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Sugar – Is it a Toxin?
Sugar phobia. Over the last several decades,
sugar has become a villain in the modern
American diet. General sugar-bashing has led
to a sugar phobia, which has led to a
dependency on chemical sweetener
substitutes. This creates a craving for
“replacement foods.” Sugar is blamed for
causing many health problems including heart
diabetes, diabetes, anxiety, fatigue,
depression, hyperactivity, and even criminal
behavior. But:
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Is this accurate information?
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Are we blaming the “right” form of sugar
for our health problems?
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Has disinformation over time created a
false fear of sugar?
Seventy-five years ago, the average American
ate mere three pounds of sugar per year. Ten
years ago, this level rose to seventy-five
pounds per person per year. The sugar
substitute aspartame found in
NutraSweet/Equal that came on the market in
1981, complicating hypoglycemia, diabetes,
weight management, and a myriad of health
and emotional issues by increasing the
body’s malnutrition levels, and by releasing
toxic by-products in Splenda battling for
the top position in the sugar-free market.
Crafty advertising departments have created
the mindset that people can eat and drink
all the sugar-free products they want
without penalty. Sorry to say this, but the
piper will eventually have to be paid.
Some nutritionally-oriented physicians’
estimate a current eighty-five percent of
their patients have abnormal blood sugar
curves. This is the result of the current
125 pounds per year of processed, white
sugar now eaten by the average American.
There is no doubt that white flour and white
sugar, man-made food chemicals, and
environmental pollutants are the curse of
civilized man. Wherever white flour, white
sugar, and food chemicals are brought to
primitive societies in various parts of the
world, a new cycle of the same degenerative
diseases prevalent in America begin anew.
Everyone needs to know that there is a
difference between sugars-natural sugar,
refined sugar, and corn syrup. Sugar is like
a two-sided coin: heads-if natural, it can
be useful to the body, and tails-if altered
by man, it can be harmful to the body.
Natural sugars are normally not eaten in the
quantity processed sugars are consumed,
primarily due to their food sources. It is
important to remember that natural
unprocessed sugars are not the bad-guy when
eaten in moderation. The human body requires
energy from sugar just as it requires
lubrication from natural oils. Basically,
human beings are not eating enough sugars or
oils-NATURAL sugars and oils, that is.
Low Blood Sugar
Many nutritionists source the primary cause
of divorce to low blood sugar and its
consequent irritability and irrational
behavior. There was a judge in Oklahoma
years ago who actually refused to grant
divorces until both parties were checked for
hypoglycemia.
Low and imbalanced blood sugar is a valid
contributor to crime. Several hundred
prisoners on death row in one California
prison system were routinely checked for
hypoglycemia in the 1960s. Without
exception, they were murderers, and without
exception, they were severely hypoglycemic.
Why do the criminals in the country’s
prisons kill one another regularly? It could
be that their diets are high in white flour
and white sugar, making them severely
hypoglycemic and consequently irrational.
I’m sure some inmates sip on diet drinks
throughout the day as well. Add toxic
chemicals to any diet and you have created a
dangerous health situation, and it’s
happening at younger and younger ages in
modern societies.
Alcoholism is primarily caused by low blood
sugar in conjunction with toxic chemicals
circulating throughout the bloodstream.
Alcohol is chemically comparable to sugar,
and alcohol raises blood sugar levels.
Additionally, alcohol is mixed with a sugar
based flavoring-more chemicals. When someone
drinks too much, raising his or her blood
sugar too high, their sugar level will in
turn plunge too low. This is when they pass
out and slide under the table. Alcoholic’s
Anonymous (AA) states: Once an alcoholic,
always an alcoholic. This is true if the
person does not cure the underlying
cause-hypoglycemia. At AA meetings,
hypoglycemia is never mentioned Members chew
gum, smoke, drink coffee or caffeinated soft
drinks, consume liters of diet soft drinks
for the methanol (wood alcohol) content, eat
cookies, cake or candy-all of which raise
the blood sugar and make you feel
good-temporarily. All alcoholics, like drug
addicts, require proper vitamin and mineral
supplements to physically recover from their
addiction after they have detoxified the
poisons remaining in their body tissues.
Healthy Choices – Natural
Sugar
The following are an alphabetized list of
the best natural choices for sweeteners
safer for long-term health as opposed to the
refined sugars and the artificial chemical
sweeteners. Remember nothing is without
consequence. Natural is always a better
choice, but all of these should be eaten in
moderation. “Natural” doesn’t necessarily
mean “low-calorie”
The safest natural sweeteners:
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Barley Malt
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Brown Rice Syrup
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Date sugar
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Honey
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Maple Syrup and Sugar
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Molasses
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Saccharin
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Sorghum
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Stevia
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Sucanat
The “grey area” sweeteners are those that
are natural, yet are either slightly altered
in laboratory processing or naturally tend
to spike blood sugar:
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Fructose
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Fruit Juice Concentrate
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Sugar Alcohols
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Turbinado Sugar
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Tagatose
New natural sweeteners:
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Lo Han
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Tastes Like Sugar
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Trehalose
A
quick explanation of these natural
sweeteners:
Barley Malt
Barley malt is a thick, dark, slow-digesting
sweetener made from sprouted, roasted barley
grain with a sweet nutty, malt-like flavor.
Barley malt can be bought in granular form
or as syrup. It is called “malt” because
maltose is the sugar that occurs when starch
in the barley sprouts. Barley malt is used
in brewing beer, and some say barley malt is
to beer as grapes are to wine. It is ideally
suited to brewing for many reasons:
1. Malted barley has a high balance of
enzymes for converting its starch into
simple sugars
2. It also contains protein, which is needed
for yeast nutrition
Barley malt extract is used medicinally as a
bulking agent to promote bowel regularity.
Because the malt comes from sprouted barley,
the malt can be concentrated into a soluble
fiber, so it has laxative qualities similar
to psyllium, oats, and the pectin in fruits.
Beneficial bacteria in the colon use barley
fiber for food. Barley malt is helpful in
chronic constipation, irritable bowel
syndrome, diverticulitis, hiatal hernia, and
diabetes. Soluble fiber can even lower
cholesterol ten to fifteen percent.
Because barley malt is an actual food sugar,
it should be refrigerated for extended
storage.
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