Aaaaah, Sugar, Sugar

WARNING: This video is STRICTLY for entertainment--no educational aspect to it whatsoever! (Well.....I guess it DOES make an interesting connection between sugar and the harmful effects it has on the human body!!)

"The chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar’s formula is C12H22O11. For all practical purposes, the difference is that sugar is missing the 'N', or nitrogen atom... Sugar has 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to offer.' ..."

"...Today we have a nation that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus..... corn syrup"

Both of the above quotes were taken from http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm

Contrary to popular belief, sugar doesn't stay in your body only long enough to go through your bloodstream and digestive tract. Sugar can be stored for years as deposits in organs, bones, teeth, muscle tissues, and fat cells--leading to associated health problems in us. What we put into our body on a daily basis, can affect our health and disposition for the remainder of our lives, along with being passed on to our children at the cellular level!

How processed forms of sugar can effect the human body:

• lower the immune system
• negatively effect pancreatic function leading to diabetes
• turn into fat cells leading to obesity
• has even been found to have a positive correlation to 8 forms of cancer: colon, breast, rectum, ovary, prostate, kidney, nervous system, and pancreas (Haas EM. The Detox Diet, 1996: 48-55)
• spikes and drops blood sugar levels throughout the day, which can contribute to several health problems that you wouldn't suspect a connection to sugar: anxiety, aggression sleeplessness, emotion problems, overeating and problems controlling the good bacteria/bad yeast levels in our digestive system.

Believe it or not, the damaging effects of sugar on the body are supposed to closely mirror that of cocaine, except the damages from cocaine are detected faster and take less time to reverse. (it take years to reverse health conditions associated with sugar, but it IS possible with a certified master herbalist)

Yes, it may SEEM like you could quit eating sugar/simple carbohydrates if you "chose to", but actually TRY doing it! People who have gone through all-forms of sugar detoxing (processed white, corn syrup, simple carbs, etc) for weeks at a time, have complained about crawling the walls with anxiety, along with having withdrawal symptoms of headaches, exhaustion, excess hunger, anger, heat flashes, fevers, loose stools, and heightened cravings. If a "food" can do this to me when I decide to quit eating it, my conscience tells me it's probably more of a "drug" than a food. So, why is it legal and IN virtually everything processed that we buy from the grocery store? I assume they keep it legal to appease to consumers, sellers, and processors! Imagine if they pulled all the foods off the grocery store shelves containing processed forms of sugar--there would be a shocking out cry from society! But, there would also be a decrease in the "need" for immunizations, clinics, medications, and "diets"! It is IN almost everything, to attract the customers who have a "sweet tooth".

Since the average person consumes 20-25% of his/her calories from some form of refined sugar(Lick the Sugar Habit, Nancy Appleton, PhD), let's take a closer look at what sugar does to the body:

"If you were to look at a drop of your blood under a microscope following sugar consumption, your white blood cells become increasingly immobile based upon the amount of sugar consumed. The more sugar, the less protection the body has against illnesses. During our 'sugar celebrations' (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Super Bowl, Valentines and Easter), the body really gets overloaded," (and may take several days to recover, while in the mean time, lowers your immune system, playing host to bacteria and viruses.) Could this be A CAUSE of why people tend get more colds, viruses, bacterial infections, and the flu....rather than getting them just because it's "colder" outside and we're indoors more? If you think about it, "The average American kid consumes 330 pounds of refined sugars every year--that's nearly half a pound a day--by way of soft drinks. A body in good health will have the stamina to handle such a challenge (a soda now and then), but the average kid is drinking 3-7 cans a day!" so, if we INCREASE this amount as we go to celebrations that promote eating and snacking (most of the time on sugary ones) the results may bring along more sickness than normal--taken from Health Quarters Monthly newsletter.

"Even if we meet the RDA of vitamins and minerals, but we also eat sugar, the sugar changes our body chemistry and our cells can't fully benefit from the vitamins and minerals. For example, researchers have found that ingesting sugar increases the rate at which we excrete calcium. Calcium depletion makes bones fragile and leads to osteoporosis." (Lemann J. 1967, Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 70:236-45)

This week we took a look at the effects of processed sugars on the human body, which "is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God 1 Corinthians 6:19. In the following weeks, we will take a look at sources of processed sugar, alternatives to sugar, and things we can take to help our bodies deal better with sugar, if we plan to occasionally eat it.

******None of the above statements have been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. All of the information in this BLOG is strictly for educational purposes. This BLOG should not be used to treat, diagnose, or prescribe for a condition you feel you may have. If you have any health concerns, you should see a competent practitioner. ******