Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Sugar - What's the deal?



My study materials arrived yesterday for my personal training certificate! I’ve been using loaner books until now. As of today I have my very own – I feel official. I spent a solid two hours at Train Gym today; side note I absolutely love this place. I’ve never walked into a gym and felt comfortable before. It is privately owned and everyone there has been incredibly nice. More on that later…..

After my two hour leg work out, I was famished! Luckily I planned ahead and brought celery sticks to munch on and a Vega protein bar for recovery. Those bars are not only Plant Based Paige approved but so f-ing delicious I swear I work out more just as an excuse to eat them. The great thing about all Vega products is they only use truly natural sweeteners like stevia or dates.

Avoiding traditional sugars (white, brown, cane) are vital to your health. Dropping those crappy sweeteners was one of the best things I did for my body, skin, moods, and energy levels.

To keep this simple I’m just going to toss out a few facts about sugar and what it does to the body. Please feel free to add any questions or comments to the comment section!

·         White sugar leeches you of minerals contributing to anemia, osteoporosis and anxiety among other things.
·         With sugar we lose B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron and peace of mind.
·         Produces acidic blood (because it steals alkaline minerals).
§         Viruses, cancer and all other types of illness love an acid environment.
·         It causes inflammation and can constrict nerves causing pain.
·         Can contribute to chronic spasm, scattered thinking and is considered a major player in mental illnesses like Schizophrenia.
·         Sugar is addictive and may be the underlying factor in every addictive behavior: depression, compulsive behavior, scattered thinking, and in states of withdraw: lethargy, intense cravings, anger, negativity, night sweats, nightmares, and crying to name a few.
·         Messes with our pancreas and insulin levels that can lead to diabetes.
·         Sugar causes weight gain because it supplies only empty, low quality calories and excessive carbohydrates that are converted to fat.
·         Some studies show that sugar can actually age the skin faster causing wrinkles, pimples, dry and/or splotchy skin.
·         Coupled with other negatives influences it contributes to the eventual breakdown of the body.

Now the good news! You need sugar in your life. Good quality sugar. I’ve heard people talk about a completely sugar free diet (including no fruit) which is a bad thing. The brain cannot function on anything but glucose. Fruit is glucose in the body. Some facts:

·         Less refined sweeteners made from fermented complex carbohydrates, like brown rice syrup, barley malt, and amasake, take a longer time to hit he bloodstream and don’t take us on quiet the roller coaster ride.
·         Maple syrup and molasses also contain lots of minerals to help metabolize them well.
·         The sugar in fruit is un-tampered with and supplies the body with the nutrients it craves. It also supplies fiber.


When talking to younger people about nutrition I always get this sense that they aren’t worried about it. Many still have that “invincibility” thing going on. I highly encourage you to think about future you. If you have parents in the retirement age talk to them, go to an event with them and see what the topics of conversation are for that age range, in my experience: death, disease, cancer, diabetes, weight issues, etc. AGING DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. Make yourself a priority and start eating, acting, and being better now.

There is a great quote from Fit for Life that sums it up.

“Picture a large bay window. If you were to throw a small pebble at the window, it would not break. But throw one hundred thousand small pebbles, and the window will shatter. Each negative influence on your body is like one pebble, and all together those influences can and will break down your body’s health.”

For your sweet tooth check out my chocolate lavender cheesecake!

10 comments:

  1. Stevia tastes like poop. How do I make date paste??!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Sean! Date paste is easy and yummy. soak your dates for 10ish minutes. Remove the pits and chop. put in a food processor and run the machine adding a little bit of water at a time until it reaches the constancy you like. That's it! Chopping them up first makes a difference in getting a smoother paste.

      Delete
  2. "Sugar is addictive and may be the underlying factor in every addictive behavior: depression, compulsive behavior, scattered thinking, and in states of withdraw: lethargy, intense cravings, anger, negativity, night sweats, nightmares, and crying to name a few."

    This is me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As a Registered and Licensed Dietitian I find your blog interesting. Would you mind sharing your resources so I can look into more of these subjects for my clients?

    I am especially interested in this bullet point: "With sugar we lose B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, iron and peace of mind." I'm not sure what you mean by "lose." You may mean that people replace nutritious foods with sugar laden foods? If so, that would make sense to me. Otherwise, I don't necessarily understand how we lose B vitamins when we eat sugar. If you could point me in the direction of that research study, I would love to see it.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Paula. Thank you so much for your comment, that is an excellent question! I used a number of books for the research, that particular one comes from Dr. Gordon Tessler, author of "The Genesis Diet." His information states: Foods containing sugars rely on B vitamins, calcium and magnesium for their digestion - excess consumption of refined sugars may deplete your body's supply. I hope that helps.

      Delete
    2. I'd really like too if you add some references to your writings... :)

      Delete
  5. Have you done a review on the 80/10/10 diet? I know it calls for mostly fruit, = lot of sugar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i haven't, my body doesn't respond well to that much sugar. i know some nutritionists are behind it and i think it might work for some people - as i believe earlier humans lived this way. but my body isn't having it!

      Delete