Food for Thought – Sugar is Toxic
It has been a rough couple of years in my house. I have turned to diet and exercise as a way to feel better both physically and mentally. My two kids have been rolling their eyes at me, as I eliminate certain snacks and milk, and buy only organic free range meat, fruits and vegetables. I did the same thing to my Mom when I was their age, and it has taken me this long to finally understand how important food is.
I am an only child, and when I was in grade school my Mom went back to school to get her teaching degree. She took a nutrition class – and after that I was the only kid on the block who didn’t have soda, potato chips, or sugar cereals. I would grumble about it into my bowl of low sugar Kix cereal in the morning as I longed for the more sweet and colorful Trix. Now I realize how smart my Mom was then and now when it comes to food. In the past 10 years, I have watched my father survive colon cancer and go on to transform his health just by changing to a vegetable based diet. He reversed his heart disease and his need for a triple bypass surgery, lost weight, and lowered his cholesterol.
Food is a powerful thing. There are some truths that are finally coming out about the way we eat in America. One of the most shocking facts is that SUGAR IS TOXIC and it is in almost everything! We have always known that we should only eat it in moderation because the calories are “empty”, and that sugar hurts our teeth. Well it turns out that sugar calories are worse than empty and our teeth are not the only thing that is harmed. Sugar, and not fat as we were told in the 70’s, is behind the rise in heart disease and obesity. And by sugar I mean all sugar – not just high fructose corn syrup – cane sugar, and other refined sugars too. Check out this talk by Dr. Lustig MD UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM. He explains the science behind why sugar is toxic to our bodies. He shows biochemically that sugar is processed by our cells the same way as alcohol. Just as alcohol is a toxin, and too much can hurt your liver and other organs – the same is true for sugar. He asserts that parents wouldn’t feed their kids beer or wine so why on earth do we let them have soda/juice/or sports drinks, which contain large amounts of sugar. He discusses the use of sugar in baby formula, Coke, McDonalds food, and even school chocolate milk, and how it has affected our children negatively. Sugar causes our high density LDL cholesterol to rise and this causes plaque formation and eventually heart disease. (In addition to weight gain and diabetes).
There are so many great resources today to help us learn about healthy eating. I met with Kristin Krause, a health and wellness coach. You can check her out here: http://www.kristinkrause.com. She is wonderful to talk to and work with . She will help you clean out your pantry, take you grocery shopping and show you what to look for and buy. She will be starting group recipe demonstrations where she shows how to “clean up” our favorite recipes and make them healthier. She is a wealth of knowledge. She also has great recipes and ideas. She told me about a website that also has some awesome information about food and recipes called. http://www.foodbabe.com. Check it out. Stay tuned for more info…
Visit Kristin, a Health and Wellness coach, pictured below at www.kristinkrause.com
