Nutrition

Whether the health issue is diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure, consuming excess sugar probably played a role, if not the main role. Humans have always loved food with a sweet taste. Babies immediately love the sweet taste of baby food dessert far more than they like green beans. Some believe it is part of our instincts to like sweet things, dating back to the day when wild food that was sweet was normally safe to eat. Today, sugar is in almost all food, just read the labels. It’s in ketchup, commercial soup, and even canned fruit and it’s ruining your health.

Manufacturers try to trick you with advertising.

You’ve heard the ads for some types of sugar, like high fructose corn syrup. They say it’s natural, so it must be good for you. Tobacco is natural, too and it’s not healthy. The truth is that there’s nothing natural about high fructose corn syrup and nothing healthy about most sugar. The sugar in fruit doesn’t affect your body as much as when you eat the entire fruit, since the fiber in the fruit slows the rush of glucose into the blood.

Sugar assaults the immune system.

The immune system protects the body from bacteria, viruses, and even cancer cells. One of the more important nutrients for immune health is vitamin C. Vitamin C’s structure is similar to glucose. The white blood cells that latch on to vitamin C use it to help fight invaders. When you have too much glucose in your blood, it grabs the glucose, which leaves them powerless. Any food, even some healthy food, like orange juice, can have the same effect, but only if you drink the juice instead of eating the orange. The fiber in the orange slows the amount of glucose entering the bloodstream.

Sugar speeds aging and increase AGEs—advanced glycation end products—in your body.

When protein and fat combine with sugar, it creates AGEs. They accumulate in the body and can build to high levels, increasing the risk for diseases and ironically, speeding up the aging process. AGEs attack collagen and elastin, which are necessary for young looking skin, making you look older than you are. High levels are not only associated with chronic diseases like heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure and aging. AGEs cause oxidative stress, inflammation, and damage the body’s cells.

• Sugar is highly addictive, which makes it harder to quit. It enters dopamine receptors in the brain just like opiates, to make you feel good. The more sugar you eat, the more you need to get the same sweet taste.
• Sugar can lead to heart disease. The American Heart Association suggests men limit sugar intake to 9 teaspoons a day and women limit theirs to 6 teaspoons. The average can of soda contains 9 teaspoons.
• Poor eyesight, varicose veins, gallstones, and arthritis are increased when you consume too much sugar. It is a far bigger enemy of health than fat, except trans fats.
• Sugar negatively affects your brain and affects your ability to learn and remember. It can be linked to dementia and memory problems that can occur with aging.

For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym