Richards, Lisa. “10 Reasons To Quit Sugar: An Infographic.” The Candida Diet, 7 Sept. 2017
ww.thecandidadiet.com/10-reasons-to-quit-sugar-infographic/.
SURVIVE THE HOLIDAY SUGAR RUSH
Survive the Holiday Sugar Rush
Maintaining healthy blood sugar balance through the holidays and beyond
The season of indulgence is here. For some, it may start with furtive sneaks into your kid’s Halloween stash, for others it starts with the first pumpkin spice latte of the season, but it can quickly snowball, and before you know it, you’re saying yes to every sweet thing in sight. The barrage of sugar isn’t good for anyone, but for someone who struggles with type-2 diabetes, or any type of blood sugar imbalance, this time of year can be especially challenging. More than 30 million Americans have type-2 diabetes and another 84 million have prediabetes, a precursor to the disease, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—that’s close to half the population.1 Poor blood sugar control is clearly a common problem in this country. While the numbers are staggering, the good news is that you can maintain healthy blood sugar balance with food and supplementation—even through the season of indulgence.
For Blood Sugar Balance, Balancing Macronutrients Is Key
The simplest thing you can do to support healthy blood sugar balance is to shift your ratio of macronutrients so that you are eating a lower carb diet. You can do this by shifting the base of your diet from high-carb foods to lower carb foods. High-carb foods include grains—both whole and refined—legumes, starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots, and high-glycemic fruits. Lower carb foods include non-starchy vegetables and low-glycemic fruits like berries, apples, and pears. If the majority of your carbohydrate intake is from the lower carb group, with a limited amount (one to two servings a day) from the higher carb group, you will make the shift to a lower carb diet, a way of eating that is proven to maintain stable blood sugar balance. Most of us eat an excessive amount of carbohydrates—more than our bodies need, or can handle, which causes dramatic spikes in glucose and insulin.
When you eat grain-based carbs, starchy vegetables, or high-glycemic fruit, they are rapidly converted to glucose, which our bodies are fine-tuned to clear out of the bloodstream because it can cause major damage to the body. The pancreas releases insulin, a hormone that directs the cells to absorb the glucose to burn as energy; but once the cells are full, insulin tells the body to convert and store the excess glucose as fat. When you are constantly filling up on a lot of starchy vegetables, grain-based carbs, and/or high-glycemic fruits, the pancreas continues to pump out insulin, but cells that are already overloaded with glucose start to become resistant to insulin’s signal, so the glucose remains in the bloodstream, causing even more insulin to be released (remember, insulin’s job is to clear excess glucose out of the bloodstream), making cells even more insulin resistant. Then, in addition to having excess circulating blood glucose, you also have high levels of insulin, damaging in its own right. Overtime, if this dietary pattern is not broken, insulin resistance develops, and eventually, full-blown type-2 diabetes.
In our sedentary world, we can get more than enough carbs to fuel our bodies from non-starchy veggies and low-glycemic fruits, with a small amount of the higher-carb foods mentioned above. It is estimated that our hunter and gatherer ancestors got about 80 grams of carbs a day (mostly in the form of non-starchy vegetables) while the average American intake today is between 300 and 600 grams.2 To maintain healthy blood sugar aim to get between 100 and 150 grams of carbs each day.3 If you work to get the majority of your carbs from non-starchy vegetables and a small amount of those other higher-carb foods, you will easily fall into this range. And when you approach eating in a way that maintains healthy blood sugar balance, then an occasional indulgence—sweet treats included—shouldn’t be a problem.
Find Balance with the Help of Supplements
There are certain foundational supplements that everyone should take but are especially important for someone struggling with blood sugar control. One of these is the B-complex family of vitamins, which are intricately tied to cellular energy production via their role in metabolizing carbohydrates and complex sugars.4 When you eat an excess of grain-based carbs your body quickly burns through the B vitamins to keep up, which can drastically deplete levels. When these important cofactors are missing, blood sugar imbalances can occur. Another foundational supplement is magnesium. It is estimated that at least half of all Americans don’t get enough through diet, making supplementation necessary.5 Magnesium plays a key role in regulating insulin activity and cellular glucose uptake, and low magnesium levels can worsen insulin resistance. Additionally, low magnesium intake has been associated with the development of type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.6
Other Key Nutrients to Support Healthy Blood Sugar Balance Include:
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA)
Alpha-lipoic acid, or ALA, is a vitamin-like compound that acts as a powerful antioxidant. “Its principal job is to help burn glucose for energy,” Helena Linzy, Nutritional Health Coach (NHC) at Natural Grocers in Temple, TX says.7 “It also supports the function of insulin and it even transports glucose into cells without the use of insulin.”
One double-blind, placebo controlled study investigated ALA’s effect on blood glucose in patients with type-2 diabetes. Thirty-eight patients were divided into five groups and were given varying doses of ALA (300, 600, 900, or 1, 200 mg/daily) or a placebo, along with their standard diabetes medication for six months. After six months, both fasting glucose and HbA1c (a measurement of blood sugar over a period of time) were found to have decreased in those taking ALA, while they increased in the placebo group. The results were in a dose-dependent manner, i.e., the higher doses lead to more significant decreases.8
A meta-analysis published in late 2018 investigating the effect of ALA supplementation on blood sugar and lipid profiles among patients with metabolic diseases, including type-2 diabetes and gestational diabetes, found that ALA significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, and HbA1c, in addition to lowering triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.9
Berberine
“Alongside a well-balanced, nutrient-dense diet, one of my favorite supplements to recommend to those looking to support healthy blood sugar balance is berberine,” Jennifer Reznick, NHC at Natural Grocers in Vancouver East, WA says.10 Berberine is a bitter-tasting plant compound that is frequently used in China as part of a treatment program for type-2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.11 In one trial of 36 newly diagnosed type-2 diabetic patients, berberine’s effect of lowering blood glucose was similar to that of metformin, a common diabetic drug, with researchers reporting significant decreases in HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, postprandial (post-meal) blood glucose, and triglycerides in the patients receiving berberine. The patients took 500 mg of berberine three times daily, before meals, for three months.12 In a second trial, the same researchers tested the effects of berberine on patients with poorly controlled type-2 diabetes and found that berberine lowered HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, and postprandial blood glucose in those patients as well; berberine also reduced fasting insulin and insulin resistance. The patients in this study took 500 mg of berberine three times daily, in addition to their other diabetes medications, for three months. Other research has found similar results, leading researchers to recommend berberine for therapeutic use.13 14
Chromium
Linzy says chromium is an essential mineral for supporting healthy insulin sensitivity. It is involved in the metabolism of glucose, insulin, and blood lipids and has been shown to improve blood glucose in patients with type-2 diabetes.15 Chromium picolinate in particular has been shown to improve insulin resistance and blood glucose control.16One thing that makes chromium all the more important is the fact that diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugar actually deplete chromium levels,” she explains. One four-month trial including patients with poorly controlled type-2 diabetes found that 600 mcg of chromium picolinate daily, in addition to their prescribed diabetic drugs, significantly reduced fasting glucose and postprandial glucose as well as HbA1c.17 Studies have found that people with type-2 diabetes tend to have lower blood levels of chromium than those without the disease18 and that people who take a chromium-containing supplement are less likely to have diabetes.19 Supplements containing 200-1,000 mcg of chromium have been found to improve blood glucose control.20
Cinnamon
Receiving widespread attention as an aid to support healthy blood sugar balance, is cinnamon something to take as a supplement or can you simply sprinkle it on oatmeal in the morning to get the benefits?
Reznick says it depends on what kind of support you are looking for.
“Cinnamon can be taken as a supplement to get a higher dose or it can be enjoyed as a spice on your food or as a tea,” she says.
Whole cinnamon has both fat-soluble and water-soluble components, she explains. The water-soluble component is responsible for the blood sugar benefits; therefore, when you opt for a cinnamon supplement you are getting more of the blood sugar-supporting water-soluble component.
One small study tested the effects of cinnamon on eight healthy male volunteers, who were supplemented with 3 grams of cinnamon or a placebo daily for two 14-day periods. The cinnamon reduced glucose and insulin responses in the participants, in addition to improving insulin sensitivity. However, the effects were lost when the supplementation ended, indicating that cinnamon must be taken long term for its blood sugar benefits.21
An earlier study of seven healthy male volunteers produced similar results. After supplementing with five grams of cinnamon, there was an immediate improvement in glucose response and an increase in insulin sensitivity, and the effects sustained for 12 hours.22
Insum
The holidays, and all of the sweet treats and carb-heavy dishes that ensue, can wreak havoc on blood sugar balance, especially for someone already struggling with blood sugar control. But if you start with a healthy diet as a base, then you can occasionally indulge without causing major damage. The key is to change your approach to eating—rebalance your macronutrients, with the bulk of your carbs coming from non-starchy vegetables, with limited amounts of other healthy carb sources like starchy vegetables, and the rest of your calories coming from healthy fats and moderate amounts of protein. This will help maintain a steady blood sugar balance, without the dramatic spikes that come with a diet that contains excessive amounts of grain-based carbs. Consider giving your body extra support with a few choice supplements that are proven to help maintain healthy blood sugar. And lastly, don’t be too hard, or too restrictive, on yourself! The holidays—and the treats that come with them—are meant to be enjoyed… in balance.
For personalized guidance and support for maintaining healthy blood sugar through the holiday season, call or visit your neighborhood Natural Grocers to schedule a coaching session with your local NHC.
Got the Blood Sugar Blues?
GOT THE BLOOD SUGAR BLUES?
The lowdown on prediabetes—and why it can undermine your health
Second chances rarely come in life, but if you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes, consider it your wake-up call. Prediabetes, which affects 84 million Americans, is a warning sign that you’re on the road to developing type 2 diabetes. But by making some strategic lifestyle changes, you can reverse this path and regain good health.
The Sugar Sabotage
Prediabetes occurs when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with full-blown type 2 diabetes. A diagnosis means that you also have an underlying condition called insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that transports sugar (glucose) from the bloodstream to the cells to use for energy. When you are insulin resistant, your muscle, fat, and liver cells don’t respond properly to insulin and can’t easily absorb glucose from the bloodstream. In response, the pancreas pumps out more and more insulin in an effort to shove glucose into the resistant cells. But over time, the pancreas loses its ability to compensate for the malfunction. As a result, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, circulating through your blood vessels instead of entering the cells.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), moderately elevated blood sugar means that, without making healthy lifestyle changes, you may be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within the next five years. But because prediabetes has no symptoms, it can often fly under the radar until you find you have type 2 diabetes.
Get Tested
Testing for prediabetes is a fairly simple process. A blood test, called an A1C test, will tell your health care provider critical information about your average blood sugar levels over the past three months. The A1C test result is reported as a percentage. The higher the percentage, the higher your blood glucose levels are. A normal A1C level is below 5.7 percent.
But here’s the rub. The A1C test is not as sensitive as other tests, like the fasting plasma insulin test. If this test is over 10 mIU/L it suggests insulin resistance even though it’s considered normal if it is under 25 mIU/L. The fasting plasma insulin level can identify how your body handles glucose after a meal—often before your fasting blood glucose level becomes abnormal. If you have several risk factors for prediabetes, it’s wise to discuss having both a glycosylated hemoglobin and a fasting insulin test with your doctor.
Take Action!
What you eat can either feed prediabetes or starve it. That’s why the number one change you can make is to eat a healthy diet. Avoid added sugar, simple carbohydrates, and heavily processed foods of any kind. It’s also wise to watch your portions since the more you eat, the more insulin your body needs to produce. Instead, consider adopting a low-carb paleo or ketogenic diet. These diets provide healthy amounts of good-for-you fats, lean protein, and nutrient-dense vegetables instead of processed carbs. This not only nourishes the body, it causes the body to use body fat and dietary fat for energy instead of sugar.
It’s also important to get moving! Increasing the amount of physical activity you get is a major component in the prevention of prediabetes. In addition to what it can do to strengthen your muscles, heart, and bones, exercise also helps you keep blood sugar levels in check. Doing both cardiovascular and strength training activities is the best way to balance a workout routine. Start slowly. Even 30 minutes of walking five times each week can get you on the track to a healthier future. Just make sure you choose an activity that you enjoy such as tennis, dancing, biking, or playing a team sport. This will help ensure that you stick with it. And don’t forget to include some resistance training. The latest research finds that weightlifting can improve blood sugar control.
Smart Supplements
Supplements can play an important role in managing blood sugar. One of particular note is an herb called Hintonia latiflora. Sometimes called “vegetable insulin,” Hintonia latiflora contains a neoflavanoid known as coutareagenin (COU) that decreases blood glucose levels, blood fats, and blood pressure. Thanks to ultrasound measurements, scientists have found that COU can safely:
- Metabolize carbohydrates and sugars by delaying glucose absorption
- Decrease blood glucose concentrations
- Change calcium and potassium levels that stiffen blood vessels
- Dilate blood vessels by relaxing the rings of tight muscle bands inside vessel walls
- Stimulate healthy insulin secretion
- Reduce A1C levels by as much as 10 percent
One Hintonia latiflora study followed 177 patients with prediabetes or mild type 2 diabetes for eight months. During the study, patients were evaluated every two months on various parameters including A1C, fasting glucose, and postprandial blood sugar (glucose measured after a meal), as well as common symptoms associated with diabetes, such as neuropathy. At the end of eight months, researchers noted that A1C improved by a dramatic average of 10.4 percent, fasting glucose improved an average of 23.3 percent, and post-meal glucose improved an average of 24.9 percent. Impressive to say the least!
When choosing a Hintonia latiflora supplement, look for a clinically studied form that delivers 20 mg of polyphenols from Hintonia latiflora bark extract when taken three times daily. The supplement should also provide B-vitamins, folic acid, chromium, zinc, and vitamins C and E. These ingredients help protect against oxidative damage to blood vessels, stop nerve damage, and keep your metabolism functioning the way that it should.
Because elevated blood sugar can lead to oxidative damage throughout the body, a powerful antioxidant is also essential. One free-radical fighting superstar is French grape seed extract. Rich in a family of chemicals known as oligomeric proanthocyanidin complexes (OPCs), a randomized, placebo-controlled trial that appeared in the British Journal of Nutrition found that grape seed extract boosted antioxidant levels in the blood, suppressed the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol, and reduced post-meal blood sugar concentrations compared to a placebo among a group of middle-aged people with metabolic syndrome (another condition that is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes). Earlier animal studies also suggest that the OPCs in grape seed extract help to balance blood sugar while also decreasing cholesterol levels and oxidative stress to the liver. But not all grape seed extracts optimize these benefits. It’s important to choose a tannin-free supplement that provides only low molecular weight OPCs for maximum absorption and bioavailability.
By opting for a whole-foods, low-carb diet, increasing your level of physical activity, and taking targeted supplements, you can greatly increase your chances of preventing—and even reversing—prediabetes. After all, it’s never too late to start making good health a priority.
Fast Facts
- 1 in 3 people have prediabetes.
- 9 out of every 10 aren’t aware they have the condition.
- Prediabetes increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, as well as type 2 diabetes.
- Without lifestyle changes, 15-30 percent of prediabetics will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.
You May Have Prediabetes If:
- You are 45 years old or older
- You are overweight
- Your body stores fat primarily around the abdomen
- You have a family history of type 2 diabetes
- You live a sedentary life
- You live for the Dollar Menu (frequently eating high-carb, sugar-filled processed food)
- You have high blood pressure or cholesterol
- You have a history of heart disease or stroke
- You’ve had gestational diabetes or gave birth to a 9+ pound baby
- You’re a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or high testosterone levels
- You’re a man with a testosterone level under 500 ng/dl (though your doctor may say it’s normal if it’s over 240 ng/dl)
- You are African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American or a Pacific Islander
Slay the Sugar Dragon
If you’ve ever tried to cut back on sugar, you know how incredibly difficult it is. Turns out, there’s a reason why. According to researchers at Princeton University, sugar hijacks your brain, affecting the natural reward centers. In fact, it’s estimated that sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine! But getting your sugar fix doesn’t just affect your brain. Sugar also sends your blood sugar levels on a wild roller coaster ride that can lead to weight gain and prediabetic sugar spikes. Here are some ways to loosen the grip of the sweet stuff:
Don’t go cold turkey. Abruptly going sugar-free can lead to withdrawal symptoms like headache, anxiety, and mood swings. Instead, ease off sugar gradually.
Know all the names for sugar. Common names for sugar include brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, high-fructose corn syrup, galactose, glucose, honey, hydrogenated starch, invert sugar, maltose, lactose, mannitol, maple syrup, molasses, polyols, raw sugar, sorghum, sucrose, sorbitol, and turbinado.
Ditch simple carbs. Pastries, cookies, muffins, and soft drinks offer little nutrition, but are packed with added sugar that can spike your blood sugar levels. And since they’re not hard to identify, it’s easy to slash them from your diet.
Forget fakes. Chemical sweeteners like aspartame or saccharin provide a sweet taste without calories, so when you eat or drink these foods, your hunger isn’t satisfied. A study in the journal Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism reports that drinking just one diet soda a day is linked to weight gain and diabetes.
Watch out for hidden sugar. Cough syrups, chewing gum, tomato sauce, baked beans, soups, salad dressings, and lunch meats often contain added sugar.
141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health
(Just Kidding, it’s 144)
By Nancy Appleton PhD & G.N. Jacobs
Excerpted from Suicide by Sugar
Used with permission
updated 2015
- Sugar can suppress your immune system.
- Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in the body.
- Sugar can cause juvenile delinquency in children.
- Sugar eaten during pregnancy and lactation can influence muscle force production in offspring, which can affect an individual’s ability to exercise.
- Sugar in soda, when consumed by children, results in the children drinking less milk.
- Sugar can elevate glucose and insulin responses and return them to fasting levels slower in oral contraceptive users.
- Sugar can increase reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage cells and tissues.
- Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, inability to concentrate and crankiness in children.
- Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
10. Sugar reduces the body’s ability to defend against bacterial infection.
11. Sugar causes a decline in tissue elasticity and function – the more sugar you eat, the more elasticity and function you lose.
12. Sugar reduces high-density lipoproteins (HDL).
13. Sugar can lead to chromium deficiency.
14. Sugar can lead to ovarian cancer.
15. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose.
16. Sugar causes copper deficiency.
17. Sugar interferes with the body’s absorption of calcium and magnesium.
18. Sugar may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration.
19. Sugar raises the level of neurotransmitters: dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine.
20. Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
21. Sugar can lead to an acidic digestive tract.
22. Sugar can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline levels in children.
23. Sugar is frequently malabsorbed in patients with functional bowel disease.
24. Sugar can cause premature aging.
25. Sugar can lead to alcoholism.
26. Sugar can cause tooth decay.
27. Sugar can lead to obesity.
28. Sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
29. Sugar can cause gastric or duodenal ulcers.
30. Sugar can cause arthritis.
31. Sugar can cause learning disorders in school children.
32. Sugar assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections).
33. Sugar can cause gallstones.
34. Sugar can cause heart disease.
35. Sugar can cause appendicitis.
36. Sugar can cause hemorrhoids.
37. Sugar can cause varicose veins.
38. Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
39. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
40. Sugar contributes to saliva acidity.
41. Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
42. Sugar can lower the amount of Vitamin E in the blood.
43. Sugar can decrease the amount of growth hormones in the body.
44. Sugar can increase cholesterol.
45. Sugar increases advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which form when sugar binds non-enzymatically to protein.
46. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein.
47. Sugar causes food allergies.
48. Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
49. Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
50. Sugar can lead to eczema in children.
51. Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
52. Sugar can impair the structure of DNA.
53. Sugar can change the structure of protein.
54. Sugar can make the skin wrinkle by changing the structure of collagen.
55. Sugar can cause cataracts.
56. Sugar can cause emphysema.
57. Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
58. Sugar can promote an elevation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL).
59. Sugar can impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in the body.
60. Sugar lowers enzymes ability to function.
61. Sugar intake is associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease.
62. Sugar can increase the size of the liver by making the liver cells divide.
63. Sugar can increase the amount of liver fat.
64. Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
65. Sugar can damage the pancreas.
66. Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
67. Sugar is the number one enemy of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect children’s grades in school.
74. Sugar can cause depression.
75. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
76. Sugar can cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
77. Sugar can increase the risk of developing gout.
78. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in the blood much higher than complex carbohydrates in a glucose tolerance test can.
79. Sugar reduces learning capacity.
80. Sugar can cause two blood proteins – albumin and lipoproteins – to function less effectively, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
81. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
82. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness, which causes blood clots.
83. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance – some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
84. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
85. Sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
86. Sugar can lead to biliary tract cancer.
87. Sugar increases the risk of pregnant adolescents delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
88. Sugar can lead to a substantial decrease the in the length of pregnancy among adolescents.
89. Sugar slows food’s travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
90. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stool and bacterial enzymes in the colon, which can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
91. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
92. Sugar combines with and destroys phosphatase, a digestive enzyme, which makes digestion more difficult.
93. Sugar can be a risk factor for gallbladder cancer.
94. Sugar is an addictive substance.
95. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
96. Sugar can aggravate premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
97. Sugar can decrease emotional stability.
98. Sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese people.
99. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit disorder (ADD).
- Sugar can slow the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
- Sugar can cut off oxygen to the brain when given to people intravenously.
- Sugar is a risk factor for lung cancer.
- Sugar increases the risk of polio.
- Sugar can cause epileptic seizures.
- Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure (pressure when the heart is contracting).
- Sugar can induce cell death.
- Sugar can increase the amount of food that you eat.
- Sugar can cause antisocial behavior in juvenile delinquents.
- Sugar can lead to prostate cancer.
- Sugar dehydrates newborns.
- Sugar can cause women to give birth to babies with low birth weight.
- Sugar is associated with a worse outcome of schizophrenia.
- Sugar can raise homocysteine levels in the bloodstream.
- Sugar increases the risk of breast cancer.
- Sugar is a risk factor in small intestine cancer.
- Sugar can cause laryngeal cancer.
- Sugar induces salt and water retention.
- Sugar can contribute to mild memory loss.
- Sugar water, when given to children shortly after birth, results in those children preferring sugar water to regular water throughout childhood.
- Sugar causes constipation.
- Sugar can cause brain decay in pre-diabetic and diabetic women.
- Sugar can increase the risk of stomach cancer.
- Sugar can cause metabolic syndrome.
- Sugar increases neural tube defects in embryos when it is consumed by pregnant women.
- Sugar can cause asthma.
- Sugar increases the chances of getting irritable bowl syndrome.
- Sugar can affect central reward systems.
- Sugar can cause cancer of the rectum.
- Sugar can cause endometrial cancer.
- Sugar can cause renal (kidney) cell cancer.
- Sugar can cause liver tumors.
- Sugar can increase inflammatory markers in the bloodstreams of overweight people.
- Sugar plays a role in the cause and the continuation of acne.
- Sugar can ruin the sex life of both men and women by turning off the gene that controls the sex hormones.
- Sugar can cause fatigue, moodiness, nervousness, and depression.
- Sugar can make many essential nutrients less available to cells.
- Sugar can increase uric acid in blood.
- Sugar can lead to higher C-peptide concentrations.
- Sugar causes inflammation.
- Sugar can cause diverticulitis, a small bulging sac pushing outward from the colon wall that is inflamed.
- Sugar can decrease testosterone production.
- Sugar impairs spatial memory.
- Sugar can cause cataracts.
- Sugar is associated with higher rates of chronic bronchitis in adults. Appleton, Nancy. “141 Reasons Sugar Ruins Your Health.” Nancy Appleton Books Health Blog, 29 Nov. 2015, nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/. https://nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/
The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds
The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds
CreditAndrew Sondern/The New York Times
Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that the standard prescription for weight loss is to reduce the amount of calories you consume.
But a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, may turn that advice on its head. It found that people who cut back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods while concentrating on eating plenty of vegetables and whole foods — without worrying about counting calories or limiting portion sizes — lost significant amounts of weight over the course of a year.
The strategy worked for people whether they followed diets that were mostly low in fat or mostly low in carbohydrates. And their success did not appear to be influenced by their genetics or their insulin-response to carbohydrates, a finding that casts doubt on the increasingly popular idea that different diets should be recommended to people based on their DNA makeup or on their tolerance for carbs or fat.
The research lends strong support to the notion that diet quality, not quantity, is what helps people lose and manage their weight most easily in the long run. It also suggests that health authorities should shift away from telling the public to obsess over calories and instead encourage Americans to avoid processed foods that are made with refined starches and added sugar, like bagels, white bread, refined flour and sugary snacks and beverages, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
“This is the road map to reducing the obesity epidemic in the United States,” said Dr. Mozaffarian, who was not involved in the new study. “It’s time for U.S. and other national policies to stop focusing on calories and calorie counting.”
The new research was published in JAMA and led by Christopher D. Gardner, the director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. It was a large and expensive trial, carried out on more than 600 people with $8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Nutrition Science Initiative and other groups.
Dr. Gardner and his colleagues designed the study to compare how overweight and obese people would fare on low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets. But they also wanted to test the hypothesis — suggested by previous studies — that some people are predisposed to do better on one diet over the other depending on their genetics and their ability to metabolize carbs and fat. A growing number of services have capitalized on this idea by offering people personalized nutrition advice tailored to their genotypes.
The researchers recruited adults from the Bay Area and split them into two diet groups, which were called “healthy” low carb and “healthy” low fat. Members of both groups attended classes with dietitians where they were trained to eat nutrient-dense, minimally processed whole foods, cooked at home whenever possible.
Soft drinks, fruit juice, muffins, white rice and white bread are technically low in fat, for example, but the low-fat group was told to avoid those things and eat foods like brown rice, barley, steel-cut oats, lentils, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, quinoa, fresh fruit and legumes. The low-carb group was trained to choose nutritious foods like olive oil, salmon, avocados, hard cheeses, vegetables, nut butters, nuts and seeds, and grass-fed and pasture-raised animal foods.
The participants were encouraged to meet the federal guidelines for physical activity but did not generally increase their exercise levels, Dr. Gardner said. In classes with the dietitians, most of the time was spent discussing food and behavioral strategies to support their dietary changes.
The new study stands apart from many previous weight-loss trials because it did not set extremely restrictive carbohydrate, fat or caloric limits on people and emphasized that they focus on eating whole or “real” foods — as much as they needed to avoid feeling hungry.
“The unique thing is that we didn’t ever set a number for them to follow,” Dr. Gardner said.
Of course, many dieters regain what they lose, and this study cannot establish whether participants will be able to sustain their new habits. While people on average lost a significant amount of weight in the study, there was also wide variability in both groups. Some people gained weight, and some lost as much as 50 to 60 pounds. Dr. Gardner said that the people who lost the most weight reported that the study had “changed their relationship with food.” They no longer ate in their cars or in front of their television screens, and they were cooking more at home and sitting down to eat dinner with their families, for example.
“We really stressed to both groups again and again that we wanted them to eat high-quality foods,” Dr. Gardner said. “We told them all that we wanted them to minimize added sugar and refined grains and eat more vegetables and whole foods. We said, ‘Don’t go out and buy a low-fat brownie just because it says low fat. And those low-carb chips — don’t buy them, because they’re still chips and that’s gaming the system.’”
Dr. Gardner said many of the people in the study were surprised — and relieved — that they did not have to restrict or even think about calories.
“A couple weeks into the study people were asking when we were going to tell them how many calories to cut back on,” he said. “And months into the study they said, ‘Thank you! We’ve had to do that so many times in the past.’”
Calorie counting has long been ingrained in the prevailing nutrition and weight loss advice. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, tells people who are trying to lose weight to “write down the foods you eat and the beverages you drink, plus the calories they have, each day,” while making an effort to restrict the amount of calories they eat and increasing the amount of calories they burn through physical activity.
“Weight management is all about balancing the number of calories you take in with the number your body uses or burns off,” the agency says.
Yet the new study found that after one year of focusing on food quality, not calories, the two groups lost substantial amounts of weight. On average, the members of the low-carb group lost just over 13 pounds, while those in the low-fat group lost about 11.7 pounds. Both groups also saw improvements in other health markers, like reductions in their waist sizes, body fat, and blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
The researchers took DNA samples from each subject and analyzed a group of genetic variants that influence fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Ultimately the subjects’ genotypes did not appear to influence their responses to the diets.
The researchers also looked at whether people who secreted higher levels of insulin in response to carbohydrate intake — a barometer of insulin resistance — did better on the low-carb diet. Surprisingly, they did not, Dr. Gardner said, which was somewhat disappointing.
“It would have been sweet to say we have a simple clinical test that will point out whether you’re insulin resistant or not and whether you should eat more or less carbs,” he added.
Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, said the study did not support a “precision medicine” approach to nutrition, but that future studies would be likely to look at many other genetic factors that could be significant. He said the most important message of the study was that a “high quality diet” produced substantial weight loss and that the percentage of calories from fat or carbs did not matter, which is consistent with other studies, including many that show that eating healthy fats and carbs can help prevent heart disease, diabetes and other diseases.
“The bottom line: Diet quality is important for both weight control and long-term well-being,” he said.
Dr. Gardner said it is not that calories don’t matter. After all, both groups ultimately ended up consuming fewer calories on average by the end of the study, even though they were not conscious of it. The point is that they did this by focusing on nutritious whole foods that satisfied their hunger.
“I think one place we go wrong is telling people to figure out how many calories they eat and then telling them to cut back on 500 calories, which makes them miserable,” he said. “We really need to focus on that foundational diet, which is more vegetables, more whole foods, less added sugar and less refined grains.”
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: How Much Do Calories Count?
O’connor, Anahad. “The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity, a New Study Finds.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/well/eat/counting-calories-weight-loss-diet-dieting-low-carb-low-fat.html.
THE TOP 5 STRESS-CAUSING FOODS YOU SHOULD AVOID
by Dr. Josh Axe
09.08.2017
Dr. Josh Axe, DNM, DC, CNS
A looming deadline at work. Your mother-in-law’s impending visit. Getting the kids’ science fair projects out of the way—the night before they’re due. No matter your current stage of life, it’s likely that you experience stress on a regular basis. And while some stress can be good—inspiring you tomake a change in your life, or lighting the fire you need to get something done—getting stressed too often and staying stressed for too long is detrimental to your health.
When we’re constantly stressed, our body remains in fight-or-flight mode, which triggers a host of physiological responses, including an increase in cortisol levels. And while that’s helpful in situations like facing a wild grizzly bear head on, remaining in that stressed-out, fight-or-flight state over a long period of time can lead to health issues ranging from weight gain to increased inflammation (which is the root cause of most diseases) to elevated blood sugar. Chronic stress is also a cause of adrenal fatigue, a condition that happens when the body and adrenal glands struggle to keep up with the demands of external stressors, and can lead to symptoms like depression, inflammation, and poor focus.
As if that wasn’t concerning enough, the reality is that it isn’t just our environments or tough situations that cause stress. Indeed, certain foods can have the same negative impact on the body. So if you want to reduce stress levels and decrease your risk of disease, learning how to naturally relieve stress can help—as can steering clear of the following foods:
1. SUGAR
If you want to reduce stress, sugar is one of the first ingredients to cut out of your diet. When you’re stressed, the body releases more cortisol, a hormone responsible for helping us manage both stress and blood sugar levels. That’s because when you eat sugary foods, blood sugar levels spike, and the body must release more cortisol to balance blood sugar. The problem is that increased cortisol can also cause sleep issues, decreased immune response, headaches, and unhealthy food cravings. Additionally, rapidly fluctuating blood sugar levels cause feelings that are similar to stress, including anxiousness and fear.
By eliminating foods with added sugars—like pastries, flavored yogurt, and soda—and eating more whole foods, you’ll keep your blood sugar stable, which means fewer mood swings, reduced stress, and a happier body.
2. ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
Sugar is bad enough on its own. But all too often, food products aren’t even sweetened with the real thing—instead, they’re packed with artificial sweeteners. These artificial sweeteners can lead to health problems like headaches, metabolic disease, and cardiovascular disease. But they can also result in an addiction to sugary foods by retraining your taste buds, causing you to seek out even more sweet (and largely unhealthy) foods.
If that wasn’t bad enough, artificial sweeteners also have side effects that can lead to stress. Aspartame, for example, is found in more than 6,000 foods and drinks and in 500 prescription and over-the-counter drugs, and it causes migraines, mood disorders, and manic episodes. And just like other types of sugar, these artificial sweeteners don’t do your blood sugar any favors. Skip the sugar and fake sweeteners and try these natural sweeteners instead.
3. PROCESSED CARBOHYDRATES
Processed, refined carbohydrates might taste good to your tongue, but they’re not doing anything for your body. For starters, they have no nutritional value and are actually worthless calories. And they also lead to fluctuating blood sugar levels that can cause you to feel moody and irritable.
Many processed carbs, particularly standard packaged foods, are high in sodium. And aside from making you extra thirsty, that extra sodium causes your body to retain more fluid, which then forces your heart to work harder to keep the blood pumping. It can also increase blood pressure,making you feel bloated and generally unwell, which can certainly increase your stress levels.
4. ALCOHOL
A glass of wine might help you feel more relaxed after an intense day, but have much more than that and you’re likely negating any of alcohol’s health benefits and, instead, adding more stress to your life. That’s because drinking alcohol can increase the production of hormones that will leave you feeling anxious and more stressed than before you began imbibing. It can also increase blood pressure and heart rate and trigger those same stress-like symptoms within the body. Lots of alcoholic drinks are also packed with sugar, which means you’ll be getting a double whammy of stress-causing ingredients—first from the alcohol and then from whatever way-too-sweet mixer is used in your cocktail.
And if you think you’ll just sleep off the stress, that’s unlikely. Alcohol disrupts your sleep patterns, so while you might fall asleep more easily than usual, you won’t get the deep sleep that’s necessary to feel refreshed. The result is a cranky morning after and—you guessed it!—more stress.
5. EXCESS CAFFEINE
If you can’t function without your morning cup of Joe, you don’t need to give up coffee completely. But if you’re regularly drinking several cups each day, you’re likely going to find yourself feeling more stressed than you’d like. Too much caffeine can spell trouble for your adrenal glands by overstimulating the body. And because it stimulates the nervous system, caffeine can cause a rise in blood pressure and heart rate that will ultimately increase feelings of anxiety. In fact, if you suffer from anxiety, one of the first things you should do is cut out caffeine.
Finally, it’s important to remember that caffeine isn’t found in just coffee. It’s also in soft drinks, certain types of tea, energy drinks, over-the-counter pain relievers, and even chocolate.
AXE, DR. JOSH. “Foods That Cause Stress: 5 You Should Avoid.” Runtastic Blog, Runtastic, 26 Feb. 2018, www.runtastic.com/blog/en/foods-that-cause-stress/.
Cut back on Sugars and Refined Carbs to Help Prevent Cardiovascular Disease
CUT BACK ON SUGARS AND REFINED CARBS
TO HELP PREVENT CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Had one dessert too many lately? Consider the following research as reasons to get serious about changing your eating habits. Several new studies have found that eating a lot of sugary foods, including refined high-gylycemic carbohydrates, can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, fatty liver, and inflammation. Other recent research has shown that eating three low-carb meals in a row can significantly improve blood sugar and insulin levels-in effect, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems triggered by sugars and other refined carbs.
Emily Sonestedt, PhD, and her colleagues at Lund University, Sweden, analyzed health and diet data obtained from 26,190 men and women who did not have diabetes or heart disease when the study began. After an average of 17 years of follow up, the researchers identified 2,493 cases of fatal or nonfatal heart attack or death from ischemic heart disease.
Sonestedt and her colleagues focused specifically on the consumption of sucrose, the most common added sugar used in Sweden. The researchers reported that people who consumed 15 percent or more of their carbohydrate calories from sucrose were 37 percent more likely to have serious or fatal heart problems, compared with those who consumed less than 5 percent as sucrose.
A similar study focused on the risk of stoke. Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Shanghai Jiaotong University China, analyzed data obtained from 64,328 Chinese women. Over 12 years of follow up, 2,991 cases of stroke were documented. Women eating the most high-glycemic foods, which trigger a spike in blood sugar levels, had a 19 percent higher
risk of stoke. However, women consuming the highest glycemic load in their foods-a more accurate measure-had a 27 percent greater risk of stroke.
Another study, by Stephen Bawden, PhD, of Nottingham University in the United Kingdom, placed eight young, healthy men on either a high or low-glycemic diet for seven days. A month later, they were placed on the alternate diet.
As the ressearchers had expected, blood glucose and insulin levels were much higher after the high-glycemic diet, compared with the low-glycemic diet. However, they reported that just one week on the high-glycemic diet significantly raised levels of liver fat and liver storage of sugar.
“This may have important clinical relevance for dietary interventions in the prevention and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease,” wrote Bawden.
Finally, in a study conducted at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Katarina T. Borer, PhD, asked 32 healthy postmenopausal women to test the effects of a 30-percent carbohydrate and a 60-percent carbohydrate diet, with or without exercise added before the second and third meals.
It turned out that the third low-carb meal was the charm. After consuming the htird low-carb meal on one day, and without exercise, evening insulin levels decreased by 39 percent and evening insulin resistance decreased by 37 percent. In addition, levels of “glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide,” a hormone involved in the post-meal release of insulin, decreased by 48 percent.
Challem, Jack. “Cut Back on Sugars and Refined Carbs to Help Prevent Cardiovascular Disease.” Natural Grocers good4u, Nov. 2018, pp. 28–28.
Why Sugar Is Bad For You
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
WHY SUGAR IS BAD FOR YOU
Added sugar is the single worst ingredient in our diets today. It has a harmful effect on our metabolism and can contribute to many diseases. Since the onset of eating less fat, food manufacturers added sugar to compensate for the change in taste due to lower fat content. This may be one of the reasons why we are experiencing a big rise in obesity and diabetes in our country.
Most of us probably have no idea how much sugar we consume as part of our daily intake. We may think that our intake is minimal, but there is sugar hidden in almost everything we eat. According to diet surveys conducted by the USDA, the average American consumes 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day, which is equivalent to 80 grams of sugar. The recommended sugar intake for most individuals is 10 teaspoons (40 grams). Listed below are the sugar levels in popular foods.
* 12 oz. can of Pepsi contains 10 teaspoons (40 grams) of sugar.
* 2 oz. piece of candy contains 11 teaspoons (44 grams) of sugar.
* 8 oz. of lemonade contains 7 teaspoons (28 grams) of sugar.
* 4 oz. of reduced fat ice cream contains 4 teaspoons (16 grams) of sugar.
* A cup of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes contains 4 teaspoons (16 grams) of sugar.
Here are some of the reasons that sugar is bad for us.
* Added sugars have no nutrients and are bad for your teeth.
They are called “empty” calories because they have no proteins, fats, vitamins, or
minerals. When your diet contains 10-20% sugars, this can create serious problems
and deprive the body of needed nutrients.
* Added sugar is high in fructose. and can damage your liver.
Before sugar enters the bloodstream, it is broken down into glucose and fructose.
This is not a problem if we consume small amounts. However, if we eat too much, it will
overload the liver and convert the sugar to fat.
* Sugar can cause insulin resistance, which is a stepping-stone towards Diabetes.
Insulin is a very important hormone because it monitors glucose.
Having too much glucose in the blood can be very toxic, and lead to complications with
Diabetes.
* Sugar can give you cancer.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and is characterized by uncontrolled
growth and multiplication of cells.
Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating this growth.
Studies show that people who eat a lot of sugar are at a much higher risk of getting
cancer.
* Sugar is highly addictive.
Sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain, and is similar to
abusive drugs and alcohol.
People who have a susceptibility to addiction can become strongly addicted to sugar.
* Sugar is a leading contributor to obesity in children and adults.
People who consume the most sugars are the most likely to become overweight or
obese. This applies to children and adults.
The risk is especially strong in children. because of the sodas, cereal, candies, etc. that
they consume.
Adapted from “Excess Sugar Consumption ” and “Authority Nutrition.”
JANUARY 11, 2015 – BAPTISM OF THE LORD