The signs are all around: out of control obesity, a dramatic increase in diabetes, and despite the millions of dollars we have spent fighting cancer and heart disease, both are still increasing. What is causing it? Doctors, scientists and nutritionists are increasingly coming to the conclusion that sugar is playing a major role, and indeed, it may be the main culprit.
In the U.S. adults are now consuming more sugar than ever, with the most dramatic change coming over the past 20 years. Adults now consume 21.5 teaspoons per day (not including fruit juices) and teenagers are consuming an average of 34 teaspoons a day. The American Health association says this is far too much; it recommends a maximum of 6 teaspoons per day for women and 9 for men. And there's no doubt that the excess is causing problems in our bodies; it is, in fact, causing serious damage. One of the most obvious results has been a huge increase in obesity in recent years, and obesity is just one of the problems. Sugar is, in fact, now implicated in most major diseases in the U. S.
What Sugar Does to Your Body
Let's begin by looking at what sugar (or more exactly, sucrose) is composed of. First of all it has no nutrients and consists only of "empty calories." In terms of elemental sugars, it is a 50/50 mixture of glucose and fructose.
It isn't the glucose that is bad for us; glucose is, after all, the "gas" that runs our body in the same way gas runs a car. Every cell in your body needs glucose for energy. Indeed, if your supply of glucose gets low you feel fatigued and weak.
Fructose is the problem. But fructose is a major component of the sugar in fruit and vegetables, and we know that they are good for us, so how could fructose be bad? When it comes in fruit and vegetables, it is, indeed, good for us, and the main reason is that when it is in them it is combined with fiber, vitamins, minerals and enzymes, all of which help digest and metabolize it properly. The problem comes when we take it out of fruit or vegetables and purify it (and usually add chemicals of various types to it).
Getting back to how the body deals with glucose, let's consider what it does with it. When you eat carbohydrates the glucose in them is absorbed by the digestive system and goes almost immediately into the bloodstream. From here it fuels the cells in your muscles, organs, and your brain. Your brain, in fact, is a major consumer - using up to two-thirds of the glucose in your bloodstream. It is important that your body has a good, continuous, supply throughout the day (and night). Most cells in the body, however, can't store glucose, and that's why we need a continuous supply. It can, however, be stored in the liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. So when your body runs low it uses glycogen (turning it back into glucose).
When your brain senses glucose in your blood (after you eat), it tells the pancreas to create the hormone insulin. It turns out that, although your cells need glucose, the glucose circulating in your blood can't get through the outer membrane of the cell without a "password" substance. This substance is insulin; it's like a "key" to the cell that allows glucose to pass, so it can do its job.
Under normal circumstances the insulin allows the glucose to pass and the circulating glucose is used up. There is, in fact, a "feedback" mechanism that keeps it relatively constant.
Let's take a closer look now at carbohydrates. It's well-known that they come in two varieties: simple and complex. Simple carbs produce glucose quickly and are frequently referred to as "quicky carbs." Complex carbs metabolize slowly and the flow of glucose in the bloodstream is controlled. Quicky carbs are in foods such as soda pop, cookies, cake, pie and ice cream. Complex carbs are in vegetables, fruit, berries, and legumes; broccoli is full of them.
Quicky carbs produce a rapid increase in insulin, in short, a "spike." In fact, if you eat large numbers of quicky carbs you get a large number of spikes and your bloodstream is quickly filled with insulin. If this occurs again and again your cells eventually become resistant to insulin. In effect, the receptors on the surface of the cells start rejecting the insulin that is trying to get in. As a result the glucose in the bloodstream starts to build up. The brain, however, senses that the cells aren't getting enough glucose, so it sends a signal to the pancreas to produce more. Soon there is a large amount of both glucose and insulin in the bloodstream and you start to develop what is called insulin resistance.
Again, if this happens too often, the pancreas (which is generating the insulin) starts to wear out, and soon it can't produce enough insulin. And this, in turn, produces a serious imbalance in the body which eventually leads to several serious diseases.
What This Leads to
What happens when you develop the above conditions? The excess sugar is rapidly converted to fat in the form of triglycerides, and this increases the triglyceride in your blood. Studies also show that at the same time your LDL cholesterol is increased and your HDL is decreased. Excess glucose in the bloodstream also leads to the destruction of white blood cells which weakens you immune system. Indeed, it only takes a few teaspoons of sugar to slow your immune system down, and with a weakened immune system your body's defenses against disease are also weakened.
Excess glucose and insulin also make your blood acidic, and as your body fights to neutralize it, problems can develop. In particular, sugar creates uric acid in your body which, in turn, raises your blood pressure, and can cause inflammation.
The final result can be any of the following:
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Cardiovascular disease
• It speeds up aging
• Dementia
• Kidney and Liver problems.
And these are only a few of the problems.
Why Can't We Stop Eating Sugar-Laden Foods and Drinks
One of the most serious problems is: even though we know that excess sugar is bad for us it is incredibly difficult to stop eating it (in essence, it so good we love it, and our will-power to refuse it is low). Is there a reason for this? As it turns out there is.
As we saw earlier, sucrose is half fructose, and of particular importance, fructose is not distributed to the cells in the same way glucose is; it is processed in the liver. Also, unlike glucose, it does not produce insulin, and insulin has a critical property: it monitors how much you have eaten, and when you are full it produces leptin, which tells you to stop eating. This is not the case with fructose; there is no signal that you're full, so you keep on eating... and eating.
Because of the fructose in it, studies have shown that sucrose is addictive in the same way drugs are addictive. In essence, it's hard to stop eating them; in fact, experiments with rats have shown that they become extremely irritated when they are forced to stop eating them. Furthermore, both rats and people experience "withdrawal" symptoms when they are taken off them.
We start to "crave" sugar products if we eat a large amount of them, and just as in the case of drugs, we need more and more to satisfy our needs. This makes it particularly hard to come off them.
In addition, if you look in detail at some of the products containing a lot of sugar you see additional reasons for their addiction. Coke, for example, consists mostly of sugar, salt and caffeine. What is the salt there for? As I'm sure you know, salt makes you crave more - try eating just one salted potato chip. The sugar is there partially to mask the taste of the salt.
And that's Not the End of The Story
Sugar (sucrose) is bad enough, but there is more bad news. In 1966 Dr. Takasaki of the Saga Medical School in Japan invented a particularly sweet form of syrup using corn; it is now referred to as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS for short). It is sweeter than sucrose, relatively easy to produce, and much cheaper. So it wasn't long before it began replacing sucrose in drinks and food. Like sucrose it is a combination of fructose and glucose: approximately 55% fructose and 45% glucose. It is, in fact, the major sweetener now used in soda throughout the world. Studies, have, in fact, shown that the use of HFCS has doubled since 1977. Soda pop contains 10.5% HFCS, which is equal to 10 teaspoons of sugar (in a 12 oz can).
And it's just as addictive as sucrose. One can of soda pop (with HFCS) causes a gain of 15 pounds of fat in a year, and a large fractions of Americans drink at least one can a day. Furthermore, this does not account for the additional sugar and HFCS that is eaten in processed food, pastries, cookies, pies and donuts.
What You Can Do
The first and most important thing is to limit all types of sugar. I'm not saying you should not eat sugar - that would be very difficult. Sugar is in so many different foods. You should, however, limit it as much as possible, and you should become aware when you are consuming it. Start by cutting out soda, pastries, cookies, cake and so on. Not only will this help your health it will also help you lose weight.
Other things that you can do are:
• Read labels. In particular, note how much sugar is in a product. If it is high (say, 20 gms or more per serving) don't eat or drink it, or at least don't eat an entire serving.
• Watch processed foods. Cut down as much as possible on packaged and canned foods. Get more of your carbs from vegetables, fruit, and legumes. Also eat seeds and nuts, and eat some protein and fat with your meals.
• Exercise every day. This uses up insulin, glucose and glycogen and keeps your body chemistry in balance. Also spend time relaxing.
• It's so easy to succumb to temptation. The answer to this is determination. Tell yourself you're not going to eat it - and mean it!
Barry Parker, Ph. D., is a professor emeritus (physics) at Idaho State University. He is the author of 26 books on science, health, writing, and music. His website is BarryParkerbooks.com and he has several blogs, one of them is at Barrysbuzz123.blogspot.com. He has done research in biophysics (mutations in the DNA molecule) and in relativity theory (Einstein's field theory), has a strong interest in health and fitness, self-improvement, and in music (particularly piano). He taught a writing class at ISU for several years. One of his recent books is "Feel Great Feel Alive." His latest book is "Learn from Yesterday, Live for Today, Hope for Tomorrow."
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