William Duffy wrote a book a few years ago called Sugar Blues. In the book, he writes about the addictive qualities of white sugar by saying, “It is much like a drug and the difference between sugar addiction and narcotic addiction is largely one of degree.” How is sugar classified as an addictive substance? The fact that you can eat one piece or one bite of something containing sugar, which creates the desire for more and more, qualifies the substance as being addictive. If you give a young child a bite of something containing sugar for the first time, they will cry or scream until you give them more. The other qualification for being addictive is when someone decides to stop eating sugar-containing foods ‘cold turkey’, all kinds of symptoms start appearing like headaches, fuzzy thinking, vacant mind, depression, fatigue, blurred vision and strong cravings, to name a few. These unpleasant withdrawal symptoms try to instigate the person to re-engage the sugar addiction.

Sugar has a long history going back as far as 327BC where records show that raw sugar was used in India. The Spaniards brought sugar to the Americas in the 16th century. About 600 years ago, a refining process was invented. Simple refined sugar is extracted from crushed, ground sugar cane, where it is filtered, then concentrated by boiling it down into a syrup. Over the years substances such as sulfur dioxide, milk of lime, carbon dioxide, charcoal from charred beef bones and calcium carbonate have been used in the refining process as purifying agents. Mmmm, good. Brown sugar is just white sugar with varying degrees of molasses added back. Golden yellow sugar has a little bit of caramel color added. Raw sugar is processed so that a little bit of the molasses remains.

Sugar is classed in the food group called carbohydrates, if you can call this addictive ‘white death’ a food. There are several types of sweet substances, notably, sucrose from sugar cane, fructose from fruit, lactose from milk, and maltose from grain. Combined with other ingredients, sugar, as a carbohydrate is enjoyable to eat and provides the body with instant fuel, unlike proteins and fats which require more complex digestion. Scientific studies on various age groups show that newborns have an instinctive desire for more sweet after tasting it, while children and adults have an acquired taste for it. Once we taste something sweet, we want the pleasure of having more of it.

Scientific studies show that excessive sugar consumption contributes to many health problems that are becoming more and more common, including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, indigestion, hypoglycemia, obesity, gout, fuzzy thinking, myopia, lack of concentration and focus, depression, anxiety, seborrhea and weak bones and teeth. This is because sugar in all its forms causes the body terrain to become extremely acidic. The body functions best at a neutral to alkaline pH, with different parts of the body having different degrees of alkalinity, with the exception of the stomach which is acidic. You can actually buy pH strips from a health food store to test how acid or alkaline your saliva or urine pH is. Your saliva should be approximately 7.4 and your urine should be 6.9 pH. The pH chart is right on the package. You should spit into a clean spoon first thing in the morning before you put anything into your mouth, one hour before a meal, and two hours after you eat. Please do not put the pH paper onto your tongue. The chemicals are toxic and should not be put onto your tongue. They could accumulate over time.

Your urine will test acidic first thing in the morning as it is getting rid of acids flushed throughout the night. You should do your first urine test about two to three hours after you get up but one hour before you eat a meal, not necessarily your first meal.

Sugar is an empty addictive food. It has no minerals, no vitamins, no protein, amino acids, fat or fiber. All it has is calories and that seductive, addictive flavor that makes you want more.

W.D. Ringsdorf, DMD, MS, co-authored a book called Psychodietetics, in which he talks about the dangerous side effects of sugar. Aside from being very addictive, acidic and a major contributor to weight gain, he says that sugar raises the blood pressure. When sugar is combined with animal fats, like in donuts, it leads to clogged arteries and the risk of blood clots. Ringsdorf also says that sugar increases the stickiness of the blood, making it seem thicker and more prone to cause problems with clotting.

Part of your body’s defense system is in the blood. Cells called phagocytes are a type of white blood cell that destroys foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses in the body. Tests show that a couple of teaspoons of sugar, like in a cup of coffee can reduce the ability of these defensive cells to do their job by up to 25 percent. A large helping of pie and ice cream will shut down the phagocytes’ ability to do their job entirely. The pie and ice cream will render your immune system helpless for 4 to 5 hours. Don’t get into a crowded elevator or on a crowded bus during flu season.

Ringsdorf also gives the example of drinking a 683 ml cola beverage which will depress your immune system by 50 percent approximately 30 minutes after you drink it and the effects will last 4 to 5 hours. Imagine all the food items that you eat during the day that contain sugar - the coffee, the tea, the donut or the muffin, the yogurt, salad dressing, orange juice, the energy bar and the chocolate chip cookie. Your immune system will not even be able to kill all the rogue cells that your body produces that have the potential to create lumpy things in your body. You need to stop eating sugar. If you get colds and flu you definitely need to stop eating sugar.

Not only is sugar addictive, it is destroying your health. We were designed to eat food as close to natural as possible. That doesn’t include processed food, of which sugar is one.

• Diabetes and Indians
• Understanding the Glycemic Index For Diabetics
• The Quest For Acceptable Blood Sugar Levels - Avoiding the Ravages of High Blood Sugar
• Seniors and Diabetes
• Discover an Effective Low Blood Sugar Diet and Say Good Bye to That Rage
• Magnesium Levels Are Reduced in Diabetic Minorities
• Blood Sugar Level Chart - What's Normal and What's Not
• What High Energy Drink is Great For Diabetes?

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.