I have been doing some internet research about sugar. Now, I realize how important it is to confirm the credibility of resources when using the internet, and I can't tell you 100% that these are the best resources out there. However, I can tell you that I am seeing the same information over and over as I search, and that many of the statements are footnoted with references to journals and studies. Here are some of the things that I have read:
A list of "76 Ways Sugar Can Ruin Your Health" by Nancy Appleton, Ph. D is found on Dr. Joseph Mercola's website. The first six are:
1. Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
3. Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
5. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
6. Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.
Healing Daily.com links cardiovascular disease and cancer to the increase in average sugar consumption in the U.S.:
In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! [one site I found quoted 175lbs per person per year] Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year! Cardiovascular disease and cancer was virtually unknown in the early 1900's.
We might not realize just how much refined sugar is contained in foods that are staples to many Canadian and American diets:
...highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, spaghetti sauce...
Vitality Magazine.com talks about what the term "refined sugar" means:
When raw sugar is refined, a lot of the minerals are lost, including 93% of the chromium, 98% of the zinc and magnesium. Even more minerals are lost when wheat is refined to make white flour, including 88% of the manganese, 87% of the chromium, 77% of the potassium and 60% of the calcium. Refined sugar and flour are also lacking in vitamins. A number of these lost vitamins and minerals are actually needed by the body to turn these foods into energy.
It also talks about the impact on our immune system:
Refined carbohydrates also inhibit the function of our immune system, which can decrease our resistance to opportunistic viruses such as colds and flu. Simple sugars increase our body’s production of adrenaline, putting our body into a state of “fight-or-flight.” This stress reaction can increase the production of cortisone, and cortisone again inhibits immune function.
... and on the proper functioning of our bodies' systems:
Since refined carbohydrates do not contain the vitamins and minerals needed to convert these foods into energy, our bodies must use their own stores in order to metabolize these carbohydrates. As our vitamin and mineral stores are depleted our bodies cannot perform certain other necessary functions as well as it should (such as the metabolism of fat, the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids to be removed from our bodies in our stools, or the burn-off of excess fat as heat or increased activity). As a result, our cholesterol levels rise, our metabolic rate slows down, fats are burned more slowly, and we have less energy, which makes us feel lethargic.
Is it possible to bake without refined sugar?
We can also make our treats more healthy by replacing white sugar with alternatives such as maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup or molasses. These are still sugars and thus can cause the rapid rise in blood glucose, so consume these items in moderation. They do contain more of the vitamins and minerals lacking from white sugar including calcium, magnesium, potassium and some B vitamins, which means our bodies do not have to rely on internal stores to metabolize them. To replace sugar with maple syrup or honey use 2/3 to 1 cup maple syrup or honey for every cup of sugar, and add 1/4 tsp baking soda per cup of maple syrup or honey. For brown rice syrup try replacing 1 cup of white sugar with 1 + 1/3 cups of brown rice syrup, and add 1/4 tsp baking soda per cup of syrup. For molasses use 1/3 cup molasses for every cup of sugar, and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup per cup of molasses. It may take some trial and error but many baked goods can be altered to include healthy ingredients.
On Friday the kids and I made "sugar free" cinnamon buns. I replaced the sugar with maple syrup. I wouldn't say they were fantastic, but they were good enough we finished them all handily! I think they were actually lacking in the cinnamon department, not in sweetness. Will confirm that theory later this week with a new batch.
Global Healing Center agrees with the above sources and contains a long article which, among other things, also links the consumption of refined sugars with reduced brain function:
Excessive sugar has a strong mal-effect on the functioning of the brain. The key to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, a vital compound found in many vegetables. The B vitamins play a major role in dividing glutamic acid into antagonistic-complementary compounds which produce a "proceed" or "control" response in the brain. B vitamins are also manufactured by symbiotic bacteria which live in our intestines. When refined sugar is taken daily, these bacteria wither and die, and our stock of B vitamins gets very low. Too much sugar makes one sleepy; our ability to calculate and remember is lost.
All this information scares me and scares my sweet tooth! My favorite treats are the sweet ones. Many of the sources I've found on the internet would call me an addict. One site I found even talked about the similarities between the chemical structure of refined sugar to that of cocaine. Wild.
Every evening I would be driven to the cupboard for my sweet treat, generally chocolate. Well, I have given up chocolate for Lent. That business of it taking three weeks to kick a habit really is accurate! I am finally not craving it so badly.
Experiment time. I will eliminate as many sources of refined sugar as possible from my diet for the next week. Then I will evaluate how I feel. It's hard! It is tough enough to find ingredients as close to their natural state as possible to use in the controlled environment of our kitchen. Trying to stick to this when we are on the move and in social situations- even more difficult. But I will give it a try, and report back at the end of the week.
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One thing that help(s) me with the sweet cravings is eating fruit! Frozen fruit + (plain) yogurt + milk smoothies instead of ice cream, an orange or a mango instead of cookies or a chocolate bar.
ReplyDeleteI love plain yogurt but most don't: mixing it with fresh fruit and a few drops of maple syrup with sweeten it up (fruit juice can also be used to sweeten yogurt; I have found one in-store brand that is organic and uses only fruit juice).
Also, sometimes what I'm craving is sweet, but salty will do the trick (popcorn or something similar!).
Alternately, a spicy meal can help. Or going for a walk/run/swim, because I'm busy and unable to eat, and then I eat something healthy when I get back and the sugar craving is gone.
It's true; sugar (and fat) is highly addictive!
I also think that the lbs per year sugar consumption increase can be partially attributed to how CHEAP sugar is, and how much ready-to-eat foods we purchase, as compared to the early 20th century (though I don't know if the argument about cancer and CV disease being nonexistant at the early 1900s is at all accurate, due to increasing life expectancies and therefore incidences of disease, and the inventions of technologies which aid in diagnoses, I would definately concede a probable linke between escalating sugar consumption and deteriorating health). Companies find it easiest to make their food taste good by adding sugar, which is cheap and readily available, and to which most people are addicted.
ReplyDeleteBut, who wants to make all their own bread/pastries/pastas/etc/etc?? I'm a big proponent of label reading. It opens up a whole new world (most of the time: you have to know that corn syrup, fructose, and cane juice are synonyms for sugar, and sometimes you get something as ambiguous as 'vanilla preparation'...what is that??).