End of Week Update
I was well aware that this ingredient was in A LOT of things in the grocery store. I was not aware that it was in just about everything at the grocery store. I made some veggie burgers and went to the store to get some buns and yes the ingredients listed on the back included high fructose corn syrup.
Most of my trips to the grocery store now take a little longer due to the fact that I now check the label on just about everything I pick up. If I haven't left the store in ten minutes with a look of horror on my face then I probably am still in shock or asking an employee for a chair so I won't get weary reading over the extensive list of ingredients on a package of cinnamon rolls. To put these little breakfast treats into perspective, homemade ones use an average of about ten ingredients. Yeast, milk, flour, sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, etc. . . All things we've heard of right? We picked up a package in the store and it would have taken an assembly of chemistry professors to figure out the 40-50 different items listed on the back. I wouldn't be surprised if those babies could outlast the person eating them as far as shelf life is concerned.
IN OTHER NEWS this week, I have now quit both of my jobs. This was something that I wanted to make a goal this year but was not sure I would have the will to do it. In the end it appears that with all the other changes that I have undertaken that this became necessary. I like to look at work sort of how I look at sleep. If you are going to sleep 8 hours a day, then you should have a comfy bed in a clean room so you can start your day feeling good. If you are going to work 8 hours a day (A LOT OF YOUR LIFE) then you darned well better be in a happy, healthy environment where you can learn something new and keep your brain engaged. That is 16 hours of your day! Make em count!
End of Week 33 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 119.17 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 420 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $601.60
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 182
Pushups - 1240 Crunches - 1120
Days Flossed - 166 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 24
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 568
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds,
Letters written - 19
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program,
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder,
Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna,
Miles ran - 559.0
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it!
Nights camped - 2
Ice fails - 1
Items dispersed - 35
Hours volunteered - 14.75
I was well aware that this ingredient was in A LOT of things in the grocery store. I was not aware that it was in just about everything at the grocery store. I made some veggie burgers and went to the store to get some buns and yes the ingredients listed on the back included high fructose corn syrup.
Most of my trips to the grocery store now take a little longer due to the fact that I now check the label on just about everything I pick up. If I haven't left the store in ten minutes with a look of horror on my face then I probably am still in shock or asking an employee for a chair so I won't get weary reading over the extensive list of ingredients on a package of cinnamon rolls. To put these little breakfast treats into perspective, homemade ones use an average of about ten ingredients. Yeast, milk, flour, sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, etc. . . All things we've heard of right? We picked up a package in the store and it would have taken an assembly of chemistry professors to figure out the 40-50 different items listed on the back. I wouldn't be surprised if those babies could outlast the person eating them as far as shelf life is concerned.
IN OTHER NEWS this week, I have now quit both of my jobs. This was something that I wanted to make a goal this year but was not sure I would have the will to do it. In the end it appears that with all the other changes that I have undertaken that this became necessary. I like to look at work sort of how I look at sleep. If you are going to sleep 8 hours a day, then you should have a comfy bed in a clean room so you can start your day feeling good. If you are going to work 8 hours a day (A LOT OF YOUR LIFE) then you darned well better be in a happy, healthy environment where you can learn something new and keep your brain engaged. That is 16 hours of your day! Make em count!
End of Week 33 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 119.17 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 420 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $601.60
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 182
Pushups - 1240 Crunches - 1120
Days Flossed - 166 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 24
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 568
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds,
Letters written - 19
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program,
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder,
Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna,
Miles ran - 559.0
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it!
Nights camped - 2
Ice fails - 1
Items dispersed - 35
Hours volunteered - 14.75