Sugar - Sugar - Sugar

Do you have the ‘sugar gene’?  I do . . . my best friend, Teresa does, and even though as a family,
we embrace above average eating habits, both of my children have ‘the sugar gene.’

Recently, I read an article by clinical nutritionist Nancy Appleton, PhD, that sugar is more
addictive than cocaine, based on animal studies.
WHY?  Because sugar, like drugs and alcohol will elevate your mood!
It’s brief — remember, you’ll have a sugar crash.  Your mood is elevated because sugar briefly
elevates levels of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter that produces positive feelings.

Excess sugar has been linked to obesity, cancer, diabetes, and dementia — I can personally add to that
WILD KIDS, lack of energy, and general malaise.

Reading Nancy’s article inspired me to do a little more research . . .
Here are some more startling statistics:

For the first time in human history there are more fat and obese people in the world than
hungry people.

There are more than 1 billion obese people in the world who are diagnosed as obese — 18 million
of them are under the age of 5.

We now, on the average consume more than our weight in sugar each year.  For most people that is more than 140 pounds — or more than 48 teaspoons a day. 

How Much Sugar Are You Eating?

Now out of the 140 pounds — 74 pounds is ‘added’ sugar.  That means sugar that is added to various
foods or beverages we eat/drink during the processing or preparation as opposed to sugars that occur
naturally.

If you are trying to cut back on sugar, you need to become a label reader.  Labels list ingredients
in the order of quantity.  If sugar appears in the top 3, you can be sure it’s a lot — if it’s in
the top 5–you should be careful.

Now what is considered a sugar?  Here are just are just a few:

Sugar
Barley Malt
Galactose
Agave Nectar
Honey
Maple Syrup
Corn Sweetener
Dectrine
Rice Syrup
Glucose
Sucrose
Dextrose
High Fructose Corn Syrup

Those labels can be sneaky and there are more — but that’s a start.

According to CBS, sugar is added to more than 10,000 processed foods including peanut butter, bread,
yogurt, hot dogs, bacon, soup, cough drops, pickles, salami, soya milk, clamato juice, soya sauce,
english muffins, ketchup, baked beans and baby food.

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/bigsugar/diet.html

One of the biggest culprits is soda — 12 – 15 teaspons in an average soda.  And 1 out of 2 teens
consumes at least one soda each day.

Yes, sugar can make things taste better — the more you eat– the more you want — it’s ADDICTIVE!

Why is the amount of sugar you consume so important?

The difference between wellness and sickness is the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis –
which means all systems are a go — all functions are interacting and working properly  within your
body!

Our bodies are designed to maintain a unique alkaline state.  Many foods — especially sugar — is
acidic.  When you have a highly acidic food, the body tries to make itself more alkaline.  It does this by
taking calcium and other minerals from the bones.

Further, if SEX is important to you, if you consume too much sugar, you might be killing your sex drive!
Yes, that’s right.  Too much sugar turns off the gene that controls sex hormones.  Read more:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071109171610.htm

So, Mary Poppins did get it right . . . A spoonful of sugar (one spoonful) makes the medicine go down
(or sweetens the bowl). 

We need to recognize how much sugar we are using, the source of the sugar, and be careful of the
added sugar that our families are ingesting.

Most of my posts are more about inspiration and personal development, and living a life you love — but
when I read this article, I knew it would be perfect to share with the Liberation Wellness Community.

Debbie Wysocki is the owner of Women with Dreams and residual Money secrets – companies that empower the average person to live an extraordinary life by teaching how to build profitable businesses in the network marketing arena. She is a wife, mom, volunteer, a top producer in the MLM industry, a real estate investor, author, trainer, and former Beverly Hills financial analyst who is passionate about helping others succeed. Her motto is ‘How you do anything, is how you do everything!’For more information or to contact Debbie directly:  Debbie@WomenWithDreams.com  954-781-6629