Sugar Addiction Archives

Refined Carbohydrates and health. (Archive in sugar.)

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Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

SUGAR-IT'S EFFECTS ON THE BODY & MIND

http://www.macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm

Of all the foods consumed today, refined sugar is considered to be
one of the most harmful. ...In 1997 Americans devoured 7.3 billion
pounds of candy. Americans spent an estimated $23.1 billion dollars
on candy and gum. The average American consumed a record 27.3 pounds
of candy and gum in the same year-the equivalent of about six
regular sized chocolate bars a week-marking the fifth consecutive
year of increased demand. (1)

...Consumption of processed foods (which are laced with sugar) cost
the American public more than $54 billion in dental bills each year,
so the dental industry reaps huge profits from the programmed
addiction of the public to sugar products. ...Today we have a nation
that is addicted to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar
consumption (per year) was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today
the average person consumes his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20
pounds of corn syrup. To add more horrors to these facts there are
some people that use no sweets and some who use much less than the
average figure, which means that there is a percentage of the
population that consume a great deal more refined sugar than their
body weight. The human body cannot tolerate this large amount of
refined carbohydrates. The vital organs in the body are actually
damaged by this gross intake of sugar.

...Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins, no
fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. What happens when you eat a
refined carbohydrate like sugar? Your body must borrow vital
nutrients from healthy cells to metabolize the incomplete food.
Calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium are taken from various parts
of the body to make use of the sugar.

Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the effects of
sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to the withdrawn
calcium. Likewise, the teeth are affected and they lose their
components until decay occurs and hastens their loss. ...Refined
sugar is void of all nutrients, consequently it causes the body to
deplete its own stores of various vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If
sugar consumption is continued, an over-acid condition results, and
more minerals are needed from deep in the body to correct the
imbalance. If the body is lacking the nutrients used to metabolize
sugar, it will not be able to properly handle and rid itself of the
poisonous residues. These wastes accumulate through the brain and
nervous system, which speeds up cellular death. The bloodstream
becomes over-loaded with waste products and symptoms of carbonic
poisoning result.

...Sugar also makes the blood very thick and sticky, inhibiting much
of the blood flow into the minute capillaries that supply our gums
and teeth with vital nutrients. Therefore, we wind up with diseased
gums and starving teeth. America and England, the two largest sugar
consumers, have horrendous dental problems.

...In 1948, a $57,000 ten-year study was awarded to Harvard
University by the Sugar Research Foundation to find out how sugar
causes cavities in teeth and how to prevent it. In 1958, Time
magazine reported the findings, which were reported in the Dental
Association Journal. They discovered there was no way to prevent the
problem and their funding immediately disappeared.

..."The most significant human study was done in Sweden, reported in
1954, and known as the Vipeholm Dental Caries Study. More than 400
adult mental patients were placed on controlled diets and observed
for five years. The subjects were divided into various groups. Some
ate complex and simple carbohydrates at mealtimes only, while other
supplemented mealtime food with between-meal-snacks, sweetened with
sucrose, chocolate, caramel, or toffee.

Among the conclusions drawn from the study, was that sucrose
consumption could increase caries activity. The risk increased if the
sucrose was consumed in a sticky form that adhered to the tooth's
surfaces. The greatest damage was inflicted by fidyl foods with high
concentrations of sucrose, in sticky form, eaten between meals, even
if contact with the tooth's surfaces was brief. Caries, due to the
intake of foods with high sucrose levels, could be decreased when
such offending foods were eliminated from the diet. But individual
differences existed, and in some cases, caries continued to appear
despite avoidance of refined sugar or maximum restriction of natural
sugars and total dietary carbohydrates." (2)

...Diabetes is another commonly known disease caused by sugar as well
as a high fat diet. Diabetes is caused by the failure of the pancreas
to produce adequate insulin when the blood sugar rises. A
concentrated amount of sugar introduced into the system sends the
body into shock from the rapid rise in the blood sugar level. The
pancreas eventually wears out from overwork and diabetes then rears
its ugly head.

...Hypoglycemia occurs when the pancreas overreacts to the large
amount of sugar in the blood and releases too much insulin leaving
one with the "tired" feeling as the blood sugar level becomes lower
than it should be.

"A recent article in the British Medical Journal, entitled The Sweet
Road to Gallstones, reported that refined sugar may be one of the
major dietary risk factors in gallstone disease. Gallstones are
composed of fats and calcium. Sugar can upset all of the minerals,
and one of the minerals, calcium, can become toxic or
nonfunctioning, depositing itself anywhere in the body, including
the gallbladder.

..."One out of ten Americans has gallstones. This risk increases to
one out of every five after age forty. Gallstones may go unnoticed or
may cause pain-wrenching pain. Other symptoms might include bloating,
belching, and intolerance to foods." (3) ...Another serious problem
with sugar that is now coming to the forefront is the various levels
of mental problems. Our brains are very sensitive and react to quick
chemical changes within the body. As sugar is consumed, our cells are
robbed of their B vitamin, which destroys them, and insulin
production is inhibited. Low insulin production means a high sugar
(glucose) level in the bloodstream, which can lead to a confused
mental state or unsound mind, and has also been linked with juvenile
criminal behavior. Dr. Alexander G. Schauss, brings this solemn fact
out in his book, Diet, Crime and Delinquency. Many mental ward and
prison inmates are "sugarholics" and erratic emotional outbreaks
often follow a sugar binge.

REFINED SUGAR-A DRUG?

...Refined sugar, by some, is called a drug, because in the refining
process everything of food value has been removed except the
carbohydrates-pure calories, without vitamins, minerals, proteins,
fats, enzymes or any of the other elements that make up food. Many
nutrition experts say that white sugar is extremely harmful, possibly
as harmful as a drug, especially in the quantities consumed by the
present-day American.

...Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know
About Nutrition says, ".white refined sugar-is not a food. It is a
pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact than
cocaine, which it resembles in many ways. Its true name is sucrose
and its chemical formula is C12H22O11. It has 12 carbon atoms, 22
hydrogen atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to
offer." ...The chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar's
formula again is C12H22O11. For all practical purposes, the
difference is that sugar is missing the "N", or nitrogen atom.

...Refining means to make "pure" by a process of extraction or
separation. Sugars are refined by taking a natural food, which
contains a high percentage of sugar, and then removing all elements
of that food until only the sugar remains. ...While sugar is
commonly made from sugar cane or sugar beets. Through heating and
mechanical and chemical processing, all vitamins, minerals,
proteins, fats, enzymes and indeed every nutrient is removed until
only the sugar remains. Sugar cane and sugar beets are first
harvested and then chopped into small pieces, squeezing out the
juice, which is then mixed with water. This liquid is then heated,
and lime is added. Moisture is boiled away, and the remaining fluid
is pumped into vacuum pans to concentrate the juice. By this time,
the liquid is starting to crystallize, and is ready to be placed
into a centrifuge machine where any remaining residues (like
molasses) are spun away. The crystals are then dissolved by heating
to the boiling point and passed through charcoal filters. After the
crystals condense, they are bleached snow-white usually by the use
of pork or cattle bones. ...During the refining process, 64 food
elements are destroyed. All the potassium, magnesium, calcium,
iron, manganese, phosphate, and sulfate are removed. The A, D, and B,
vitamins are destroyed. Amino acids, vital enzymes, unsaturated
fats, and all fiber are gone.

To a lesser or greater degree, all refined sweeteners such as corn
syrup, maple syrup, etc., undergo similar destructive processes.
Molasses is the chemical and deranged nutrients that is a byproduct
of sugar manufacture.

...Sugar manufacturers are aggressive in defending their product and
have a strong political lobby which allows them to continue selling a
deadly food item that by all reason should not be allowed in the
American diet.

...If you have any doubts as to the detriments of sugar (sucrose),
try leaving it out of your diet for several weeks and see if it makes
a difference! You may also notice you have acquired an addiction and
experience some withdrawal symptoms. ...Studies show that "sugar" is
just as habit-forming as any narcotic; and its use, misuse, and abuse
is our nation's number one disaster. It is no wonder when we consider
all the products we consume daily which are loaded with sugar! The
average healthy digestive system can digest and eliminate from two to
four teaspoons of sugar daily, usually without noticeable problems,
(that is if damage is not already present). One 12 oz. Cola contains
11 teaspoons of sugar, and that's aside from the caffeine. It's the
sugar that gives you quick energy, but only for a brief time due to
the rise of the blood sugar level. But the body quickly releases a
rush of insulin, which rapidly lowers the blood sugar and causes a
significant drop in energy and endurance. It is easy to see why
America's health is in serious trouble.

EFFECT OF SUGAR ON NEUROLOGICAL PROCESSES

...One of the keys to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, and
this compound is found in many vegetables. When sugar is consumed,
the bacteria in the intestines, which manufacture B vitamin
complexes, begin to die-these bacteria normally thrive in a symbiotic
relationship with the human body. When the B vitamin complex level
declines, the glutamic acid (normally transformed into "go" "no-go"
directive neural enzymes by the B vitamins) is not processed and
sleepiness occurs, as well as a decreased ability for short-term
memory function and numerical calculative abilities. The removal of B
vitamins when foods are "processed" makes the situation even more
tenuous.

WHAT ABOUT GUM CHEWING?

...Besides the sugar in gum being damaging to the teeth there is
another harmful problem to consider and that is: "teeth and jaws
weren't designed for more than a few minutes of solid chewing per
day-far less than the two hours clocked in daily by hardcore gum
chewers. All this chewing results in inordinate wear on the jawbone,
gum tissue and lower molars, and can change the alignment of the
jaws" says Michael Elsohn, D.D.S., in the Medical Tribune.