Sugar Sources

In my previous BLOG posting, I went over the effects of sugar on the human body, analyzing just what sugar does once it enters the mouth. Now that we know the effects, let's take a closer look at the sources of sugar. Because sugar helps to sell a product, you can find it in many things that don't really NEED sweetening: ketchup, dry roasted nuts, salad dressings, sandwich meats, pickles, hot dogs, bread, juice, granola, .... the list could go on!!! Many of these foods were made in the past without sugar, but have had it added as a selling booster to increase sales and acquire repeat customer business. In order to maintain optimum health, you will want to AVOID foods that contain the processed and artificial ingredients listed below. If our body has to regularly deal with these intrusive substances, it cannot fight off viruses and bacteria as well, and will slowy lose nutrients, leading to degenerative diseases earlier than expected in life. Processed sugars can also inhibit the healing process of any problem that someone already has.

Sugar has also had it's name transformed and resources altered in order to protect it. It can now be found labeled in food products as: sucrose, glucose, dextrose, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup. We will just go ahead and call all of these PROCESSED SUGARS:

• Sugar/sucrose: requires minor digestion (actually breaking down valuable stomach enzymes,by not working them to their full potential), brings little (if any) nutrients, causes a huge energy boost followed by plummeting blood sugar levels, and especially stresses the pancreas and adrenal glands.
• Glucose/Dextrose: causes same surge in blood sugar as does sucrose
• Brown Sugar: refined white sugar, with some of the molasses added back in to look less refined
• Turbinado Sugar: One step away from being white sugar; 95% sucrose
• Corn Syrup/High Fructose Corn Syrup: absorbed quickly into the blood stream, without the accompanying nutrients to maintain normal blood sugar levels (Health Quarters Monthly, 2001, Volume 37)

On top of that, people have even CREATED alternate artificial versions of sugar, not knowing that a they can be twice as harmful as a natural, processed product. Here is a list of artificial sweeteners approved for use by the FDA: aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, Acesulfame potassium , and neotame. These will be labeled ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS:

• Aspartame--(owned by corporate giant Monsanto, the seed company rumored to want full control of the world's food sources) some researchers have suggested that a rise in brain tumor rates in the United States may be at least partially related to the increasing availability and consumption of aspartame. A recent research showed a clear link between this substance and cancer; a link that may be sufficient evidence for the FDA to pull aspartame from the market.
• Saccharin--was the first artificial sweetener and can be found in found in Sweet' N Low, Tab, Diet Coke from fountains. It is 300 to 500 times as sweet as sugar (sucrose) and is often used to improve the taste of toothpastes, dietary foods, and dietary beverages. In 1977, Canada banned saccharin due to the animal research, and in the United States, the FDA considered banning saccharin in 1977, but Congress stepped in and placed a moratorium on such a ban.
• Sucralose--a.k.a. Splenda, is found in Coke C2, Diet Coke with Splenda, Pepsi EDGE, Pepsi One, Diet 7Up. It is a chlorinated sugar that is about 600 times as sweet as sugar. for more on Splenda, please visit this site: http://www.truthaboutsplenda.com/
• Acesulfame potassium--produced lung tumors, breast tumors, rare types of tumors of other organs (such as the thymus gland), several forms of leukemia and chronic respiratory disease in several rodent studies.
• Neotame--is attractive to food manufacturers as its use greatly lowers the cost of production compared to using sugar or high fructose corn syrup--since it is between 8,000 and 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar. It is chemically similar to the artificial sweetener Aspartame.

The artificial sweetener information above was taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_sweeteners

Whether the added sweetener in our food products are taken from a PROCESSED source or an ARTIFICIAL source, if it is not from a NATURAL source, it can wreak havoc in our bodily systems. Not only does it burden our digestive systems, but it also aggravates the body everywhere our blood flows ....brain, organs, tissues, bones, and muscles. Anything that goes in our body that is unnatural can become a part of our body: being added on as fat cells, skin markings/festerings or even multiplying cells that are not "uniform" to our own (ie, cancer). It can also take away from our health, robbing our body of nutrients in order to "deal with" the sugar.

Because God designed our bodies to operate best with His food resources, if we choose to deviate from this course in order to follow the crowd or save on money by buying cheaper foods containing these sweeteners, then we may run into health problems earlier in life than we expect. In my next BLOG posting, I will give you a list of natural sweeteners that you can bake, cook and use with in various foods.

******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. ******