June 2008, the Web
In the space of less than a century, Americans have gone from consuming 15 pounds of sugar per year per person to consuming approximately 150 pounds per person. You can visualize this by imagining a life size statue of yourself made of pure white crystalline sugar being the amount you eat in a year.
This sugar is not actually food; it is refined, "purified" sugar stripped of any vitamins or minerals that have given it color or nutritional value when it was sugar cane or beets. It is more of a chemical than food and is highly addictive.
This current state of sugar addiction began in the 80's with the introduction of the food pyramid which replaced the "four food groups". For those too young to remember, this was bread and grains on the bottom, and progressing upwards fruit and vegetables, then eggs and dairy, and meat. No fat, or very little at the tippy-top. The food pyramid strongly cautioned people against eating fatty substances of any kind because of risk of arterial plaque and heart disease, and this began the low-fat/no-fat craze that's been plaguing the food industry at first and our health in consequence, ever since.
Given the fact that fat gives food its flavor and also signals our bodies satiety (the feeling that we have eaten enough), when food manufacturers removed fat from foods they had to replace it with something that tasted good enough for you to buy it. That magical ingredient was sugar.
The happy byproduct of this new food manufacturing practice was that sugar being highly addictive, the more of it a manufacturer put in a food, the more products they could sell. Children could now have 13-25 grams of sugar in their breakfast cereal, which is 1/2 to 1 oz. (or 1-2 tbsp) sugar topped with fluffy, colored cardboard swimming in a little thin blue no-fat milk. Hello, Ritalin.
The result of this much sugar entering our bodies on a regular basis is that the energy management system of the body goes crazy. Normally, we eat three classes of food: protein (meat, nuts, eggs, milk products), fat (oils, nuts, meat, fish, milk products, fatty fruits) and carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables, grains and beans). Protein and fat are used by the body to build and repair cells, make transport molecules and hormones etc. Carbs are broken down and used for quick energy.
The body is incredibly efficient at dismantling everything we eat and reconstructing it into new shapes for its needs. A certain amount of surplus is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen, the body's own form of sugar, ready and available to be mobilized quickly whenever needed. Anything not needed goes into storage as fat. Yes.
When we eat too much sugar, two basic things happen. One: the excess is stored as fat. Two: the constant demand for insulin, the hormone that escorts sugar into cells for energy, either causes the cells to become insulin resistant (not let sugar in) or wears out the pancreas (diabetes). The third sugar management problem is hypoglycemia (not enough blood sugar) which sometimes can result from drastic diets and haphazard eating habits. In either case, without a steady supply of energy the body is unable to maintain on an even keel and lurches up and down throughout the day like a sailboat in a storm.
The high level of circulating sugar in the bloodstream is very abrasive, some even call it toxic. This causes the body to resort to various coping mechanisms in order to protect itself. Unfortunately, these lead to further problems down the road. High levels of cholesterol, heart disease, adrenal stress, a depressed immune system, emotional ups and downs, male/female hormone imbalances, PCOS, and of course, weight gain that no amount of dieting will take off - the list seems nearly endless.
Many so called personality traits and emotional ups and downs can also be attributed to too much or not enough blood sugar: irritability, headaches, shakiness, combative attitudes, lethargy, anxiety, apathy, nervousness and more can all result from blood sugar imbalance.
Another factor contributing to blood sugar swings is stress. The connection between stress and most of the major diseases plaguing us has been well proven in the scientific literature. Unfortunately, we have created a lifestyle that is loaded with stress on a daily basis. Stress initiates a cascade of events that will cause blood sugar problems even without eating too much sugar.
The third key ingredient for this recipe of disaster is our sedentary lifestyle. As I mentioned before, glycogen (the body's special sugar) is stored in the liver and in muscles. As we lose muscle mass and gain fat in its place, our sugar storage capacity diminishes and we become prey to massive blood sugar fluctuations. Furthermore, excess fat creates inflammation, which puts more stress on the body and so the vicious cycle continues. There is just no way to be healthy without moving.
The solution seems simple: put the (right) fat back and take the sugar out. However, in more than twenty years, a generation and a half later, people had forgotten what and how they used to eat. What kind of fat is good for you and what food has it? What kind of carbohydrates are good and when and how to eat it? This knowledge was built into our traditions and we didn't even have to know the reasons for it, it was just how we always did things.
Creating new sensible eating and lifestyle habits takes some effort and expert guidance, but the results are well worth it. The body has a marvelous capacity for self repair. As you provide your body with a steady supply of energy plus important vitamins, minerals and enzymes, the body is able to rebuild its damaged systems.
The key to rebuilding your health is in a three-pronged approach: eating to maintain steady blood sugar levels and to normalize your weight; learning effective stress management; and creating an effective movement plan to build back lean muscle. In effect, this approach addresses the three major factors that imbalance blood sugar and results in enhanced energy, mood and well being.
More articles by Agnes
Blood sugar — Blood sugar levels crucial to maintaining a healthy body and mind
FDA food pyramid — Eat your fats: the skinny on the new pyramid
Herbal medicine — Secret garden medicine: a medicinal walk through the garden
Male hormones— Vitality, vigor and virility: are we losing it?
Metabolic typing — Metabolic typing:the key to normalizing weight and improving metabolism
Nutrition & personality — Baby, is it really you? The connection between "personality" and nutritional deficiencies
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