Sugar: Not So Sweet

The damage caused to your body and mind by sugar and sugared products would fill a hundred Internet sites, and probably does. Many kids and parents know the usual downsides: hyperactivity, mood swings, insomnia, anxiety attacks, nervous system dysfunction, dental caries, heart complications, blood sugar issues/diabetes, adrenal exhaustion, interference with digestion, oxidative stress affecting virtually all living tissue, yeast infections, and more.

What most people don’t know is that for many serious diseases to advance in the body, most notably cancer and a variety of serious infections, the blood must be in something called an acidic PH state. Research shows that when the blood is kept in a balanced PH state, many disease processes are often arrested, either partially or entirely.

I don’t pretend to understand the reasons for this, but I do know that few things in the world acidify the blood more thoroughly, and for longer periods of time after consumption, than sugar. (Equally acidifying are alcohol, meat, dairy, cigarette smoke, and stress… the last of which I’ll discuss in a future piece.) 

And it gets worse. Companies often list sugar under other names, probably to disguise its presence. Most common examples:

• corn syrup

• high fructose corn syrup

• dextrose

• fructose

• glucose

• lactose

• maltose

• maltodextrin

• sucrose

• rice syrup.

Moral of the story? Take charge of your taste buds. "Teach" them that there are complexities and subtleties to the flavor of foods that, if you give yourself a chance, you'll find much more enjoyable and satisfying than routinely giving in to momentary, destructive cravings.

Do I eat sugar? Yes, as an occasional treat. Which is exactly what sugar should be- not something you eat for breakfast!

Until next time, take good care of yourself.

Thanks.

Peter Seidman