In reality though, these problems we experience today are really symptoms of a deeper issue we began fostering, usually unknowingly, a long time back, but in order to understand how this relates to our diets and how nutrients affect the human body, we need to first understand what food truly is. And to answer this question, we need to have a brief look at part of the history of the human species.

There are actually three interrelated aspects of importance here:

With this knowledge, we easily recognize how the design of the human body and what it can tolerate as food are very limited -- limited to substances which are unprocessed and can be found naturally as was the case centuries ago (before modern processing methods existed). This "old-time food" is the food we were born to eat.

In short, if it is processed (in other words, if it did not start out naturally the way you see it now), it is NOT truly food. And if it is NOT truly food, but we consume it anyway, we begin causing problems in our bodies as they attempt to digest it because our bodies are unable to properly handle it; therefore, we need to be extremely careful about consuming things unnatural.

So now let us look at the components in food.

Classifications -
The classification of carbohydrates is very broad including a vast number of different compounds. Many people become confused when they hear the term and assume it to mean sugar, or more specifically, table sugar. While it is true common table sugar is one carbohydrate, the spectrum is wide.

On the simple end we have the sugars which are divided into two classes: mono saccharides and disaccharides. On the complex end we have much larger polysaccharides like cellulose and starch. It is only the monosaccharides which can enter the blood stream (a process handled by the intestines) so any polysaccharides must first be broken down in order to be used. Some polysaccharides, like cellulose, simply cannot be digested by the body. We think of them as fibers that keep things moving smoothly through the intestines -- keep them from clogging up.

So, are Carbohydrates Bad? -
Not at all. As mentioned above, they are absolutely essential to keep us alive, and they should make up the majority of our diets between the three components (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates). The problem comes in when we eat refined carbohydrates. The refining process strips away most of the undigestible bulk that would normally be used by our bodies to allow our stomachs to tell us we are full. This lets us to over-eat from an energy (calorie) perspective because we can pack more carboyhdrates into the same stomach space when the fiber is no longer attached to it. These excess carbohydrates enter the blood, and the liver converts them to glucose (or they may already enter the blood as glucose), but as the glucose loads up and becomes excess, the liver changes its approach and combines some of the glucose molecules together to form glycogen so it can be stored for later use, and therein lies the problem for too many of us!

What is the Problem with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)? -
Ooo, the power of a cold soda on a hot day -- very tasty stuff! But I am glad you asked this question because the story is rather interesting! The trouble here begins a few decades back when it became cheaper for manufacturers to mix soda with HFCS instead of that good old sugar (sucrose) from ages of old, and that is when the flavor of our cold sodas changed perceptibly, but it is not the flavor that is our biggest problem; it is the fructose, or rather, the HFCS.

To start with, fructose is often thought of as "fruit sugar" because it is found readily in many fruits, and it also comes in a number of vegetables as well. It is a monosaccharide, and when it is occurs naturally, it is usually fairly well balanced with glucose -- approximately 50% fructose to 50% glucose. Corn syrup by itself, however, is not naturally occurring. It is made from corn starch and enzymes which break the starch down into mostly glucose. Heat is then applied, and the syrup is created. To keep the syrup relatively shelf-stable, corn syrup is stored as a reasonably balanced mixture of destrose, fructose, glucose, and malt.

High fructose corn syrup is also a non-naturally occurring manufactured product. In this case, the corn starch is subjected to some extra steps which cause the starch to be converted to glucose and finally fructose. Then, in order to achieve a ratio of fructose to glucose for HFCS, straight glucose is added back into the mixture. Any ratio could be concocted, but there are three in common use today ranging from 90% fructose / 10% glucose down to 42% fructose / 52% glucose (with 6% other sugars). The result of this unnatural balance is some strange effects on the body which start with the fact it is metabolized by the liver. The pancreas does not become involved then so it never gets the opportunity to release extra insulin (as it normally would) to compensate for the additional sugar in the blood stream. Furthermore, leptin, which would normally be released as we eat and fill up, never gets released either. Since leptin's job is to help curb appetite, this becomes a problem since more HFCS can be consumed without noticing. Without the normal stopping mechanism present, we can continue to consume it all day long and easily over-eat these calories.

But there are other issues as well. At 2010 study conducted at Princeton University indicated the likelihood that a diet high in HFCS causes consistently higher blood triglyceride levels and LDL (bad) cholesterol. These factors dramatically increase the risk of adult-onset diabetes. HFCS also tends to increase physiological aging, and it seems to deplete important minerals in the body. Since magnesium and calcium are two of those which are depleted, this increases the risks of developing osteoporosis.

Vitamins are classed either as fat soluable or water soluable. Though the compounds classified as vitamins vary by species, we humans recognize (need) thirteen such compounds. Four of these, vitamins A, D, E, and K, are fat soluable while the remaining nine, the B-complex vitamins along with vitamin C, are water soluable. This is of particular importance because fat soluable vitamins are stored in the body until needed (or until depleted), but water soluable vitamins are generally in and out and cannot effectively be stored by the body for later use.

Many situations, such as high stress, chronic smoking, or heavy, long-term drinking of alcoholic beverages, will cause rapid depletion of vitamins; therefore, particular care needs to be taken in these circumstances to maintain adequate vitamin intake.

It is, however, possible to overdose on vitamins, and this needs to be considered as well. In fact, the fat soluable vitamins are particularly susceptible to overdose since they can be more readily stored for long periods in the body.

Common minerals our bodies need are seen here along with basic daily guidelines of recommended intake values for normal adults as defined by both the US Dietary Reference Intakes (US DRI) and the World Health Organization (WHO):

¹ This value is not a recommendation but is an amount considered adequate to meet normal metabolic requirements. For adult men to age 50, it is 35 µg daily after which it drops to 30 µg daily. For adult women to age 50 it is 25 µg daily after which it drops to 20 µg daily.

² The US recommendation for iron is just 8 mg daily for adult men but 18 mg daily for women between the ages of 19 and 50 after which it drops to 8 mg daily for women. The World Health Organization maintains a slightly higher recommendation at 9.1 mg per day for adult males and 19.6 mg per day for adult females.

³ The value for manganese is not a recommended amount but rather an amount considered to be adequate to meet normal metabolic requirements. 1.8 mg daily is considered to be adequate for adult women, and 2.3 mg daily is considered to be adequate for adult men.

⁴ There is not an established guideline from either the US Dietary Reference Intake or the World Health Organization; however, studies have shown how greater levels of potassium help regulate blood pressure, reduce negative effects of excess dietary sodium, neutralize acids in the blood, prevent strokes, and prevent kidney stones; therefore, the adequate intake level has been set to 4700 mg (4.7g) for adults. It should be noted that it is challenging to get this much potassium each day.

⁵ According to the WHO, adult men need 34 µg of selenium daily through age 65 after which the recommendation drops to 33 µg daily. Adult women need 26 µg daily through age 65 after which the recommendation drops to 25 µg.

⁶ There is really no established guideline on how much sodium is needed so the number, 1500 mg, is presented to us based upon data generated in studies which indicated normal growth and body function.

⁷ The 11 mg daily US DRI recommendation is for adult men, and 8 mg daily US DRI recommendation is for adult women while the 7 mg daily WHO value is an average consensus of moderately bio-available zinc for adult men with the 4.9 mg daily WHO value being an average consensus of moderately bio-available zinc for adult women.

⁸ Zinc competes with both calcium and copper in the body. If taking a zinc supplement, it should always include copper with the ratio very close to seven (7) parts zinc for every one (1) part copper. With calcium supplementation, there should be significant spacing (at least two to three hours) between when calcium supplements and zinc supplements are taken. Otherwise, the calcium can cause the zinc to not be absorbed.