Sweet, White and Deadly

WE CELEBRATE IMPORTANT MILESTONES with cake and ice cream, and each holiday brings its own line of sugar-loaded sweets: chocolate hearts for Valentine’s Day, chocolate bunnies for Easter, and pounds of candy for Halloween. Around Christmas and New Year’s Day, many families bake cookies for co-workers and friends and exchange boxed, chocolate treats.

Sugar became common only recently in the course of history. While in 1822 the average American ate 8.9 Ibs. of sugar per year, today that number has skyrocketed to 135-140 Ibs. This means that the average American is eating/drinking almost 40 teaspoons of sugar per day!

Unless you are reading the labels, you are getting some sugar in your canned and frozen vegetables, breads, cereals, crackers, canned and dried soups, salad dressings, fruit yogurts, TV dinners, and cough drops. Some manufacturers even add dextrose, a form of sugar, to ordinary salt. Another reason why consumers are unaware of the large quantities of sugar they are eating is because it is concealed under different names. A single product may contain sugar as corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, maltose, molasses, fructose, levulose, sucrose, high fructose, corn syrup, or honey.

WHERE IS THE SUGAR COMING FROM?

Some of the major sources of sugar in the American diet are soft drinks, syrups, jellies, jams, frostings, cakes, pies, cookies, pastries, and sweet crackers. Other common sources are desserts and drinks containing milk: ice cream, milk shakes, flavored yogurt, and chocolate milk. Surprisingly, considerable amounts of sugar also come from breads and cereals. The cereal industry has adversely changed since the day when W. K. Kellogg first developed his whole grain, toasted breakfast flakes. Most of the dry breakfast cereals on the market today have sugar added to them. Besides the high-sugar content, most dry cereals have another nutritional disadvantage; -they are a highly refined food.

REFINED FOODS AND YOUR HEALTH

Refined carbohydrates are the most adulterated of all processed ,foods: 90% of all the nutrients are lost in the processing of cane and beets. In the average refining process the raw sugar, cane stalk is reduced and boiled down to as little as one tenth of its original weight, resulting in the loss of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fiber, and other essential elements. The high consumption of sugary items is achieved at the expense of nutrient- rich foods they displace. Sugar is a nutrient equally important to our bodies as any other. But if we are to remain healthy, sugar should be obtained only from unrefined, natural sources.

Refined carbohydrates also playa role in the etiology and retrogression of these as well as many other disorders: gout, kidney stones, urinary infections, gastric ulcers, cardiovascular diseases, periodontal diseases, intestinal cancer, diverticulitis, indigestion, varices, gum diseases, hormonal disorders, oral and vaginal infections, hemorrhoids, osteoporosis, mental disorders, and alcoholism.

SOME MORE PROBLEMS

It seems contradictory, but the more refined sugar we ingest, the less sugar will be available in the blood and, consequently, fatigue, exhaustion and nervousness will result. But how does the excessive consumption of refined sugar make the blood-sugar level drop?

When we ingest unreasonable quantities of sugar, the blood-sugar level quickly increases. Immediately, a message is sent to the pancreas-the gland responsible for the production of insulin, a hormone that allows the cells to utilize glucose-in order to maintain the level of glucose in the blood at equilibrium. This large quantity of insulin enters the bloodstream causing a great amount of sugar to be metabolized and absorbed quickly and an increase in the production of fat and cholesterol. Thus, the level of glucose in the blood drastically drops. At this time, a message is sent to the nervous system, which realizes the necessity of once again maintaining the blood-sugar level at equilibrium. Immediately, the liver is called to action, and the glycogen stored in its cells is transformed into glucose and introduced into the bloodstream. As this resource is constantly needed, the amount of glycogen stored in the liver is reduced, and the liver starts to utilize it in situations of great stress exclusively.

This makes us feel weak, exhausted, irritable, and anxious, making our skin feel moist and cold in addition ‘to inducing profuse perspiration. It is then felt as though we need to ingest more sugar, but in reality we need to abstain from it. By the ingestion of sweets, with their “empty calories,” we feel satisfied for about 30 minutes, and as the cycle repeats itself, hypoglycemia becomes a part of our everyday lives. Besides sugar and refined foods, caffeine (found in coffee, teas, and cotas) and nicotine (cigarettes) could also cause hypoglycemia.*

Ingesting sugar-rich calories can lead to obesity. With a refined food diet, we tend to concentrate more calories in a smaller volume or space. Sixty grams of refined sugar contain identical number of calories as two-and-a-half pounds of beets. Because it is so concentrated, refined sugar tricks the appetite, resulting in excessive consumption. People who are overweight have a greater risk of getting diabetes and a number of coronary heart diseases.

Despite the fact that it is one of the main causes of the development of arthritis, sugar affects the teeth by depleting calcium. Sticky, sugar-rich foods also promote tooth decay by feeding bacteria that live in the mouth which in turn make acidic substances that attack the enamel of healthy teeth.

“Sugar taken every day produces a continuously over-acid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep [with]in the body in the attempt to rectify the imbalance [Incidentally,] B vitamins are … manufactured by symbiotic bacteria living in our intestines. When refined sugar is taken daily, these bacteria wither and die, and our stock 01 B vitamins gets very low. Too much sugar makes one sleepy; our ability to calculate and remember is lost”-Sugar Blues, pp.137,138.

Sugar decreases your body’s ability to fight infections. Sugar-rich foods impair the ability of white blood cells to defend the body against bacterial attack from 25% – 60%. Normal levels of white blood cells’ activity do not return until several hours after a large serving of sugar has been ingested. Children who eat many sweets are particularly vulnerable because of their small body size.

SWEETENERS

Aspartame is a popular artificial sweetener that has adverse effects on health. Symptoms due to eating aspartame-laced foods have been reported to the FDA as follows: headaches, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, numbness, suicidal depression, personality and behavioral changes, gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue, heart attack symptoms, pulmonary and cerebral edema, shock, and death. Many doctors have reported significant improvements or disappearance of symptoms after patients removed aspartame from their diet. Overweight people who use artificial sweeteners have not lost weight by using them. In fact, they usually compensate the missing calories by eating more foods.

SOLUTIONS

The reeducation of our taste is easier than many people realize. It begins by securing a knowledge of that which is good for the health of the body. If you are convinced that refined sugar is something your body does not need, please consider the following suggestions which will help you eliminate it from your diet:

1. Buy sugarless, dry breakfast cereals: Sweeten your cereal with fresh or dry fruits such as raisins, dates, strawberries, peaches, apricots, raspberries, bananas, etc.
2. Cut down in steps: If you are a lover of sweets, lower the frequency of eating sugared foods.
3. Do not purchase any more sweets: If they are not around, the temptation to indulge will not be as great. frequency of eating sugared foods. FOODS SIZE PORTIONS SUGAR (GRAMS) 4. Read the labels: Avoid purchasing products that have sugar added to them. 5. Experiment. Try making some healthy alternatives.
6. Remember: “Hast thou found honey? E at so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it”-Proverbs 25: 16.

Habits, advertisements, appearance, and taste have made the use of refined sugar popular in our diet. Few realize that sweetening milk and juices; ingesting cakes, puddings, candies, and ice creams; feasting on creams; and eating desserts after salty meals result in intoxication. It causes gastric and emotional disorders, weakens the intellect, and deprives the body of nutrients-making the organism susceptible to various illnesses. In order to control diabetes and cavities, improve digestion and the absorption of nutrients, invigorate memory, correct gastric troubles, lose weight, avoid the loss of certain vitamins and minerals, stabilize the nervous system, etc., it is of great importance to overcome the habit of eating/drinking refined sugar in any form.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

Do not be a prisoner of your own eating habits!

PSALM 34:8 0 TASTE & SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD: IF YOU TRUST IN HIM YOU’LL BE HAPPY