As good as it is, sugar is NOT your friend. You can “feel” it as a friend when it comforts you (due to the influx of beta-endorphin in your brain), but sugar is really your ENEMY. The truth is that regular consumption of sugary foods is one of the worst things you can do for your health. Modern scientific research has shown us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the sugar in your food (in all of its countless forms) has a devastating effect on your health.
Take a look at the sugar consumption trends of the past 300 years:
In 1700, the average consumption per person was about 2 kg of sugar per year.
In 1800, the average consumption per person was about 9 kg of sugar per year.
In 1900, individual consumption rose to 45 kg of sugar per year.
In 2012, more than 50% of all Americans consumed more than 100 g of sugar per day – more than 81 kg of sugar per year!
In 1890, only 3 in 100,000 people had diabetes. In 2012, almost 8,000 out of 100,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes!
The “sugar rush” has reached our children. American children consume APPROXIMATELY 10 TIMES more sugar than in 1900, especially in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is the largest source of calories for the average American! Extremely addictive HFCS contains fructose and glucose, but they are not related to each other (as they are in table sugar) so the body does not need to break it down. Therefore, fructose is absorbed immediately, going directly to the liver, which transforms it into FAT (VLDL and triglycerides).
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola:
“Fructose also tricks the body in its ability to gain weight by tricking your metabolism (it inhibits the appetite control system). Fructose does not properly stimulate insulin, which in turn does not suppress ghrelin (“the hunger hormone”) and does not stimulate leptin (“the hormone of satiety”), of these two phenomena it results in eating more and developing insulin resistance. This process also suppresses the immune system.
But just because you’re avoiding HFCS doesn’t mean you’re in the right. Excessive consumption of ALL processed sugars results in compromised immune function (by reducing the ability of leukocytes to destroy bacteria), obesity and diabetes.
And if that’s not enough, keep in mind that sugar is EXTREMELY addictive! That is true! Dr. Serge Ahmed of Bordeaux worked with rats and gave them the choice between cocaine and sugar. Guess which one has won over and over again?
It’s just … sugar!
It turns out that the sweet taste of sugar is more rewarding than cocaine.
You see, sugar produces dopamine – a chemical that causes happiness and well-being – in the brain. People become addicted to sugar, because they need it to feel “normal” and they experience “craving” if they remove sugar from their diets. If they are “abruptly weaned” for a few days, their brains will start producing dopamine on their own, but the discomfort caused by the withdrawal leaves many “sugar addicts” trapped by their addiction.
Sugar is also the preferred food for cancer, due to the anaerobic respiratory mechanism found in ALL cancer cells. And since half of the white sugar in the United States comes from sugar beets, you should remember that most beets are now genetically modified. This is another reason to stay out of “White Death” isn’t it?
I personally recommend that you avoid white sugar, brown sugar, agave and all artificial sweeteners such as aspartame / AminoSweet, sucralose and saccharin. If you like sweets, it’s best to take 100% pure stevia, xylitol, raw honey, pure maple syrup, molasses and coconut sugar. In conclusion: If you want to be healthy, you MUST take control of your sugar intake so that it does not take control over you.
Put an end to the confusion about sugar
We easily confuse the different sugars and sweeteners, here is an overview:
-Saccharide = sugar
-Glucose (aka "dextrose" or "grape sugar"), galactose ("milk sugar") and fructose ("fruit sugar") and all "monosaccharides" (ie . simple sugar molecules), known as "simple sugars." The first difference between them is the way your body metabolizes them.
-Glucose is the form of energy designed to keep you in shape. Every cell in your body uses glucose to produce energy.
- Large amounts of fructose are very harmful to the body if it is not burned immediately to produce energy because it goes directly to the liver where it is transformed into triglycerides (fats). Excess triglycerides increase insulin resistance (and insulin production), thereby contributing to diabetes in a "stealth" way.
- Simple sugars can combine to form more complex sugars, such as sucrose ("table sugar") which is a "disaccharide" composed of 50% glucose and 50% fructose.
-The "refined" white sugar (pure sucrose) is washed in a syrup solution, then with hot water, clarified (usually chemically) to remove impurities, discolored, concentrated, evaporated, boiled again when crystals form, centrifuged again to separate, then dried. As a result, all that remained of "natural benefit" and "nutritional value" has completely disappeared! In fact, white sugar should be considered an "industrial product", rather than a "food".
- "Brown sugar" is white sugar mixed with molasses.
"Raw" sugar is not really raw - it was cooked and most of the minerals and vitamins are gone. But it’s probably a little better than refined white sugar because it has retained some molasses.
-Aspartame or AminoSweet is a neurotoxic rat death… needless to say more? Aspartame is found in many pharmaceutical products, prepared dishes, even savory, "light" products, toothpastes, etc.
-The Splenda (sucralose) is not a sugar, despite its false marketing slogan, "made with sugar". It is a chlorinated artificial sweetener identical to aspartame, although not quite as harmful.
- Honey is about 50% fructose, but naturally (pure and unpasteurized) this form offers many health benefits. It’s best to buy local, unpasteurized honey.
- Stevia is an extremely sweet plant taken from the leaf of the South American plant, Stevia, which is perfectly healthy (in its natural form). green stevia is the whole plant, while white stevia is processed and can often contain other ingredients like natural flavors or dextrose - a form of sugar. 100% natural green stevia is what will suit you.
- Agave nectar is made from the agave plant, which is a cactus. What sounds natural, doesn't it? Like maple syrup from a tree or honey from a beehive. Only it’s wrong. The agave is HIGHLY processed while the finished product does not even resemble the original agave plant from afar. In addition, the agave is about 80% fructose (much higher than honey and maple syrup).
-HFCS - high fructose corn syrup - contains 55% fructose and 45% glucose. It is mostly genetically modified. Refrain!
-Radadura is pure juice extracted from sugar cane (using a press), which is then evaporated at low temperature, stirred with paddles, then spread on the ground to produce granular sugar. It has not been cooked at high temperatures or extended to turn it into crystals and the molasses remains in the sugar. "Sucanat" is the brand name of the United States for Rapadura.
-Coconut sugar is made from sap saturated with fresh water that drips from the buds of cut coconut palm flowers. It has a low glycemic index (GI) and is rich in amino acids. It generally contains less than 10% fructose, sucrose being the main component.
-Xylitol is a sweetener known as a "sugar alcohol" (or polyol). Alcohols are not sugars, nor are they alcohols - they are carbohydrates (with structures that come to resemble sugar and alcohol). Xylitol is extracted from birch cellulose. Unlike sugar, Xylitol is absorbed slowly, does not cause a rapid increase in blood sugar, and does not require an immediate response from insulin to be metabolized. In addition, many studies have shown that it actually helps prevent tooth decay, ear infection, and it seems obvious that it helps prevent gingivitis because Xylitol is an antibacterial.