Sinful Sugar

Like I have mentioned numerous times, I am a sucker for sweets. However, because I have studied the adverse things they do to your body, I CHOOSE not to eat them. However, on rare occasions like going to the movies or certain holidays, I will eat them in moderation. Otherwise, I buy chocolate sweetened with beet sugar (not processed) and consider that my treats. This last week, we went to the movies, it was mother’s day, and I just spent too much time with my family members and they have sugar everywhere. I realize that it won’t kill me once in a while. So, I try not to be a prude and I'll take small amounts of sugar when it’s offered. I hadn't eaten sugar in a long time at this point and so a few sweet treats went straight to my tummy and I wanted to die. It wasn't long before I felt completely sick. I knew it would affect me like this; I can't give you a good reason why I didn't just say no. but I started to notice another side effect of the sugar that I hadn't previously noticed.

I have always been a singer (good at it? who knows? but I have always loved to sing) when my jam is on in the car, you know I will be belting it out as loud and as animated as I can. The night of my sugar nightmare was no exception. I started to sing, but the sound wouldn't come out like I wanted it to and my throat was almost in severe pain. The only thing I could think that was happening was a side effect of the sugar. I had gone about life as normal that day, other than my sugar intake. Then, once I had connected the two, I went on a sugar detox and only a few days later, my throat was feeling like normal. 

I am not scientist. I don't have an amazing degree or credentials anywhere amazing. I haven't taken classes or even associated with people of those high calibers (yet!). However, I have suffered with a terminal illness for over ten years and I know my body. It is the one thing in life that I always feel in tune with. The only thing that could have made me feel that way was the sugar. I have learned by and by it is not a good thing to ingest.

After this little tight throat episode, I decided to look up some reasons why sugar may be bad, not only for me, but for everyone's bodies. Here is my concluded research of why REFINED sugar is bad:

1. Sugar, as cane sugar, beet sugar or any other form of pure unprocessed sugar is not bad for you. (in moderation)
2. When a pure form of sugar has been taken and refined (like most of the white sugar people cook with) it chemically creates a substance that been depleted of any vitamins and minerals and is a pure carbohydrate; the body doesn’t know how to process this pure form of a carb so your body hang on to it. 
3. My words did this paragraph of this particular article no justice, so from globalhealingcenter.com: sugar is worse than nothing because it drains and leaches the body of precious vitamins and minerals through the demand its digestion, detoxification and elimination makes upon one's entire system. So essential is balance to our bodies that we have many ways to provide against the sudden shock of a heavy intake of sugar. Minerals such as sodium (from salt), potassium and magnesium (from vegetables), and calcium (from the bones) are mobilized and used in chemical transmutation; neutral acids are produced which attempt to return the acid-alkaline balance factor of the blood to a more normal state.
4. In one pound of sugar, there is 2500 calories. That is more than the daily recommended intake of calories for most males and females. All you would have to do to get 2500 calories (through eating refined sugar) is eat 26 ounces of skittles. That may seem like a lot, but it's only a little over half of a large bag. That many calories wouldn't even keep you full. 
1. To keep that in perspective, you could get a full pound of steak, which SHOULD be sufficient enough to keep you full for a few meals and that is only roughly 750 calories. 
2. This is why refined sugar is considered empty calories. 
5. sugar feeds disease
1. Cancer: according to research at the huntsman cancer institute, cancer cells love glucose. It has been proven that when sugar is not consumed, certain cancer cells are not fed and therefor cannot grow and sometimes will even die off.
2. Heart disease: when people get at least 25% of their calories from processed sugar, they are more likely to have problems with heart disease. 
3. Type II diabetes: this one isn't a secret. Most people know that when you consume too much sugar, your blood sugar goes out of whack. Diabetes is a serious problem. It can even lead to the amputation of limbs. 
4. Candida: this grosses me out...candida is a harmful strain of yeast. Yeast is naturally found in our bodies but because our bodies are amazing, it usually able to keep it at bay. However, when things like stress weaken our immune systems, our bodies have a harder time fighting harmful yeasts off. Eating sugar then feeds the growing yeast which then spreads rapidly through our bodies causing yeast infections.

It is my own personal belief that there are many more dangers that sugar causes other than the ones aforementioned. Our bodies are ridden with parasites and bacteria; both ailments that love sugar and thrive on sugar. 

By eliminating bad sugars from our diet (white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar) we not only will start to look and feel better, but we will also be protecting our bodies from future problems. When you get those sugar cravings, remember all of the scary things it could be doing to your body without you even knowing. These few facts alone snap my sugar cravings back where they belong. 

Now, for clarification sake, I am not saying to go out and get diet and low fat everything. Excuse my French but all those terms mean is: CHEMICAL SHIT STORM. Things, like aspartame and xylitol aren't any better for the body. We’ll save that blog post for another day. But the more natural you can eat and drink, the happier your body will be. 

Healthy Sweet Alternatives:

·         Honey

·         Agave

·         Stevia

·         Blackstrap molasses (excellent health benefits for PMS, ladies.)

Rule of thumb: sweeteners should come from trees or bees. :)

Have a happy healthy healing kind of day. 

 <3 KBS