The Harmful Effects of Sugar

Sugar is full of empty calories, it contains no other nutrients

We do not have to consume white, refined sugar to be consuming sugar. Sugar includes glucose, fructose (as in fruit sugar), lactose (as in milk), sucrose (as in table sugar), maltose or malts (as in rice malt and honey), jam (contains concentrated juice, which is high in fruit sugar), maple syrup, corn syrup, palm sugar (traditionally used in macrobiotic cooking), and the very deceiving organic brown sugar, which is not all that different from white sugar. Even alcohol is a sugar. All of these sugars are problematic in many different ways.

The Harmful Effects of Sugar

The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.

* Sugar can decrease growth hormone (the key to staying youthful and lean)
* Sugar feeds cancer
* Sugar increases cholesterol
* Sugar can weaken eyesight
* Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children
* Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein
* Sugar causes food allergies
* Sugar contributes to diabetes
* Sugar can contribute to eczema in children
* Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease
* Sugar can impair the structure of DNA
* Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children
* Sugar contributes to the reduction in defense against bacterial infection (infectious diseases)
* Sugar greatly assists the uncontrolled growth of Candida Albicans (yeast infections)
* Sugar contributes to osteoporosis

Cut Down Your Sugar Intake

Here are a few ways to start getting sugar out of your food:

1. Don’t add sugar to your food. Try adding berries or bananas to your cereal instead of sugar. You should try to avoid drinking tea or coffee, but if you must, drink it without sugar. Try reducing the amount of sugar slowly, until you don’t need to add it at all.

2. Add protein to each meal. Protein helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. A 150 lb/68 kg person doesn't need more than 80-85g of protein per day, and one ounce of any meat contains 7g of protein. But protein doesn't necessarily mean meat: legumes, nuts, and seeds are all excellent vegetarian sources of protein.

3. Instead of soda and juice, drink water. One can of soda contains 9-10 tablespoons of sugar! Even 100% fruit juice contains a lot of sugar, without the fiber of the whole fruit. Switch to water or skim milk instead. Instead of drinking juice, eat fresh fruit.

4. Read the nutrition labels and ingredients lists. Watch out for hidden sugars. Honey, molasses, corn syrup and maple syrup all contribute sugar. Look for words ending in "ose" like fructose and dextrose - these are other forms of sugar. And many "sugar-free" products contain sugar alcohols like xylitol, sorbitol, and mannitol. These contain just as many (if not more!) calories as sugar and can cause you diarrhea, too.

5. For snack and desserts, choose fresh fruit instead of sugary sweets. Sugar is important to provide fuel and energy to your body, but should be consumed in its natural form. Fruits contain fiber and nutrients that prevent the sugar from metabolizing so quickly, which keeps your blood sugar levels more stable.

Also remember to divide your carbohydrate "budget" up over the day - try to eat three meals and two to four snack. This will keep your blood sugar levels more even and provide more continuous energy.