The country eats more sweetener made from corn than from sugarcane or beets, gulping it down in drinks as well as in frozen food and baked goods. Even ketchup is laced with it.

Almost all nutritionists finger high fructose corn syrup consumption as a major culprit in the nation's obesity crisis. The inexpensive sweetener flooded the American food supply in the early 1980s, just about the time the nation's obesity rate started its unprecedented climb.

Never before have people eaten so many refined carbohydrates. Reseach shows that corn syrup and other highly refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white rice and sugar put people at risk of obesity and diabetes.

Statistics show that 65 percent of Americans are overweight and 27 percent are considered clinically obese. One of the reasons behind this growing epidemic is our addiction to starches and sugars. It's not just the fat in the food that's making people obese; it's the excess carbohydrates from grains and sugars. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, chances are very good that the excess carbohydrates in your body are, in part or whole, to blame:

• Excess weight
• Fatigue and frequent sleepiness
• Depression
• Brain fogginess
• Bloating
• Low blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• High triglycerides

Experts blamed these rising health problems on the high numbers of sedentary lifestyles and poor diets.

A study gathered information on food composition and consumption over the years 1909 to 1997. Data from these findings were compared to the rates of disease from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When researchers evaluated the results they found that the drop in fiber consumption and heavy consumption of corn syrup found in most processed foods were at the root of the problem, not the number of proteins, fats or carbohydrates.

Other studies have shown that people who consumed a great deal of carbohydrates over a long period of time were in the higher risk brackets of developing diabetes.