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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

SUGAR - Good or Bad ???



The idea that sugar is bad goes against instinct. Our desire for sweetness is a natural sense that helped us in the wild by driving us away from poisonous, bitter foods and toward beneficial sweet foods such as corn, peas, carrots, and the occasional fruit. When we are in the wild, we can distinguish which foods are healthful by tasting them for their sweetness. Naturally sweet foods promote health by providing vitamins, valuable phenolic compounds, minerals, and trace amounts of essential fatty acids. Their rich fiber content slows the release of their sugar into our bloodstream, and their mineral content helps the body use sugar more effectively. In this setting, balanced by other nutrients found in whole foods, sugar is a natural part of a healthy diet.



The problems with sugar are well documented in major medical journals worldwide. Yet we continue to ignore the warnings.



Sugar has been shown to :


  • Increase the risk for breast cancer

  • Double the risk for biliary tract cancer

  • Deplete B vitamins and chromium

  • Interfere with the absorption of calcium and magnesium

  • Cause heart disease

  • Increase cholesterol and insulin levels

  • Raise blood pressure

  • Raise triglycerides

  • Weaken the immune system

  • Cause a deficiency of copper

  • Cause varicose veins

  • Damage the kidneys

  • Cause or worsen arthritis

  • Cause migraine headaches

  • Increase the acidity of the stomach

  • Cause gallstones

  • Contribute to obesity


But we can't leave well enough alone. If sweetness attracts us to a food, why not extract the sweet taste of sugar and put it on everything? Pure sugar will increase our desire for anything that it is put on. That is one of the reasons the processed food industry thrives today. Sugar makes toxic, refined foods taste good. Sugar bribes the body. It says, "Look, this really tastes good!" and the body goes along for the ride, taking in junk foods that it otherwise wouldn't. The result is a deterioration of health. Fruits and vegetables that contain sugar, when eaten as part of a balanced diet, build up the body. Purified sugars from these foods, however, destroy it.

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