Pour Some Sugar on Me

SUGAR...oohh, probably my biggest weakness, sweets! There are alternatives, and semi-healthy at that, hooray!

So yesterday, I spoke about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and why you should avoid it. Let's talk a little about sugar in general, shall we?

I think everyone knows that sugar should be avoided, yes? Most people I know would like to cut down the amount of sugar in their diet. But cutting out sugar is easier said than done since it's in just about every food we eat, particulary man-made foods and it comes with all kinds of crazy names...sugar, corn syrup, HFCS, sucralose, sucrose, fructose, etc...Before we can look for some alternatives, I think we need to know WHY something is so bad for us. It gives us a reason to make change!

Sugar can do so much damage to our bodies. If you REALLY want to see some of the data, read this article from a health website I visit often that will give you 76 things sugar can do to your body. http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/dangers_of_sugar.htm Here are a few highlights...can increase cholesterol, lead to cancer, obesity, poor eyesight, tooth disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, allergies, excema, damage body parts, lead to depression, etc...And yet I don't think most of us need to read all of the information to know it's bad for us. We all know that and want to do something about it. So why is it so hard?

Part of the explanation might be the way insulin works in our bodies. When we eat something high in carbs and sugar, particularly in the absence of fiber that helps digest the sugar and slow down digestion in general, our pancreas releases insulin that tells the body what to do with the sugar. Insulin helps the body lower its blood sugar and balance our bodies. Insulin does a lot of other things in our body but since I'm not a biology major, I can't really remember them all. The overall goal is to keep our insulin levels low. The way to do that is to avoid refined grains and sugar that cause our bodies to release the insulin. Our bodies become resistant to insulin the more it is released which means our bodies will no longer use it correctly or be insensitive to it. This could cause excess blood sugar in the body which could then lead to diabetes or other diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease.

The most important thing I think to remember about sugar and insulin is the cycle we get caught up in when we eat sugar. Here's what happens: Eat sugar (or white flour carb products), drive up blood sugar and gain energy, insulin is released to balance body, blood sugar lowers rapidly inducing hunger, eat something else with sugar to get the energy rush, repeat cycle. So basically, eating sweets makes us want to eat sweets more. Eventually our bodies start to reject the insulin which causes us to have increased blood sugar, increased fat in our bodies, and increased clogging of our arteries leading to increased risk for disease.

WOW, so was that overwhelming or what?? Take a deep breath!

Now, is that to say that I never eat sugar! I wish! I still eat it, although I have found some substitutes that are not as harsh as processed white sugar (more on a future post). But what I will say is that because I do choose to eat the best I can and I have eliminated most white sugar from my diet, my body does react harshly when I eat it. I know exactly how I'm going to feel. So if I CHOOSE to eat it, I pay the price with headaches and energy crashes and sluggish feelings.

If you do decide to cut out sugar or lessen the amount you eat, your body will respond with cravings as it goes through withdrawal...just like other addictions. And yes, our bodies are addicted to it. Be patient, alternatives are on the way!

Oh, and for those of you with questions, I'll post answers as they fit in, or maybe I'll just slip them in just for you!