How Sugar fattens you….

Today's Post: Monday, 6-15-2009

Last Friday we posted that it is now definite that using and eating MSG will tend to make and keep you fat.

But MSG is a lightweight compared with sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Here are just a few of the related facts I’ve seen just in the last couple of days.

One expert said that the average American eats 160 pounds of sugar a year. He then goes on to say the maximum amount our bodies can handle and stay healthy is closer to 10 to 15 pounds a year.

Another said that by the time you add all the kinds of sugar, from truly natural kinds like honey; and table sugar and high fructose corn syrup, the average American eats 25 % of their calories from sugar.

If these things are correct, which I suspect they are, it’s no surprise most Americans today are fat enough to be overweight or obese.

But the good news is that if you cut back to the amount your body can actually handle, that’s about 90% of the sugar you may well be getting now and 22.5 % of your calories. Even if you only lost 15 % of your bodyweight as fat by doing this, that’s a massive positive difference in every one of your significant health measures.

Would you like to be 15% lighter and have all the pounds you lost be fat?

Not only is it quite possible to do just that for many of us, NOT eating sugar tends to leave our hunger alone or actually have it go down!

(Unfortunately, in addition to the risk of side effects from the chemicals our bodies were not designed to ingest, using any but the tiniest amount of artificial sugars makes our bodies crave the real thing enough that people who do this wind up fat and sick anyway research has found.)

Not only that, too much sugar tends to lower your protective HDL cholesterol, increase your LDL, and sharply increase your triglycerides, and tends to boost your blood sugar too high for good health. That makes it dangerous for your heart and circulation in addition to making you fat.

So, to do the job, eliminate all soft drinks—both regular & diet; eat or drink nothing with high fructose corn syrup in it since it’s not only a kind of sugar and often in the worst foods for you, about a third of it is contaminated with mercury. Then simply eat smaller servings of foods with natural sugars or table sugars and eat them far less frequently. Instead of two or three times a day or more eat them two or three times a month.

In addition, the TotalHealthBreakthroughs email last week had some facts that help explain HOW sugar makes you so fat.


Here’s that article.:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com"

Sweet Seduction

By Stan Gardner, MD

It pervades our lives, infiltrates our food supply, changes our behavior, interferes with our brain and body function, and can ultimately lead to aches, pains, and disease -- with early death as a side effect. Yet this subtle deceiver is featured at every party and every holiday, given as gifts to loved ones, and paraded before our eyes in an enticing panorama of tempting tastes.

You guessed it -- I'm talking about sugar.

If you want to jumpstart your energy, enhance your overall health, and strengthen your immune system, you'll want to pay careful attention to how you can get off of sugar simply and painlessly.

Researchers recently reported at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology,1 that sugar induced a reaction in the brain of rats similar to the reaction of morphine and other drugs. This may be the first scientific evidence of what we have suspected for years -- sugar is addictive. When I reported this finding on my website, I was flooded with hundreds of pleas for help to get off sugar addiction.

Even knowing the harmful effects that sugar has on our bodies does not stop the cravings and the addictive behavior. One reader wrote, "Please hurry, I need to get off the sugar roller coaster... and get healthy again."

Another writer said, "I have always wanted to be free of my sugar addiction... It just feels like I (and my family) would have to be in a bubble to avoid all that sugar. I was in the store yesterday and passed by a big display of Easter candy. I just got through Valentine's. Help!"

We find sugar or its manufactured counterpart, high fructose corn syrup, in almost all processed food. That is, all food placed in a can or a box. It's even added to ketchup! Soda pop is one of the most pervasive sources of sugar in America.

In order to understand the effects of sugar on our bodies, we need to first understand the normal metabolism of carbohydrates in our bodies. There is no known "minimum daily requirement" for carbohydrate ingestion into our bodies like there is for proteins and fats. All carbohydrates eventually break down into glucose.

Unlike complex carbs (from natural fruit and vegetable sources), which take more effort to digest, and release their sugar load more slowly, simple carbs (including foods containing refined sugar or high-fructose corn syrup) break down quickly, with immediate absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

This immediate release of blood glucose initiates the production of high levels of insulin to help the cells absorb the glucose. And with this reaction, another set of problems arises. High insulin levels increase fat formation and storage, while inhibiting fat breakdown to be used as energy. This makes it easy to gain weight, and VERY difficult to lose weight.

High insulin also enhances sodium (salt) re-absorption from the kidneys, thus promoting water retention and hypertension. High insulin levels can stimulate certain ovarian hormones that result in elevations in free testosterone, which can lead to male sex characteristics in women.
If you want to get off the sugar roller coaster and permanently improve your health, here are some tips to help you on your way.

Use fruit as a substitute. Fruit should be the sweetest thing you ingest. In the long term, fruit will fulfill your need for sweets.

Don't have sugar in the house. Don't buy more sweets. Try the "don't buy it diet."

Find a buddy to cheer you on, and one you can cheer on in your journey to health.
Try two supplements that have helped some people with their cravings: the herb Gymnema and the amino acid L-glutamine.

Be sure to take a potent multivitamin and omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids (finely ground flax seed oil may be your best choice, because it has both).

Love your body as it is (inside AND outside). Address emotional issues that may be affecting your image or attitudes toward eating and health.

Focus on "real" food -- natural organic meats and produce with no sugar or chemical additives.
Give it time and realize you are making important, lifelong changes. Perhaps soon, you'll be writing me a message similar to this one:

"I have known for some time that I am addicted to sugar. In September I cut out (for the most part) white refined flour and white refined sugar. I weigh myself every six weeks. Last time I weighed, I was down 20 pounds in 18 weeks. I look better, but more importantly, I feel better. This whole experience has made me want to learn more about sugar and its addictive nature."
To your dynamic health and energy!

Stan Gardner, MD

Reference
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, source: http://www.acnp.org .
.
[Ed. Note: Stan Gardner, MD, has practiced energy and alternative medicine for over 10 years. He believes that many diseases could be prevented entirely, healed more quickly, and cause less damaging results through the application of proper nutrition…..]”

(He has a website you can visit.)

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A separate article points out that although eating sugar boosts your serotonin levels which tends to make you feel better, eating a lot of sugar tends to provide so much, your body make less. So you don’t feel as good without the sugar. That’s why sugar is so addictive.

And to highlight how sugar fattens, here is the key part of the article again with the key part set in bold.:

“simple carbs (including foods containing refined sugar or high-fructose corn syrup) break down quickly, with immediate absorption of glucose into the bloodstream.

This immediate release of blood glucose initiates the production of high levels of insulin to help the cells absorb the glucose. And with this reaction, another set of problems arises. High insulin levels increase fat formation and storage, while inhibiting fat breakdown to be used as energy. This makes it easy to gain weight, and VERY difficult to lose weight.

High insulin also enhances sodium (salt) re-absorption from the kidneys, thus promoting water retention and hypertension.“

(Also note that this boosts your blood pressure enough to cause problems two ways. Not only do you tend to retain sodium which you likely get too much of, being fat directly causes high blood pressure as well.)

What I’ve found to work is to first eliminate all soft drinks, all foods or other drinks with high fructose corn syrup, refined grain flour and the foods made of it, white rice, white potatoes, and then to gradually cut my intake of regular sugar in half. I now eat about one fourth to one eighth of what I used to eat. And I’m about to cut that intake in half again.

I still love sugar; and I still eat it. But I am not eating any where near as much as I was. And by stepping down gradually this way, I find I don’t miss it as I would have likely done if I had simply eliminated it all at one pass.

Lastly, here is a list of foods that you now have to check the labels to avoid sugar and high fructose corn syrup that I also saw just recently.:

Spaghetti & pasta sauce. Some of them have a lot of sugar. Some have less. And some have none. They all taste good so pick one with less or none.

Ketchup. Most kinds today have high fructose corn syrup; & many get as much as 20% of their calories from HFCS or sugar.

Most reduced fat and low fat products. These are often advertised as appropriate for weight loss & do have less fat. Unfortunately they add back sugar instead, so the product with less fat also is NOT as good as the original for fat loss. And that’s often true not only for things like cookies that normally have sugar; but for things like salad dressing that normally do not.

Bread. Bread today is often really bad for you. Not only does it tend to contain all or mostly refined grain flour that kicks your blood sugar as badly or worse than sugar, many – if not most – commercial breads have sugar or high fructose corn syrup. And many still have junk oils or hydrogenated oils with transfats. So eat less bread overall. And to the best of your ability ONLY eat bread that is 100 % from whole wheat or whole sprouted grains.

Potato Chips. These are very much like bread made from refined grain flour. The potato used kicks your blood sugar as badly or worse than sugar. Many contain sugar too. And many still have junk oils or hydrogenated oils with transfats. Then they are usually highly salted. They rank down at the bottom with soft drinks. Our suggestion is to never eat them at all. That saves having to read the labels!

High protein energy bars. Not only do most of these use extracted soy protein that many experts believe is bad for you to eat as a protein source, almost all of them contain high fructose corn syrup or sugar. And many still have junk oils or hydrogenated oils with transfats.

A very few use whey or egg or raw nuts for protein and real fruit for sweetening. Only eat those and stop consuming the rest if you want to avoid being fat and sick. (I’ve found raw pecans or raw pecans and raisins to be a great substitute. Eating a boiled egg also works.)