(www.sass-pants.com) — I love those commercials from the Corn Refiners Association that suggest that health-conscious parents and other adults are morons for wanting to avoid high-fructose corn syrup. But I love even more what The Consumerist had to say about it: “All we managed to glean from the commercials is that not consuming high fructose corn syrup makes you rude.”

I’m no scientist and I’m certainly not a registered dietitian, but even I can see a correlation between the increasing presence of high-fructose corn syrup in the American diet and the prevalence of obesity in the US population. It doesn’t take an idiot to draw a correlation there. Yeah, sweet stuff is fine in moderation, but we had sweet stuff in moderation before, too, and it was never this bad. So that’s alarming.

And this week, MSNBC, The Washington Post, US News & World Report, and others reported on studies that revealed the presence of mercury in foods containing high-fructose corn syrup. The Corn Refiners Association was quick to deny the claims, suggesting that the study was based on “outdated information of dubious significance,” but I’d expect them to say that immediately while doing their own research to confirm or deny. Not saying they’re liars or anything, but saying it makes sense for them to say it’s not true.

But here’s what alarms me about all of this.

In tandem with increasing use of high-fructose corn syrup, we have increasingly prevalent obesity and diabetes. But we also have increasing incidence of autism, which many believe is related to routine childhood vaccines, many of which have long contained mercury. So not only are we injecting mercury, but we may also be consuming it in a huge proportion of foods we, particularly children, eat on a daily basis. That would certainly would explain the astronomical jump in autism in the US recent years, wouldn’t you say?

Why aren’t more people making this connection? And what are we going to do about it?

Contents Copyright © 2009 Kristen King

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(www.sass-pants.com) — It’s well past lunchtime and I am definitely hungry, but nothing sounds appealing to me AT ALL right now. Well, that’s not true: There are five pomegranates on the counter and I want to eat them all, but that’s not exactly a nutritious meal. I should cook something, but I’m feeling very, very lazy. And bored. And there is nothing less fun than cooking a meal you don’t want in the first place when you’re bored, as I’m sure you know.

Maybe it’s because I took Tylenol PM last night before bed. I’ve been feeling kind of out of sorts all day. A good night’s sleep? What’s that? My body is too well-rested to function! Not even the GIANT sweet potatoes from last night’s Freecycle jaunt sound appealing, despite the minimal preparation required to enjoy one.

Sigh. What’s your fail-safe meal when you just don’t want anything?

AHA! Brilliance! I’m going to make grilled cheese. But still, what do you recommend for not-sure-what-I-want meals?

Contents Copyright © 2008 Kristen King