Friday, April 27, 2012

Sugar: Harmless or Toxic?

CBS featured an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the latest studies demonstrating the harmful effects of sugar. It's startling. But what I find interesting is that this information isn't exactly new at all. Studies have been done for years now proving sugar to be quite toxic. It just seems to be taking our society some time to catch on. Sugar is in almost every processed food item on the shelves even organic ones. The main problem with sugar is the refining process not the pesticides. Don't be fooled by organic processed foods. Always read the ingredients, don't even waste your time reading all the labels or nutrition facts, just go straight for the ingredients list.
You will never hear me say 'a calorie in is a calorie out' as the reporter says was the old nutritionist motto. The quality of that calorie makes all the difference.There are in fact natural sweeteners that used in moderation have health benefits. Honey, maple syrup, molasses, and pure stevia are some wonderful options.

It's all to often that children are given candy, cupcakes or ice cream with little restraint. The common child begs 'Mommy can I have a fruit roll-up?' and the mother replies 'Okay, but that's it, you've had too much sugar today.' But how much is too much and do we even realize how much sugar our children are getting each day? Do we realize how much we ourselves are taking in? Probably not because very few of us actually read the labels of the packaged foods we eat. And even fewer of us actually eat foods that are not processed or packaged.
Please do NOT substitute sugar for artificial sweeteners. Key word: artificial. We don't want to put anything artificial in our bodies. We want to feed our bodies plenty of nutrient dense real foods as Dr. Sanjay Gupta stated. Foods that have been consumed by people for generations; fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, legumes, whole grains, high quality eggs, fish, meats and raw dairy. These foods are full of all the right vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fats that support good health.

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