Processed and artificial sugar is hidden in everything from fruit yoghurts to bread - even your favourite breakfast cereals that you assumed healthy! The average person consumes over 100g of sugar each day, but our bodies can barely cope with more than a teaspoon - just 5g! Fruit yoghurt can contain the equivalent of 7 teaspoons of sugar while a can of coke can top 10! Is it any wonder that so many people suffer from illness, diabetes, obesity and depression? We are becoming a nation of sugar addicts.
Regular intake of processed and artificial sugar is the fast track route to shortening your lifespan. It leaves your body in an over-acidic condition, forcing it to suck calcium from your bones and teeth to reduce this acidity and restore balance. This leads to decay and weakening of these structures, meaning you could be facing a toothless smile and osteoporosis long term, among many other diseases and conditions!
What your body can't use, it stores. Excess sugar is transported to fat cells in your most inactive areas - the belly, bum, breast and thighs. Continue to eat too much sugar and these cells will get fuller and fuller, leading you to become more and more overweight. Once these cells are fit to burst, the body will up the ante and store new fat between your internal organs - particularly the heart, liver and kidneys. Over time, body fat begins to take over your entire body, causing organs to slow down, leading to high blood pressure - ANOTHER potential killer!
Processed sugars, being quickly digested, will cause your blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. Your body can only cope with a certain amount of sugar in the bloodstream. This leads your body to release insulin, a hormone that sweeps out the excess sugar from the blood and brings it back down to a manageable level. Unfortunately this system tricks the body. By the time your brain realises that your blood sugar level has been restored to normal, it has started to panic, thinking that a blood sugar crash has hit, because of the level of sugar that has been swept from the blood in one hit. Stressed, the body then releases more sugar from the liver, to quickly raise blood sugar levels to what your body believes will be an ideal level.
At this stage, most people respond to the feeling of low blood sugar by eating something sweet or reaching for a coffee or soft drink to restore energy, thus doubling the effect!! Unable to cope with excess sugar in the diet, combined with an inactive lifestyle can lead to Insulin Resistance over time.
As you continue to eat excess sugar, your body becomes less able to process it effectively, and needs to release more and more insulin to have the same desired effect of clearing the bloodstream of this excess. The more processed foods you consume, the fatter you become and the closer you edge towards diabetes, by which stage sugar could actually become the death of you!
If you are currently overweight, chances are you are already insulin resistant or close to being so. If this is the case, it is vitally important that you avoid sugar as much as you can in your diet.
Be a sugar detective - know the hidden clues of sugar-lurking. It may be listed as one of the following (anything ending in 'ose' will be sugar):
Barley Malt, Demerara Sugar, Maltose, Cane Sugar, Dextrin, Manitol, Concentrated, Dextrose, Maple Syrup, Corn Fructose, Fructose, Polydextrose, Corn Sweetener, Grape Sugar, Sucrose, Corn Syrup
Look at your food labels and see how often you find sugar hidden in your food. The higher it appears on the ingredients list, the more the sweet stuff has been packed in!
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