ORIGINAL: Misanthropy
Its not only HFCS, but the high percentage of corn in all of our food. Its everywhere.
The Russians did the same with the potato.
Its not the best thing to base all the foods on a certain ingrediant. This alone will cause health problems.
Interestingly, anthropologists have long noted that the healthiest cultures were hunter/gatherers, and that at the advent of agricultural nations, health declined quite rapidly. A professor of Anthropology I know said that he's seen many cases of fossils which he had determined to have died from serious mouth infections due to too much grain consumption (or too much phosphorus and not enough calcium). However those who consumed lots of beans, fish, berries, seeds, nuts, other tree fruits and things, had perfect teeth.
Let me reiterate so that we don't make grains sound terrible, that in the study of the healthiest cultures on the planet there is a moderate amount of grain consumption, but their portions are smaller than in America, they are not processed in the slightest, and they make their "own" grain dishes.
And so, I would not recommend eliminating grains completely from the diet because they have antioxidants, B-vitamins, Vitamin E, and they have the minerals phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and usually a small amount of calcium.
Speaking of minerals, I believe most mineral ratios are completely out of whack in America, largely due to excess grain consumption. Sodium is so easily absorbed (however still very necessary to consume) that it's easy to get too much. Potassium is about 90% absorbable in plants, but we simply don't consume enough of those plants to get a good 5 or 6 grams of it a day. These two minerals play crucial roles in the nervous system. They, along with calcium, are the medium by which electricity is transferred throughout the body. They could be thought of as the body's "batteries". And if you get large amounts of these minerals in the daily diet, your body will keep going and going and going like the energizer bunny. :) So America must consume more potassium.
The ratio that concerns me the most, however, is the calcium/phosphorus ratio. America gets way too much phophorus and you could blame the red meat, soft drink, and grain industries. Phosphorus is essential to life, but you must consume 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus to obtain the ideal ratio for the body. Phosphorus like sodium and potassium is very easily absorbed, or approximately 90% of it in foods is absorbed. However, only 25% or less of calcium is absorbed from food or hard water. The best absorbable source of calcium from typical foods are from milk which usually hovers around 17-23% absorption. Some chelated minerals can get up to 25-30% absorption. However, sea products like seaweed or coral calcium get a much higher amount of absorption because some of it has been munched on (or pre-digested) by other creatures and the calcium carbonate becomes more of an aragonite which is very helpful to the human body in digestion. The biggest reasons for lack of calcium absorption in America is:
1. Too much phosphorus! Phosphates when present in the stomach bond with any ionized calcium to form a bony precipitate (calcium phosphate) which prevents calcium absorption.
2. Lack of vitamin D. America doesn't eat fish as regularly as they should which is the best food source of vitamin D. Also, at once we were in loincloth all day exposing our skin to the sun, but now we are in suits and ties as we go to work, and we cover our skin all day. If we don't have 5000 IU of vitamin D in the intestine most calcium and magnesium just pass out of the body.
3. Softening the water supply to help appliances and prevent shower buildup.
4. Not consuming enough calcium to get the biological requirement of about 800 milligrams "absorbed" by the body each day. So let's say an American consumes the full RDA of calcium (which is rare in itself!), but neglects vitamin D consumption, and obtains their calcium from a 17% absorbable source like milk. You will only absorb 170 milligrams of calcium that day (if you're lucky) when your body needed 800! So the only other alternative is to add vitamin D supplementation, expose their skin to sunlight, and then consume higher absorbable forms of calcium like seaweed or coral calcium (or intake 5-10 g of the lower quality calcium per day from hard water).
5. Calcium is rare in many typical American foods (aside from dairy). One must consume more almonds or figs or soybeans, and more greens and other exotic things like this which can be hard to fit on the typical American family's menu.
And so, for general health, one needs to increase consumption of potassium, decrease the phosphorus from current levels, and increase calcium. Lastly, I wanted to write a little note to any dentists on this board to finish up this post.
**Attention all dentists: to eliminate cavities, tooth decay, and the most serious forms of gum infection in all your patients over an extended period of time, tell them to eliminate red meat, all soft drinks, and most grains, and tell them to prefer fruits and veggies, beans, nuts, seeds, calcium products, and to supplement 5,000-10,000 IU of vitamin D per day. You will notice remarkable changes in their tooth enamel and gum health.