I came across this on the effects of sugar, real eye opener......."According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the average adult in the United States takes in 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day, or a whopping 150 pounds a year, while teens pile in 34 teaspoons a day. That’s more than twice the amount of sugar we should be eating.
“The average American is basically overdosing on sugar,” says Connie Bennett, author of Sugar Shock!, who believes that the AHA’s estimates of sugar consumption are conservative, and it’s closer to 50 teaspoons of added sugar a day.
The amount is shocking, and the potential health effects of excess sugar consumption are even scarier. Mounting evidence suggests that flooding your system with the sweet stuff can play a role in obesity, heart disease, and cancer. It can also impact how you look or feel, doing damage to your skin or altering your mood"
"Consuming sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, fruit drinks, iced tea, and sports drinks, may increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. A recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care examined more than 310,000 patients and found that those who drank 1 to 2 servings of the sweet stuff a day were 26% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who drank it once a month or not at all. What’s more, University of California, San Francisco, researchers estimated that 130,000 new cases of diabetes between 1990 and 2000 can be attributed to the increase in Americans’ consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
The reason is twofold: Loading up on sugar-sweetened beverages tends to lead to weight gain, which is a risk factor for diabetes. Previous studies have found that those who toss back high-calorie drinks tend not to cut calories elsewhere from their meals. Second, sugar-loaded drinks deliver a quick rush of sugars to your body, which over time can lead to insulin resistance and inflammation...According to a 2008 study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, what you eat can affect your skin. The study’s Australian researchers measured the effects of high- and low-glycemic diets on the skin of teenage boys. The glycemic index of a food defines how quickly it’s broken down into glucose by the body. High-glycemic foods, such as refined carbs, sugary drinks, and even certain fruits high in natural sugars, cause large spikes in blood sugar when eaten. Low-glycemic foods, such as whole grains, are broken down into sugars more slowly, so they do not cause spikes in blood sugar. The researchers found that those who were on the low-glycemic diet experienced a 50% reduction in acne, while those who ate the high-glycemic diet experienced a 14% increase. Researchers speculate that insulin resistance—commonly associated with eating a high-glycemic diet—may fuel inflammation and the production of the acne-causing oil sebum....A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who took in more than 17.5% of their calories from added sugars were 20 to 30% more likely to have high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat that’s found in your blood. When you consume more sugar than you need for energy, the excess sugars form triglycerides, which are then stored in fat cells.
The same study found that people who got 25% or more of their calories from added sugars were more than 3 times more likely to have low levels of HDL (the good cholesterol that helps prevent plaque buildup by carrying cholesterol from your arteries to your liver where it is then excreted) than those whose diets included less than 5% sugar. Both high triglycerides and low HDL levels contribute to atherosclerosis—the hardening of your arteries—a condition that increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attack....in vitro studies that show cancer cells feed on sugar to fuel their growth and proliferation. “Researchers call them ‘glucose guzzlers.’” While it’s not proven that sugar fuels cancer growth in the body, we do know that obesity—a likely effect of eating too much sugar—increases your risk of developing a number of cancers, and that both sugar and insulin fuel cancer-cell growth.
A number of studies indicate a strong relationship between sugar consumption and an increased risk of cancer. For instance, University of Minnesota researchers looked at more than 60,000 patients over 14 years and found that people who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. University of Buffalo researchers found that diabetic women had a 39% increased risk of developing breast cancer over those with a fasting glucose level below 100 mg/dl. That is, women with the highest blood sugar levels were much more likely to have breast cancer than those with the lowest levels.
Not all carbohydrates are bad. The body lives needs glucose. Ethanol is a carbohydrate, and it is bad. Yes, obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation, increased uric acid production, and hypertension can all be explained by the metabolism of the carbohydrate fructose. Yes, fructose is found in fruit, but it is packaged with the antidote, fiber. When you refine fruit by juicing it and removing the fiber, it is no different than other refined sugar. Sucrose, white table sugar, is 50% fructose. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is 55% fructose. There is no difference between white table sugar and HFCS, they are both bad, both toxins.
EGW on Sugar: Could we know that animals were in perfect health, I would recommend that people eat flesh meats sooner than large quantities of milk and sugar. It would not do the injury that milk and sugar do. Sugar clogs the system. It hinders the working of the living machine. {2T 368.4}
She was deficient in this important branch of education; and as the result, the poorly cooked food not being sufficient to sustain the demands of the system, sugar was eaten immoderately, and this brought on a diseased condition of the entire system. {CTBH 158.2}
When I went to see the sick man, I tried to tell them as well as I could how to manage, and soon he began slowly to improve. But he imprudently exercised his strength when not able, ate a small amount not of the right quality, and was taken down again. This time there was no help for him. His system appeared to be a living mass of corruption. He died a victim to poor cooking. He tried to make sugar supply the place of good cooking, and it only made matters worse. {CD 328.1} I frequently sit down to the tables of the brethren and sisters, and see that they use a great amount of milk and sugar. These clog the system, irritate the digestive organs, and affect the brain. Anything that hinders the active motion of the living machinery, affects the brain very directly. And from the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat. These changes should be made cautiously, and the subject should be treated in a manner not calculated to disgust and prejudice those whom we would teach and help. {CD 328.2
Dr. Robert Lustig, from UCSF, a neuroendocrinologist did a lecture on sugar in 2009, titled, "Sugar - the Bitter Truth". It is on the University of California TV network.
No speaking of affecting the brain, look at this..."researchers from Baylor College of Medicine found a correlation between sugar consumption and the annual rate of depression in six countries. While the exact mechanism that triggers excess sugar to negatively affect your mood is unknown, some believe that insulin resistance may force the release of the stress hormones cortisol and GLP-1.
Moreover, research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that people who were diagnosed with schizophrenia and ate a sugar-heavy diet were more likely to be hospitalized in a 2-year follow-up period. “Behavioral disorders, in general, are affected by massive swings in sugar,” says Teitelbaum. “When you eat a lot of sugar , your blood sugar levels shoot way up and then go way low. These fluctuations drive your metabolism and mood nuts"
You try to tell that to a doctor and I guarrantee you he will give you a blank stare, they just havent picked up on it...
My sugar file is replete with information on this favorite food of so many. Consider the following:
* There is a correlation between the consumption of refined white sugar and breast cancer. Yes, breast cancer mortality correlates with sugar consumption in different countries.
* Hyperactive children should shun sugar. It's also associated with other behavior problems.
* Arthritis pain gone with the elimination of sugar.
* Dr. Lendon Smith, the pediatritian, says: "An allergist should refuse to treat patients if they eat white sugar and white flour. Sugar should not be in any home."
* Inspiration: "Sugar is not good for the stomach. It causes fermentation, and this clouds the brain and brings peevishness into the disposition....Sugar clogs the system. It hinders the working of the living machine....And from the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat." --Ellen White, Counsels on Diet and Foods, 327, 328.
* Okay, so we know that too much sugar is unhealthy, but so many crave the stuff! Is there any help for sugar addicts? Yes! Try substituting fruit for sweets. After several months you'll find that your favorite dainties are simply too sweet.
* A high sugar diet is linked to elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and other blood fats.
* The Journal of the American Medial Association presented a blistering indictment of refined white sugar, and flour as contributing to heart disease, gallbladder disease, appendicitis, diverticulosis, clotting in deep veis, varicose veins, hiatal hernia, and cancer of the large intestines.
* Too much sugar can result in unhappy mental reactions. Adolph Hitler, Napoleon, and Ivan the Terrible were all sugar fanatics.
* Sugar--a fatal attraction: People crave sugar like taking drugs.
Yes, of course you are correct. Strictly, a carbohydrate is of the form Cx(H2O)y, a hydrate of carbon. A purist will balk at the loose definition of carbohydrate as being a compound of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. Alcohol is not a hydrate of carbon, though made up of just carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
"Sugar" IS a carbohydrate. There are simple sugars, and complex. Starch is a complex carbohydrate with a long chain of glucose molecues. The body metabolizes various sugars differently, and that it the real point with "sugar". There are various types of "sugar". Glucose is a sugar. Fructose is a sugar, Sucrose (white table sugar) is sugar. Sucrose is a "disaccharide" composed of one glucose molecule and one fructose molecule. And there are many others "sugars", Maltose, Lactose, etc.
The point of my comment above is the type of "sugar" is important, and not all sugars are metabolized the same. Sugar is not just "empty calories". The metabolites of various sugars have implications on health. The body runs on glucose and can be metabolized anywhere in the body. Fructose however, is metabolized only by the liver. Alcohol is primarily metabolized in the liver, though some can be metabolized in the brain. The metabolites of fructose and alcohol are similar and bad. As Dr. Lustig says, fructose is alcohol without the buzz. So sugar, and commonly known white table sugar, is bad, high fructose corn syrup is bad, for exactly the same reasons, and there is not difference between white sugar and HFCS. Do note though, where ever fructose if found in nature, it is packages with the anitdote, fiber. Eat whole foods, not processed...
There is a sweetener available in some countries which is not sugar. It is the leaves of stevia which is 300% sweeter than sugar. The sugar industy in many countries have managed to get the use of stevia made illegal, at least in its natural condition.
My sugar file is replete with information on this favorite food of so many. Consider the following:
* There is a correlation between the consumption of refined white sugar and breast cancer. Yes, breast cancer mortality correlates with sugar consumption in different countries.
* Hyperactive children should shun sugar. It's also associated with other behavior problems.
* Arthritis pain gone with the elimination of sugar.
* Dr. Lendon Smith, the pediatritian, says: "An allergist should refuse to treat patients if they eat white sugar and white flour. Sugar should not be in any home."
* Inspiration: "Sugar is not good for the stomach. It causes fermentation, and this clouds the brain and brings peevishness into the disposition....Sugar clogs the system. It hinders the working of the living machine....And from the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat." --Ellen White, Counsels on Diet and Foods, 327, 328.
* Okay, so we know that too much sugar is unhealthy, but so many crave the stuff! Is there any help for sugar addicts? Yes! Try substituting fruit for sweets. After several months you'll find that your favorite dainties are simply too sweet.
* A high sugar diet is linked to elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and other blood fats.
* The Journal of the American Medial Association presented a blistering indictment of refined white sugar, and flour as contributing to heart disease, gallbladder disease, appendicitis, diverticulosis, clotting in deep veis, varicose veins, hiatal hernia, and cancer of the large intestines.
* Too much sugar can result in unhappy mental reactions. Adolph Hitler, Napoleon, and Ivan the Terrible were all sugar fanatics.
* Sugar--a fatal attraction: People crave sugar like taking drugs.
Suzanne
We never have sugar in our house except for Thanksgiving and Christmas when family brings it, but I unfortunately have diabetics on both sides of my family. So now if I drink or eat anything with it, withing minutes I have a reaction, and no doctor can stop it with their pills or injections. It is the worst torture possible as everything you can imageing that taste good either has sugar or turns into it very quickly, so its just death by a thousand cuts. Every bite knowing will affect some part of your body...
The best way to choose a diet is one that does not have labels on it. That's the principle, anyway. Of course at holidays, when the item is taken out of the container with the label and mixed with others, who knows how bad it is. But choosing fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains prepared in a simple manner seems to work best. I believe refined flour is about as bad for diabetes as sugar is. If you keep the population sick and addicted, you can control them. Or at least their votes!
Have you heard of the video called something to the effect of Curing Diabetes in 30 days? I found it inspiring. It was a raw food diet although containing some items I wouldn't choose to eat. There is another one: Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Both of these demonstrate how wonderfully our bodies are made and can recover if we stop abusing them and provide the proper materials for maintaining them.
WASHINGTON - New information suggests that sugar and junk food can cause more damage, both mentally and physically, than previously considered.
With obesity continually on the rise, it's not news that cutting fast food and fatty-snacks is good for the waistline and cholesterol, but a new study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition suggests a link between commercial baked goods and depression, the Huffington Post reports.
Lead author of the study, Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, says that while more research is needed, "the intake of this type of food should be controlled because of its implications on both health (obesity, cardiovascular diseases) and mental well-being."
Foods such as doughnuts, hamburgers, pizza and hot dogs are some of the foods linked to increased risk of depression. The study also finds these individuals were more likely to smoke, not exercise and work more than 45 hours a week.
The bad news for tasty foods doesn't stop there.
On April 1, 2012 CBS' 60 Minutes aired a piece on sugar -- and experts say the sweetener is toxic.
The average American consumes 130 pounds of sugar a year and the health threat may be more damaging than previously thought.
In the 60 Minutes interview, Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco says he believes sugar is toxic. He admits that the label sounds over the top -- but it's true. Sugar, more than any other substance, he says, is to blame for obesity, type II diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. And it's not an issue of high fructose corn syrup versus table sugar either.
"They are basically equivalent. The problem is they're both bad. They're both equally toxic," Dr. Lustig says.
While sugar consumption has gone down nearly 40 percent since the 1970s, high fructose corn syrup has more than made up the difference. The fructose in both is what makes them irresistible.
A Lustig video which goes into the sugar issue in depth, is here:
Flesh meats are diseased. Could we know that animals were in perfect health, I would recommend that people eat flesh meats sooner than large quantities of milk and sugar. It would not do the injury that milk and sugar do. Sugar clogs the system. It hinders the working of the living machine. {2T 368.4}
Added sugar is the number one culprit in the American health crisis
by Linn Cole
(NaturalNews) Cancer. Heart disease. High blood pressure. Obesity. Diabetes. Premature aging. What we take for granted as hallmarks of life in the most affluent country on Earth have been popularly linked to everything from genetics to fast food. What if the real answer is so straightforward it's as near at hand as the closest bottle of Coke? Mounting research pinpoints both cane sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as definitive agents in all of the "epidemics" this generation has become painfully familiar with.
Insulin resistance, heart disease and diabetes
The link between sugar consumption and diabetes is common knowledge: the pancreas secretes insulin to lower blood sugar after eating, and simple sugars like cane sugar and HFCS cause blood sugar to skyrocket, requiring the pancreas to pump out more insulin. If the pancreas becomes exhausted from dealing with chronically high sugar consumption, blood sugar can spiral to dangerous levels - this is diabetes.
Less familiar is the condition of insulin resistance, where cells become less responsive to the action of insulin, requiring the pancreas to continually amp up the amount of insulin it produces. This may or may not trigger diabetes, but regardless, the end result is the liver's conversion of these sugars into a saturated fatty acid known as palmitate. Palmitate raises LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), leading to heart disease. Experts say that metabolic syndrome is now the most prominent factor in heart attacks.
Insulin resistance, also known as metabolic syndrome, is thought to be present in 75 million Americans, and is usually connected to the accumulation of fat around the gut. Amazingly, insulin resistance can be induced in test animals in as little a week if they're given diets with 60 or 70 percent of calories from sugar. Fortunately, when their diets were de-sweetened, the insulin resistance likewise disappeared.
Sugar's role in feeding cancer
As the World Health Organization concluded in 2004, people who are obese, diabetic or have metabolic syndrome are all at a higher risk of developing cancer than those who aren't. The problem is metabolic syndrome itself; researchers believe a large percentage of cancers - up to 80 - are fueled by the effect of insulin on the cancer cells, and the chronically high insulin levels of those with metabolic syndrome means more fuel for the fire. In fact, tumors usually develop mutations to more effectively use insulin for growth. This is especially true for breast and colon cancer.
Sugar and premature aging
Finally, one of sugar's least well-known crimes is its central role in skin aging. In short, if a person consumes excess sugar, those sugars will attach to proteins in the blood stream, creating what are known as advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. AGEs damage adjacent proteins, and collagen happens to be the most available protein in the body. Effected collagen becomes dry and brittle rather than supple and springy, and wrinkled, sagging skin is the result. The more sugar consumed, the faster skin aging occurs.
The Verdict
With such a daunting rap sheet, it's no wonder that some researchers studying the effects of cane sugar and HFCS are spooked off these substances altogether. The question is no longer how much sucrose or fructose in the diet is healthy, but whether added sugar should be consumed at all. Robert Lustig, an expert in childhood obesity, doesn't hesitate to label sugar as "toxic" and "evil." Rather than having sugar evoke fond memories of lemonade and apple pie, we would all be better off to do the same.
Is white sugar the gateway drug to alcoholism and obesity?
by D Holt
(NaturalNews) As a species, we consume almost 2,204 pounds of white sugar each year, this equates to an average of approximately 81.4 pounds per person. Many health professionals have noted the negative health effects of sugar, from excessive weight gain to diabetes. It has also been reported that children who have a tendency towards eating large amounts of sugar, are more likely to have alcohol dependency issues later in life.
Gateway drugs are substances that create an initial dependency, and are usually commonly found, legal or socially accepted. These types of drugs often give the user a boost in levels of serotonin, this makes the user feel good. Sugar boosts levels of energy and serotonin, and so enhances mood, but it wears off quickly as the body regulates the blood sugar level with insulin.
Sugar begins the addictive cycle
The user then seeks more sugar as cravings take hold, and as the levels of serotonin drop so does the mood which can lead to depression. The user becomes less sensitive to the effects of sugar over time, due to increased insulin levels. When a sugar addict drinks alcohol, it similarly boosts their serotonin levels and gives a "high." Sugar and alcohol are interchangeable, calorific addictive substances. They are also similar in that they both cause liver damage, diabetes, dependency, tooth decay and depression.
It has been discussed that it is not marijuana, but alcohol that is the first gateway drug to get people into an addictive cycle. With the consumption of sugar being at such high levels, and considering the effects of sugar on the levels of serotonin, it must be argued that it is sugar that is the gateway drug. Once the cycle of artificially boosting mood, feeling low and needing a boost is established, it is easy for a potential addict to find chemicals to lift their mood.
Sugar is a highly processed substance, not a "natural" food as packaging suggests
Although it can be said that addiction is normally routed within emotional weakness, it can also be said that without sugar training the young into addictive behavior, the addict would not have the experience to lead them in the direction of seeking mood enhancing substances to feel better. Sometimes the addict stays addicted to the sugar, overeats and becomes obese. In other circumstances the addict moves on to bigger "highs." Either way, the cycle begins with eating enough sugar to cause a high and a low. The use of aspartame in diet drinks does not help those addicted to sugar, as the effect of aspartame is to lower serotonin levels, making the addict feel low, whilst also increasing appetite.
The addictive effects of sugar can last for up to four weeks, coupled with its inclusion in so many products from breads to canned vegetables, it is a difficult substance to get out of your system. It is not natural to take a substance from a plant, process it to such an extent that it is unrecognizable, and then consume it. To label sugar as natural and therefore healthy, is just the same as processing poppies into heroine and saying it is good for you because it comes from a plant. Because we are so used to sugar as an everyday substance, we assume it is safe, when it could be responsible for the ill health of millions of people.
Mortality rate doubles for females eating refined white sugar - lab mice study rocks soda industry
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) In what is arguably the most shocking food study conducted since the Seralini "GMO rats" study released last year, researchers at the University of Utah have found that even a small amount of refined sugar consumption resulted in a doubling of the death rate of female mice.
Fed merely the equivalent of three cans of soda a day, females experienced a 100% increase in death rates, and males experienced a sharp drop in fertility. Males were also found to have impaired ability to hold territory, according to the study authors.
"Our results provide evidence that added sugar consumed at concentrations currently considered safe exerts dramatic adverse impacts on mammalian health," the researchers explain. (SOURCE)
One of the study authors, James Ruff, explained that even though the mice did not show observable symptoms of obesity or diabetes, a careful monitoring of their behavior showed that they died more frequently and reproduced less frequently.
The study was brilliantly designed to mimic the real-world competitive living environment among mice, forcing them to compete for territory (nesting beds) and reproductive partners. Interestingly, the study found that the toxic effect of feeding the mice refined white sugar was equal to being inbred mice (i.e. offspring of first cousins).
Think about that for a minute: sugar makes mice dumber than if their parents were cousins!
(And if you really want to see some crazy death rates among the mice, feed 'em aspartame...)
Many Americans eat far more sugar, proportionally, than the mice were fed The diets used in this study were "25 percent sugar-added" diets, meaning the mice were given 25% of their total daily caloric intake in the form of refined sugar (fructose and glucose). See http://science.naturalnews.com/Fructose.html
The obvious implication of this is that a huge portion of the American population already consumes more than 25 percent of its daily caloric intake in the form of refined sugars, including:
There is no question that the widespread consumption of all these sugars is a primary cause behind the epidemic of diabetes and obesity under which America is currently suffering. Aside from the obvious sources of sugar (sodas, sugary cereals, pastries, candy, etc.), refined sugar is also hidden in everyday grocery items like pizza sauce, salad dressing and even wheat bread.
Unless you make a concerted effort to avoid refined sugars, it's easy to intake large quantities on a daily basis. If this mice study proves to be correct in humans, consuming refined sugars may cause you to die early, become infertile or otherwise act in a cognitively impaired manner that vastly reduces your survivability. (Kinda sounds like half the population, doesn't it?)
Refined white sugar is devoid of nutrients Why is refined white sugar so bad for your health? Because it's an "anti-food" that has been stripped of nearly all nutrition.
Sugar is refined from cane, a large species of grass. Raw cane juice is actually a dark green liquid with an incredibly sweet, full-spectrum flavor. Processing the raw cane juice into sugar involves removing nearly all the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, leaving only empty white calories that are a lot like poison to mammalian biology.
That's why "dehydrated cane juice crystals" are actually good for you, even though "refined white sugar" is bad for you. Cane juice is a full-spectrum sweetener that provides all sorts of minerals and nutrients which help balance the blood sugar effects of consuming sugar in the first place.
Because refined white sugar is an anti-nutrient, people who eat it on a regular basis are stealing from their own nutritional stores to "process" the sugar, causing a net nutritional deficit in their bodies. Lacking the necessary trace minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients to maintain optimum health, body systems and organs start to fail. Medical doctors slap names on those symptoms, calling them things like "diabetes" or "ADHD" or "cancer." (Cancer cells love refined white sugar!)
But the real root cause of most disease is nutrient depletion thanks to the routine consumption of nutrient-depleted, processed refined foods.
If you want to stay healthy, avoid all these refined foods These are all "foods of disease" that gave rise to the modern era of Big Pharma, degenerative disease and the for-profit cancer industry:
• White sugar • White bread • White salt • White tortillas • Snack chips • Processed meats • Homogenized, pasteurized dairy • Sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks • Fake juices made mostly with sugar • Cake, candy, ice cream and sweets
If you currently crave these things, it's usually because you're utterly deficient in mineral nutrition. Your body is starving for minerals and tells you to keep eating until you get some. But because the foods you're eating have no real nutrition, you just keep packing on the pounds as the calories mount up. What you really need is real nutrition that turns off the hunger. That only comes from high-density, full-spectrum superfoods and food-based nutritional supplements.
That's why I can honestly tell you, without hesitation, that I gave up drinking soda well over a decade ago, and to this day, I do not ever crave soda. I don't crave ice cream, cake, donuts or any such sweets. This is important to understand because if you eat a diet like mine, you don't need any self control whatsoever to avoid sweets. Your body automatically doesn't want them. The reason I don't eat sweets, in other words, is because I don't feel like eating sweets, not because of some amazing form of self-discipline.
Often, successful dieting is not a matter of self control but a matter of strategic dietary choices and nutritional supplementation to make sure your body gets the nutrition what it needs so that your inherent nutritional hunger is satiated.
If you really want the kind of nutrition that satisfied your body's cravings for minerals, grow your own food in mineral-rich soils or buy food from your local farmer's market. You may also benefit from superfoods or mineral-rich food concentrate supplements, both of which have much higher nutrient density than run-of-the-mill grocery foods.
For the record: Potts and Ruff conducted the study with University of Utah biology lab manager Linda Morrison and undergraduates Amanda Suchy, Sara Hugentobler, Mirtha Sosa and Bradley Schwartz, and with researchers Sin Gieng and Mark Shigenaga of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California. (SOURCE)
Sugar named 'most addictive and dangerous substance' of our time, worse than cigarettes and alcohol
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) While the rest of the world is busy obsessing over the dangers of cigarettes and alcohol, the head of Amsterdam's health service in the Netherlands is trying to raise awareness about a much bigger and more pervasive health threat: sugar. According to Paul Van der Velpen, sugar is the most dangerous and addictive substance of modern times, and more needs to be done in the interests of public health to make people aware of the many harms caused by this ubiquitous drug.
In a recent letter posted by GGD Nederland, an association of the country's community health services, Van der Velpen discusses the issue of obesity, rates of which have risen dramatically in the Netherlands in recent years. Pointing out that obesity, which is linked to metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and a host of other chronic ailments, saps the healthcare system of tens of millions of dollars annually, Van der Velpen emphasizes that exercise is simply not enough to reverse this growing trend.
Bravely defying processed food industry claims, which insist that sugar consumed "in moderation" is just fine, Van der Velpen delves into the actual science behind how the body responds to sugar as opposed to protein and fat. In his letter, Van der Velpen explains that sugar intensifies food cravings, for instance, and causes people to eat far more than they otherwise would without it. Additionally, he points out that sugar also disrupts normal food metabolism, eventually leading to addiction.
"Just like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is actually a drug," writes Van der Velpen, in an English translation from the original Dutch. "This may seem exaggerated and far-fetched, but sugar is the most dangerous drug of the times and can still be easily acquired everywhere ... The use of sugar should be discouraged. And users should be made aware of the dangers."
Europeans consume far less sugar than Americans, and yet health officials there recognize a growing health epidemic
If you have ever visited Europe, then you may recall that most of the foods produced and sold there are generally far less sweet than foods produced and sold in the U.S. And yet, despite this difference, Van der Velpen still sees a major public health epidemic brewing in his country as a result of sugar consumption -- how much worse must the situation be here in the U.S., where public health officials generally avoid tagging sugar as a major factor in declining public health?
"Sugar is actually a form of addiction," adds Van der Velpen. "It's just as hard to get rid of the urge for sweet foods as of smoking. Thereby diets only work temporarily. Addiction therapy is better ... Health insurers should have to finance addiction therapy for their obese clients."
It is important to note that Amsterdam has long tolerated the presence and use of other typically restricted substances such as cannabis, a plant that government authorities the world over have long referred to as a "drug," within its borders.... Sugar, on the other hand, is an actual threat, and Van der Velpen hopes others will learn this truth and take action.
You can read Van der Velpen's full letter, as translated into English using Google Translate, here: http://translate.google.com
Eating too much added sugar really is killing you: Study
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Many Americans were already aware that excessive sugar in their diets could cause a number of health problems, but a new study has found that too much of the sweet stuff can actually lead to premature death.
According to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), too much additional sugar - such as that found in regular soda, candy, cookies and cakes - can substantially increase your risk of death due to heart disease.
"The risk of cardiovascular disease death increases exponentially as you increase your consumption of added sugar," the study's lead author, Quanhe Yang, a senior scientist with the CDC, said.
The study is the largest of its kind thus far.
As reported in USA Today:
On average, adults in the USA in 2010 consumed about 15% of their daily calories - about 300 calories a day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet - from added sugars. That's far more than the American Heart Association's recommendation that women consume no more than 100 calories a day from added sugars, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar; and men consume no more than 150 calories a day, or about 9 teaspoons. The World Health Organization recommends consuming less than 10% of calories from added sugars.
Naturally occurring sugars not so much of a problem
A single can of regular soda contains something like 140 calories of added sugar, or about 7 percent of the daily calories of someone eating about 2,000 calories per day, Yang noted.
Among the items containing the added sugar: table and brown sugar, of course; high-fructose corn syrup; maple syrup; honey; molasses; and other caloric sweeteners contained in prepared and processed foods. Not included: sugars occurring naturally in fruits and fruit juices, milk and dairy products.
Yang said that major additional sources of sugars in the diets of many Americans are desserts and fruit drinks, dairy desserts like ice cream, candy and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and risk factors for stroke and heart disease have all been linked to high sugar intakes in past studies, but most of those focused more on sugar-sweetened drinks, not total sugar intake, Yang told USA Today.
"Ours is the first study using a nationally representative sample to look at the total amount of added sugar and the association to cardiovascular disease death," he said.
The paper said Yang's team looked at overall trends in added-sugar intake and "reviewed data from more than 31,000 people over the years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which evaluates dietary habits based on in-person interviews. They found that most adults (71%) consume 10% or more of their daily calories from added sugars. About 10% of adults consume 25% or more of daily calories from added sugars."
The team also reviewed data of deaths due to heart disease (heart attacks, heart failure, hypertension, stroke) and compared added-sugar intake to deaths due to heart disease. The team controlled their results for a wide range of heart-disease risk factors like total cholesterol, physical activity, high blood pressure, smoking, diet and weight.
Double the risk with added sugar
Among their findings, which were published recently in JAMA Internal Medicine:
- Those who consume more than 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugar run double the risk of heart disease-related death than those who consume fewer than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars.
What that means: If you're on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet and consume more than 21 percent of those calories in added sugars, that amounts to 420 calories - or about three cans of regular soda daily.
- People who consume between 17 and 21 percent of daily calories from added sugar have a 38 percent higher risk of death from heart disease.
- People who consume seven or more weekly servings of sugar-sweetened beverages run a 29 percent higher risk of heart disease-related death than those who consume one serving or less.
Yang's team said their findings were consistent across age groups, sex, weights, dietary habits and physical activity levels.
Science reveals sugar is as addictive as major illegal drugs
by Dr. Megan Heimer, NHE, J.D, N.D.
(NaturalNews) What if you discovered that a food you were consuming had the same effects on your body as a highly illegal drug and could lead to addiction, cravings, bingeing, chronic degeneration, and even death? In depth studies show that consuming sugar has the same effects on the body as taking heroin and cocaine.
Heroin is a white crystalline substance derived from morphine. Sugar, is a white crystalline substance most often refined from genetically modified sugar cane. Both are highly addictive, brain altering, and quickly alter and bind to u-opioid and beta endorphin receptors which produce the infamous "euphoric" effect. An overdose or continued consumption of heroine could be fatal. Likewise, continuous consumption of sugar contributes to the leading causes of American deaths including heart disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, and inflammatory disorders.
Sugar addiction is a real phenomenon affecting an increasing number of Americans. In an interview with CBS News 60 Minutes Dr. Robert Lewis (a California-based endocrinologist) stated what numerous studies confirm "sugar is as addictive as cocaine."
Sugar produces the same "high," dependence, cravings, and withdrawal symptoms as illegal drugs
What causes the high for a heroin addict is the molecules in heroin that find their fit in the beta-endorphin receptors. Sugar produces a similar high by causing the body to produce more beta endorphins. This neurotransmitter gets rid of feelings of hopelessness, depression, isolation, and low self-esteem until the effect wears off and the "low" returns causing another craving for sugar.
Several studies along with the Neuroscience Behavioral Review confirm that consumption of sugar also leads to neuro-chemical changes of dopamine in the brain that mimic those produced by drugs like heroin and cocaine. These dopamine surges cause behavioral changes, bingeing, sugar dependence, decreased activity of the receptors that lead to satiety, withdrawal symptoms, and over time cause low dopamine. And so continues the cycle of craving sugar, consuming sugar, and using sugar to fill the "feel-good" void.
Although the sugar industry would like to deny it, refined sugar is a chemical and it's packed into processed foods to hook consumers. Getting the sugar out of your life, like any addiction, may be easier said than done. If illegal drugs
Sources for this article include:
Inturrisi, C; Schultz, M; Shin, S; Umans, JG; Angel, L; Simon, EJ (1983). "Evidence from opiate binding studies that heroin acts through its metabolites". Life Sciences 33: 773-6. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(83)90616-1.PMID 6319928.
Avena NM, Rada P, Hoebel BG. Evidence of sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2008;32:20-39.
(NaturalNews) All 12 studies in a May, 2014, meta-analysis found that sugar elevates blood pressure. The study called "Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Blood Pressure" was published in the American Journal of Cardiology.
Soft drinks easily earn the name "liquid candy," because they contain an average of 10 teaspoons of sugar per can. Soft drinks are the largest source of added sugar in our diet. These drinks are often cheaper than bottled water and become the liquid of choice for most of the population.
In the U.S., high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the major source of added sugar in soft drinks. HFCS has only been around since 1975. It's marketed as a safe and natural fruit sugar -- fructose. However, if you watch the Sugar: The Bitter Truth video lecture by Pediatric Endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig, you quickly learn that fructose is even more dangerous than table sugar -- sucrose.
Drinking liquid candy is associated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and kidney stones, and now this analysis confirms that it increases the incidence of high blood pressure. I could add the follow effects of sugar: yeast overgrowth, arrhythmia, bowel disease, rashes, lowered immune system and allergies. In my Death by Modern Medicine book, I quote Nancy Appleton's "146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health," with references.
Lustig found that, in a large meta-analysis of soft drinks and obesity, 88 studies all show significant association of obesity with increased soft drink consumption. Sugar industry studies showed lesser effects, and they claim that soft drinks do not cause obesity. However, studies limiting consumption of soft drinks in kids show that obesity decreases. Weight gain is another factor associated with high blood pressure
Researchers say they don't really know how sugar causes high blood pressure, but in the sugar impact study, the authors discuss several theories. Apparently, liquid candy can lower nitric oxide in the body, which causes blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to rise. Since soft drinks can contain extra salt, they theorize that that may be the cause. They may not know what causes the hypertension, but they do conclude, "On the basis of these studies, there is a suggestion that intake of greater than one serving of sugar-sweetened beverage per day is associated with higher risk of hypertension."
I have a different theory. Lustig talks about the extra energy used by the liver to metabolize fructose compared with sucrose, but he doesn't mention magnesium. A fascinating and little-known fact about sugar metabolism is that 28 molecules of magnesium are required to break down one molecule of sucrose, and 56 molecules of magnesium are used up to metabolize one molecule of fructose.
When magnesium is diminished to that extent, the resulting magnesium deficiency can contribute to raising the blood pressure, because magnesium is required to relax the muscles of the body including the smooth muscles of the blood vessels. If there is tension in the smooth muscles of the blood vessels, then the blood pressure rises.
Nitric oxide is mentioned in the blood pressure study and also by Lustig. But nitric oxide is controlled by magnesium. This is what I write in The Magnesium Miracle: "Smooth muscle cells provide integrity and control the dilation of the arterial cavity, triggered by the calcium/magnesium ratio in the body. Calcium causes contraction and magnesium causes relaxation, which together control the blood pressure and flow in the artery. A final messenger for the dilation response is nitric oxide, which is dependent on magnesium."
What do I recommend? Avoid high-fructose corn syrup, of course. Take supplemental magnesium and also make and take your own Liposomal Vitamin C. Magnesium and vitamin C are the antidotes to a sugar binge! You can go to my Blog to find the recipe for making your own Liposomal Vitamin C and also see my recommendation for the best form of magnesium to take.
(NaturalNews) The dangers of sugar on oral health are heavily documented. Its adverse effects on weight and obesity, issues that are becoming increasingly common, have been emphasized a great deal in the past few decades as well. Now, new hazards when it comes to consuming too much sugar can be added to the roster: heart disease and cancer.
Study reveals surprising figures
A study published in early February 2014 in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal states that adults in the United States consume amounts that are greater than the recommended 10 percent of their calories from foods and drinks with additional sugar added. This puts the 71.4 percent of those people who consume that amount of sugar at an increased risk of death as a result of cardiovascular disease.
In order to reach that conclusion, researchers studied data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) to compare figures on sugar consumption over time in order to determine its effect on health. The NHANES is a huge study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that is updated every year. In the NHANES, added sugars were defined as those that are not naturally occurring, such as the ones in fruit juices and fruit, but those that are added when foods are processed by manufacturers. Some examples of these foods include ready-to-eat cereals, fruit drinks, yeast breads, candy, grain-based desserts and dairy desserts.
Steady increase in sugar consumption
The figures studied show a stunning increase in the consumption of added sugars. The average American adult got about 15.7 percent of the calories in their diet from added sugar between 1988 and 1994. Between 1999 and 2004, that figure jumped to 16.8 percent before falling to 14.9 percent between the years of 2005 and 2010. The most recently data, however, reveal that about 10 percent of Americans consumed more than 25 percent of their calories from added sugar.
Sugar metabolizes differently than other foods
The type of sugar that is consumed makes a difference in the health of the body. Studies have shown that fructose causes cancer cells to metabolize at a faster rate than other sugars, such as glucose. While the study used pancreatic cancer cells to study the effects of different sugars, the results call into question the feeling that the two sugars can be used interchangeably with no arguable differences.
Not a new theory
While the possibility of sugar adversely affecting the health, such as increasing the chances of contracting cancer, was first raised nearly 80 years ago, its consumption is rarely addressed by the cancer programs of today. Fructose is proving to be the most harmful of all the types of sugar studies thus far.
For the best results, it is a good idea to watch the intake of added sugar in the diet. Eating more foods with natural sugars can go a long way to satisfying a sweet tooth without compromising health.
(NaturalNews) Sugar is now considered the "devil's food" thanks to a brilliant physician and prolific author exposing the hidden truth about it in his new book. Dr. Robert Lustig studies what sugars do to entire populations around the world, so this is no "end the cravings" novel or "sugar for dummies" information piece we're talking about here. This is a compilation of clinical observations documenting the new "War on Sugar!" We must ask ourselves: Is sugar competing with tobacco for total victims of health detriment and with a focus on our youth? Dr. Lustig knows.
Consider this: Which gives you diabetes and cancer sooner, childhood obesity or cigarettes? What's going on at the middle schools and high schools of our country? Is there proper education about alcohol, cigarettes, cocaine and GMO high-fructose corn syrup? Should junk food even be legal? Are children learning about irradiated and refined sugar and the health consequences of daily consumption? -- No.
The junk food industry "green light" is always "on" for pouring toxins and carcinogens into the staple food supply, including all school cafeterias. It's as if the FDA is allowed to make people sick, it's just a matter of how badly. Dr. Lustig's book Fat Chance should be mandatory curriculum for health education.
Sugar creates appetite
Are you hungry? Didn't you just eat? Could it be that your appetite runs on cycles, based on a hormonal mechanism related to stress? Listen to the doctor. He's saying that cortisol increases caloric intake of "comfort foods," and when these levels are high while you're sleeping, it interferes with restfulness. Of course, every person is different, but we may start asking about how much "junk science" can interfere with getting proper amounts of deep sleep, one of the most important aspects of being healthy. Is your brain stuck on a binary system that determines if, when and how hungry you become? Are you feeling like burning energy right now or storing some? What fix do you need from your food -- is food a dangerous drug, or are you feeding your organs nutrients?
"Savage hunger" comes from biochemistry that drives certain behaviors. Some people get very angry when they're just moderately hungry, even violent. An addiction to sugar and MSG (monosodium glutamate) can drive folks to get in fights, break into stores or steal, and even hurt people that are "in their way." Here's a perfect case in point. Watch this woman (zombie) who needs Chicken McNuggets SO BADLY that she resorts to violence at the drive through McDummies (McDonald's) "golden arches" of junk science: NaturalNews.com.
On fad diets: Sugar weight comes back, hauntingly, for most people who go on fast track diets for a couple of months. The weight comes "roaring back." Why? Sugar causes diseases, not just obesity. "Big Food" does NOT want anyone to understand this. This is a crusade, not just a great book by Dr. Lustig, who is announcing the war, the Revolution, like Paul Revere did. Over 5 million people have watched the doctor's video lecture on YouTube, "Sugar: The Bitter Truth," but his book is where everything gets clarified.
Sweet revenge!
The doctor's message is mainly that obesity is the result of a broken food system, rather than gluttony or even laziness. It's not about "willpower" anymore, because Big Food has so many people hooked on sugar, like it's heroin or cocaine. This message is prolific!
Shelby Pope, a freelance writer, explained on the Bay Area Bites food blog at KQED.org:
Before the New York Times asked if sugar was toxic, before Michael Bloomberg tried to ban large sodas in New York City, before people starting calling sugar "the new tobacco," UCSF endocrinologist Robert Lustig stood in front of a crowd of UCSF extension students and told them that the increase in obesity over the last 30 years is the result of one thing: increased amounts of sugar in our diet. Lustig's lecture--a combination of righteous anger and dry science--went on to become a surprise viral hit: since it debuted on YouTube in 2009, it's been viewed almost five million times.
So, are you slowly killing yourself? Say "no" to JUNK SCIENCE and "hello" to organic living, starting right now. "Turn the tables" on the whole processed food industry now! Also, check out The Fat Chance Cookbook, which contains over 100 recipes.
Studies Determine Sugar, Saccharin More Addictive Than Cocaine
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Millions of prohibitionist-minded Americans have been exposed as complete hypocrites by research proving that refined sugar is more addictive than even hard drugs like cocaine. A compilation of scientific evaluations looking at both sugar and synthetic sweeteners reveals that these omnipresent substances often trigger the same or stronger responses in the brain as illegal drugs, and are sometimes much harder to break in terms of habitual consumption.
A paper published in the journal PLOS ONE back in 2007, for instance, explains how rats given the option to choose between drinking water sweetened with saccharin (Sweet'n Low) or intravenous cocaine almost always chose the water. A shocking 94 percent of rats, according to the researchers, actually preferred the high that they got from saccharin as opposed to the cocaine rush.
The same study found that sucrose, or common table sugar, was also preferred by the rats over cocaine. Based on this observance, the research team noted that regardless of caloric content, the sheer intensity and pleasure of sweetness seems to be more addictive than even the sensitization and intoxication brought about by cocaine, which mainstream society still recognizes as being much more harmful than sugar.
"Refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, fructose) were absent in the diet of most people until very recently in human history," wrote the researchers from University of Bordeaux in France and James Cook University in Australia. "Today overconsumption of diets rich in sugars contributes together with other factors to drive the current obesity epidemic."
Sugar addiction is biologically equivalent to drug addiction But is it just that the taste of sweetness is enjoyable, or is there something more going on in the brain to indicate actual dependency and addiction? Nearly 40 years ago, William Dufty helped answer this question when he penned a book entitled Sugar Blues, which highlighted the addictive properties of sugar and how sweets are a major driver for declining public health.
Many of the ideas presented in this groundbreaking book have been affirmed and reaffirmed by science, which has repeatedly demonstrated that certain neuroendocrine pathways are activated in response to sugar. The infamous "sweet tooth" and frequent sugar cravings are indicative of how these pathways drive obsessive consumption and addiction.
"In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars and are thus not adapted to high concentrations of sweet tastants," wrote the author of another study involving bees, which experienced cocaine-withdrawal-type symptoms when their sweet floral resources were taken away from them.
"The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction."
Wheat, cow's milk contain opioid components similar to heroin
Wheat and processed milk are similarly addictive, according to GreenMedInfo, which documents how many processed foods made from these additives possess narcotic properties, acting in a similar way to heroin when consumed. Modern wheat actually contains psychoactive chemicals that bind to opioid receptors in the nervous system, literally acting as a drug inside the body.
Wheat contains a variety of opioid peptides known as gluten exorphins, while cow's milk contains a variety of casomorphin peptides. Both of these component classes are highly addictive, and are part of the reason why foods made with them are often referred to as "comfort" foods.
"Fructose... is known to increase brain levels of endogenous morphine following ingestion, and may produce metabolic products in the brain very similar to those produced by morphine," wrote Sayer Ji for GreenMedInfo about another highly addictive food additive prevalent in the American food supply.
(NaturalNews) A growing body of research suggests that a Western diet high in sugar and fat may cause brain damage, which in turn reduces your ability to decide how much you should eat, according to an article published in The Conversation by American University neuroscientists Terry Davidson and Camille Sample.
Davidson and Sample's lab studies the connection between diet and brain function.
Two-thirds of U.S. adults and more than one-third of children are classified as overweight or obese, and obesity rates continue to climb worldwide. Obesity is considered a major risk factor for a wide variety of health conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Is your diet literally poisoning your brain? According to Davidson and Samples, research suggests that our brains are simply not set up to resist the intense temptations created by societal factors such as advertising, which push us to consume greater and greater quantities of unhealthy food. Although people are born with a natural ability to regulate how much they eat, these mechanisms are overwhelmed by messages from the culture we live in.
Research now suggests that this loss of the ability to properly regulate our food intake may not come from social factors alone, nor be fully explained by the simple fact that our bodies evolved to crave high-calorie nutrients such as fat and sugar. Rather, new studies are pointing to the possibility that a Western diet may actually damage regions of the brain associated with appetite regulation.
The region of the brain in question is known as the hippocampus, which regulates information about the need for water and food, as well as memory and learning.
Studies have certainly indicated that obesity and a Western diet may damage memory and learning capacity. Middle-aged people who are overweight or obese have been shown to have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Other studies have shown that consuming a Western diet and having a high body fat proportion is associated with memory impairment in children as young as seven.
Davidson and Samples' own research, as well as similar research in other labs, has demonstrated more direct effects in the brains of rats and mice. These studies have found that diets high in sugar and saturated fat (at levels comparable to that in the Western diet) weaken the blood-brain barrier, which is responsible for keeping toxic chemicals out of the brain.
In followup studies, rats whose blood-brain barriers had been weakened in this fashion, were injected with a special dye. The dye accumulated in the hippocampus, which seemed to respond to the influx of foreign chemicals with inflammation and changes in electrochemical activity. The rats whose brains responded in this fashion showed cognition changes consistent with damage to the hippocampus.
Obesity and dementia epidemics may be connected Davidson and Samples note that both rats and humans who have suffered hippocampus damage have been known to lose the ability to decide if they've had enough food or water. Even a minor impairment to this ability could have major consequences in an advertising-saturated culture like ours, they said.
"In the presence of powerful cues in the environment that entice you to eat, a reduced ability to use information from your body that tells you that you don't need food can lead to overeating," they write.
They warn that the Western diet may be causing a positive feedback loop of escalating brain damage and worsening diet.
"The result could be a vicious cycle in which eating a western diet produces hippocampal dysfunction which weakens the ability to use internal cues to counter eating elicited by cues in the environment," they write.
"As the hippocampus becomes more and more impaired, the severity and scope of learning and memory deficits would also increase. The result could be not only obesity but also more serious cognitive decline."
High sugar diet found to be as damaging to your brain as being abused
by Jennifer Lea Reynolds
(NaturalNews) Imagine constantly being yelled at, physically harmed, and witnessing traumatic events on a daily basis. Obviously, such abuse and stress isn't healthy or enjoyable, so you'd do your best to try to avoid such situations, right?
Well, according to a recent study published in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, people are willingly putting themselves through such abuse every single day. However, this isn't about domestic violence or other high-stress situations, but rather all about the junk foods they're eating. Specifically, the study's researchers focused on how sugar can alter a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is related to stress and memory. Interestingly, they found that a high-sugar diet alters this portion of the brain in a way that closely mimics the changes that occur when one is exposed to abusive and stressful situations in the early developmental stages of life.(1,2)
That's right, when it comes to your brain, consuming a high-sugar diet is akin to being abused. Still want that soda and candy bar?
Experts say controlling excessive sugar intake could reduce 'burden of psychiatric disorders' In a Daily Mail article discussing their findings, study authors Jayanthi Maniam and Margaret Morris elaborate on the eye-opening issue. "People who were exposed to early life trauma have changes in the structure of their hippocampus. In humans, those consuming the most 'western' diet had smaller hippocampal volumes, in line with data from animal models."(1)
The authors express concern over the fact that many people do not shun sugar; in fact, quite the opposite is true. "The changes in the brain induced by sugar are of great concern given the high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, with particularly high consumption in children aged nine to 16 years."(1)
Further elaboration in Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience states the following: "... early life adversity and high sugar diet may independently increase the risk for psychopathology later in life. ... The similarity in the hippocampal molecular deficits induced by sugar and early life stress is of great concern given the cheap and easy accessibility of sugar-sweetened beverages ... Manipulating the later environment of those exposed to early life adversity, and controlling the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages across the community may be an effective way to curtail the burden of psychiatric disorders."(2)
Those are some powerful words, folks. The fact that excessive sugar consumption may be linked to psychiatric disorders, is not something to ignore.
After all, it's perfectly logical.
More and more proof that sugar is addictive and mind-altering Sure, we know that too much of the refined stuff contributes to obesity, diabetes and other health problems, but worse than that, it can alter brain function and personality. In fact, it's downright addictive.
For example, studies have found that sugar acts as a stress suppressant. If you think there's nothing wrong with that, consider that sugar has been shown to make comfort-craving people become addicted. The fact that sugar diminishes stress levels in the brain makes stressed out folks reach for sugary sodas and similar junk foods all the more, reinforcing a seemingly never-ending chain of unhealthy behaviors.(3)
Other studies continue to expose the harms associated with consuming so much refined sugar. Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have also noted the hazards associated with consuming too much sugar and fructose. Published details indicate that they wreak havoc on memory and cognition in teens and young adults, making the strong case that what a person eats is directly related to the brain's ability to function optimally.(4)
The bottom line, as shown by numerous studies, including this more recent one by Jayanthi Maniam and Margaret Morris, is that refined sugar and the junk foods filled with it can severely compromise the brain and body. Do your best to avoid added sugars by eating fresh, whole foods, and plenty of nuts and seeds, and try to help friends and family members eat in the same sensible manner.
More Bad News For Sugar - Research Confirms It Is a Leading Cause Of Heart Disease
by John Phillip
(NaturalNews) Just in case you needed yet another reason to stay away from added dietary sugar sources, nutritional scientists now confirm that our obsession with consuming sweets is killing us by dramatically increasing risk of death from cardiovascular disease and heart attack. A host of known risk factors including elevated blood pressure and triglycerides, along with cholesterol abnormalities such as oxidized LDL cholesterol and poor HDL/LDL cholesterol ratios are all attributable to a diet filled with empty calories fueled by sugar consumption. Interestingly, researchers have determined that the increase in cardiovascular risk factors is not attributable to weight gain commonly associated with excess sugar intake; sugar directly raises heart disease risk independent of weight gain.
A research study team from New Zealand's University of Otago, publishing in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has conducted a review and meta-analysis of a large cohort of dietary studies comparing the effects of higher and lower added sugar consumption on blood pressure and lipids, both of which are important cardiovascular risk determinants. Lead study author, Dr. Lisa Te Morenga and her students have uncovered solid and documented evidence that eating sugar has a direct effect on risk factors for heart disease, and is likely to negatively impact blood pressure and blood lipids. Dr. Te Morenga noted, "Our analysis confirmed that sugars contribute to cardiovascular risk, independent of the effect of sugars on body weight."
Sugar and refined carbohydrates increase risk of hypertension and cholesterol abnormalities
The scientists analyzed a total of 49 nutritional intervention trials conducted between 1965 and 2013. Comparing diets where the only intended differences were the amount of sugars and non-sugar carbohydrates consumed by the participants allowed for the measurement of the effects of these diets on lipids and blood pressure. 37 trials reported the effects of dietary sugars on lipid metabolism while another 12 yielded results on blood pressure. The team then pooled the available data to determine the impact on measurable risk factors that affect human health.
The team noted that some of the data provided by the studies was skewed as the research was funded by the food/sugar industries. When they factored out those biased results, they found a startling pool of data conclusively demonstrating the negative impact of high-sugar diets on cardio-metabolic risk factors. Small increases in blood pressure, as little as 20 mm Hg systolic and diastolic, can double the risk of a heart attack, while changes to cholesterol metabolism can alter the delicate endothelial lining of the arteries affecting plaque formation and blood clotting.
While the food industry and media outlets continue to promote a wide spectrum of processed, sugar packed foods as a means to boost their bottom line profit margins, millions of uninformed people continue to consume 156 pounds of added sugar each year. Recently, sugar has been making news as it has been associated with increased risk of many forms of cancer, as well as stroke and Alzheimer's dementia. The evidence should be clear to any health-minded individual -- eliminate all sources of empty sugar and refined food products in favor of foods in their natural form to dramatically lower the risk of heart disease and most chronic illnesses.
Move Over Cigarettes! Excessive Sugar and Starch Are Also Major Causes Of Lung Cancer
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) New research indicates that smoking isn't the only high-risk activity when it comes to developing lung cancer. It would seem that a diet high in sugar and starches could be a major cause as well, NBC News reports, even for non-smokers.
Researchers have discovered that people who remember eating more foods containing a higher glycemic index are also more likely to develop lung cancer. They note that glycemic index is a term that is very familiar to diabetics; it is ascribed to foods that raise blood sugar and stimulate the production of insulin, like bagels, some fruits, including melon and pineapple, and white rice.
NBC News reported that the aforementioned research is not the first that links the glycemic index with an increased risk of cancer. However, it is rare that the index is linked to cancer of the lungs, since that health condition is generally attributed to smoking.
As NBC News reported further:
"The team at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston studied 1,905 people who had just been diagnosed with lung cancer and compared them to 2,415 people without cancer. They quizzed them about their eating habits, smoking, income and other factors.
"People who ate the most foods with a high glycemic index were about 50 percent more likely to be in the lung cancer group than people who reported they ate the fewest high-glycemic foods, the team reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology and Biomarkers."
Outsized insulin production may stimulate tumor growth
Oddly enough, researchers noted that the link was stronger among those who had never smoked; non-smokers were more than twice as likely to develop lung cancer if they said that they had consumed a high glycemic diet.
"The results from this study suggest that, besides maintaining healthy lifestyles, reducing the consumption of foods and beverages with high glycemic index may serve as a means to lower the risk of lung cancer," Dr. Xifeng Wu, who led the study, told NBC News.
How is this happening? Doctors aren't sure, but there's a theory that high-glycemic foods stimulate the body to make insulin, which in turn affects the growth of cells via compounds called insulin-like growth factors or IGF. Cancer processes amount to uncontrolled proliferation of cells, so it is possible that high glycemic foods are adding to the growth of small tumors.
"IGFs have been shown to play a critical role in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation in cancer and there is evidence to suggest that IGFs are elevated in lung cancer patients," wrote Wu's research team.
'Inconclusive' In fact, that is suspected in several cancer types, the Today show reported.
"Previous studies have investigated the association between glycemic index, and the related measure glycemic load, and a variety of cancers including colorectal, stomach, pancreas, endometrial, ovarian, prostate, and thyroid but these studies are limited and results have been largely inconclusive," the researchers wrote.
The current study is also inconclusive. For one, researchers asked their subjects to remember what they had eaten; for another, the risk is an association. People who eat foods with high glycemic indexes may also engage in other activities that, combined, enhance the risk of cancer. Also, this particular study only focused on non-Hispanic whites.
NBC News reported further:
"Marji McCullough, an expert in nutritional epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, says it will be important to look at people who don't have cancer now and watch what they eat for years or decades, and see who develops cancer."
The number one cancer killer in the U.S. is lung cancer, claiming more than 150,000 lives a year. At first, it usually only causes vague symptoms; by the time most people are diagnosed, the disease has spread, and is more likely to be fatal.
High Sugar-based Diet, Obesity Strongly Linked To Causing Alzheimer's And Dementia
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) New surveys show that fear of getting dementia in our old age has replaced the fear of getting cancer, the UK's Daily Mail Online reports, because people believe there have been some advances in cancer care but not in the treatment for Alzheimer's and other dementia-related diseases.
The paper noted that the best medications currently available for dementia do nothing other than perhaps slow the progression of the disease or otherwise temporarily alleviate some of its symptoms.
That said, researchers now have some better news to report. In March, Dr. Dennis Gillings, head of the World Dementia Council, said he was "optimistic" that new treatments to halt and even reverse the disease could be developed within five years.
The Daily Mail Online reported further:
Dementia refers to a set of symptoms, including loss of memory, confusion and difficulties with thinking, or language, caused by some sort of damage to the brain. Typically it starts after the age of 65 and the risk increases with age, with one in six 80-year-olds affected.
In all, scientists have identified more than 100 forms of dementia. The most common, which affects millions worldwide, is Alzheimer's disease, in which it is believed that abnormal proteins – amyloid and tau – build up in the brain, while connections between brain cells deteriorate.
High-sugar diets really raise your risk of disease
Others are afflicted with vascular dementia, a condition in which brain cells die off after restrictions in the brain's blood supply occur as a result of a stroke or due to diseased blood vessels.
Medical experts say it is common to experience a combination of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, and that the causes of each will vary. Genetics, researchers have discovered, plays a role particularly in the development of Alzheimer's, but new data also suggest that lifestyle plays an important role as well.
For instance, obesity is strongly tied to dementia. One theory is that having excessive fat tissue triggers the release of harmful hormones that tend to be very damaging to brain cells. In addition, being obese will more likely be accompanied by high blood pressure, higher cholesterol and clogged arteries, which contribute to vascular dementia and risk of stroke.
As such, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that diets that are high in sugar can also increase a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, because high sugar can impede the normal actions of insulin, a hormone that helps manage the body's blood sugar levels. Proper blood sugar levels also appears to be important in brain signaling, scientists also believe.
Chronically high blood sugar causes diabetes and is also believed to increase your risk of blood vessel damage, including the small vessels in the brain.
"Dementia is not inevitable"
That said, just as a poor diet and lifestyle can lead to dementia, eating healthy and developing healthy lifestyle habits like exercise can also protect you against developing a dementia-related disease.
"Dementia is not inevitable," Dr. Naji Tabet, a leading dementia specialist and senior lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, told the Daily Mail Online.
"We think that in a quarter of patients destined to develop the most common causes of dementia - including many of those with a family susceptibility - it can be stopped or significantly delayed. It's never too early or too late to start thinking about what you could do to protect yourself," Tabet added.
Some of the things that Tabet says could help us protect our brains is to reduce our BMI – body mass index; change dietary habits mostly by reducing excess sugar intake; keep your brain active; treat high blood pressure; and try to reduce stress.
"As we age, our brain shrinks and the connections weaken, but the bigger your cognitive reserve is, the longer you should go without experiencing problems - it's like the bigger the fuel tank is on your car, the further it will go," Tabet said.
