SUGAR THE END OF YOU AND YOUR WAISTLINE. (Copy)
Sugar the end of the human race and your waistline.
But what about the yum factor? well I am sorry but a choice is going to have to be made in almost everything you eat from now on.
Danger, continue at your own discretion:
WARNING you may not ever be able to look at a cream puff or eat sugar again if you continue to read.
As stated before in my previous blog Foodie Wars, I have this state of mind that once I become interested in something it possesses me to the point that I just have to know everything I can possibly learn about that subject. For those who do not know me and do not understand the depth to which my brain just has to learn every damn thing, one day talk to some of the people I game with or used to teach poker to and they pretty much will all say the same thing, “ ask H he is a veritable encyclopedia in that game or subject.” lol I can't help myself, I just have to know.
This one subject more than any other threatened my very understanding of business, politics, food, and health and literally woke me up as if from a peaceful dream that had been carefully and purposefully pulled over my eyes.
I won't go into too much about the business and political tactics and issues today but I will go into a basic and very small part of the food and health issues. Hopefully this small amount doesn't scare you as much as it did me.
About 11 years ago I started looking into sugar deeply after watching a short documentary based around a reality show on how a man's health changed by eating a sugary diet . Around 2013 to 2015 I watched that sugar film, fed up, the secrets of sugar and a few others and like a supernova my mind exploded and I had to know more.
I started diving into studies and my own research and even changing my diet in dramatic ways to see the results first hand and it confirmed much that I had already learned and I started paying attention to every damn thing I could get my brain to cope with.
A small business related context needs to be mentioned here so i'll try to give a basic example on why it is their interest for you to do as they say and buy what they want you to and not what is good for you.
The processed food industry last time I looked 5 years ago was worth about 1.5 trillion dollars.
I checked today to see how it had grown and in 2023 it is worth approximately US$9.43 tn, yes that's right 9.4 TRILLION dollars.
A good example of their marketing and things most are not aware of, take an average yogurt strawberry, peach and mango etc, “ These are healthy foods right” but on average have more sugar ounce for ounce than coca cola. Don't even get me started on low fat foods.
I am sorry to say for every study telling you how bad or not so great sugar is for you, I'll show you a 100 paid for or sponsored by the food industry refuting it.
I know I promised that I wouldn't go in depth into business or politics and their lobbies, so I'll just leave you with this thought for now.
Anyone else my age remember when doctors used to recommend that smoking was good for you, or remember the ads with athletes smoking as they exercised or rode a bicycle. For those too young, “yes that was a real thing”.
I will briefly go over a few of the studies and doctors and notable persons I have looked into that give a bit of context to some of the things I will discuss, but there are many thousands more you are welcome to look into.
One study I remember vividly is the 2007 study by Serge Ahmed and his colleagues at the University of Bordeaux in France. In this study, the researchers provided rats with a choice between drinking sugar water and an intravenous injection of cocaine.
The researchers found that the rats developed a preference for the sugar solution over time, and that when given a choice they would almost always go for the sugar rather than the cocaine. The rats also showed signs of withdrawal when the sugar solution was removed, such as teeth-chattering and head-shaking, which are similar to the symptoms seen in drug withdrawal.
This study was one of the first to provide evidence of the potentially addictive properties of sugar in animals and has since been cited in numerous discussions of the potential harms of excessive sugar consumption in humans.
Dr Jody Stanislaw who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 7 has spent her career helping those with diabetes.
One of my favorites that I have paid a lot of attention to is Dr Berg.
Dr. Berg has stated that consuming excessive amounts of sugar can lead to a process called glycation, in which sugar molecules bind to proteins in the body, including hemoglobin in red blood cells. This can cause the red blood cells to become stiff and misshapen, making it more difficult for them to transport oxygen to tissues throughout the body.
To put it simply the stiff blood cells get stuck in the capillaries like a traffic jam and cannot bring enough oxygen to many organs and extremities of the body often seen as tingling in those with diabetes.
Basically another way of describing this it's your body's way of trying to tell you that you are killing the cells and nerves in that part of the body.
Glycation, which occurs when excess sugar molecules bind to proteins in the body, can also have negative effects on the kidneys. The kidneys are responsible for filtering waste products from the blood and regulating the balance of fluids and electrolytes in the body.
When excess sugar is present in the blood, it can lead to increased glucose filtration in the kidneys. This can put a strain on the kidneys, which may result in damage to the delicate filtering structures of the kidneys, such as the glomeruli.
Over time, this damage can lead to diabetic nephropathy, a condition in which the kidneys become less able to filter waste products and regulate fluids and electrolytes. This can result in proteinuria (the presence of protein in the urine), high blood pressure, fluid retention, and eventually, kidney failure.
If red blood cells become stiff and misshapen due to glycation, it could make it more difficult for them to transport oxygen to tissues throughout the body, including the extremities.
The extremities, such as the hands and feet, are the furthest points from the heart and may already have limited blood flow.
If the red blood cells are unable to effectively deliver oxygen to these areas due to glycation, it could result in reduced oxygen supply to the tissues in the extremities, potentially leading to complications such as numbness, tingling, and even tissue damage.
In severe cases, it could lead to conditions such as peripheral artery disease, which can result in reduced blood flow to the extremities and other organs.
I went into some depth with this last one as I suffer from several conditions, 1 being I suffer from pretty severe fibromyalgia that amplifies all nerve pain and is directly related to the amount of sugar in my diet.
Now if you are not freaked out enough yet to do something about it, or are still skeptical let's get into the meat and potatoes of why sugar plays such a large part in my health system.
I am sure most will have had enough of the technical mumbo jumbo so ill break down the next points into their core components.
Sugar when eaten triggers receptors in your tongue that sends a direct signal to the brain telling it "chocolaty goodness incoming”, or in other words I am supplying you food that is pure energy, reward me and prepare the body.
Rewards from your sugar intake triggers dopamine production in the brain similar to cocaine and nicotine. This neurotransmitter gives you a sense of pleasure and satisfaction basically telling you more sugar is good.
The big problem with dopamine, your brain and your taste buds is they become desensitized in other words the more you eat and the more dopamine you get the more it takes to achieve the same result.
Entire international corporations use this as the basis of their business model, and will do almost anything to protect their bottom line.
How the brain prepares your body for the sudden rush of energy about to hit is it tells the pancreas to release more insulin.
Insulin acts as a "key" to unlock the body's cells and allow glucose to enter. It helps to regulate the amount of glucose in the bloodstream by signaling the liver and muscles to store excess glucose as glycogen, and by stimulating the body's cells to take up glucose from the bloodstream.
Once your muscles and liver are basically full to their limit of storage I'll give you 3 guesses where the rest of it go’s.
If you guessed subcutaneous fat or even worse fat deposits around your organs you get the grand prize of a free cookie, “joking no extra cookies for u”.
Sugar free supplements are becoming a very popular thing as more people become aware of the dangers of sugar.
Companies are afraid of what this will do to their bottom line if people WAKE UP.
These corporations are using this as the next faze in their marketing plans to adjust to the loss of profits because of these awake people.
It's not personal it's just business
I keep reading and hearing everyone say there are not enough studies to date showing the effects of long time use of sugar free supplements “this sets off huge alarm bells in my head based on our history of nicotine and now sugar”
A few studies have shown some things that are concerning. I'll talk about the one that directly affects my system.
Carbohydrates are essentially sugar as far as your body is concerned. Many products and processed foods like bread are now consumed in massive quantities.
Natural carbs found in some vegetables tend to have other benefits that your body uses so don’t cut them out of your diet and I will go over all these in depth later.
High gi carbs dose you very quickly and then you tend to crash after triggering a withdrawal response in your brain demanding a new dose.
Low gi carbs like those found in sweet potatoes still give you the same sugar intake but spread it out over hours so you do not peak and crash.
Hopefully you now have a very basic idea of just how much sugar is affecting your body and your health.
I am sorry to say this is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg but if I go on further about the other health issues for now, I am afraid people will start jumping out of office windows. My goal is to give hope not despair so try to suck it up and continue on there is light and the end of the tunnel.
So time to start talking about how this affects weight loss in general and a little about sugar free alternatives.
Ill post some of my findings here:
Consider maltodextrin this is a complex carbohydrate so technically can be listed on labels as 0 sugar but it breaks down almost immediately into pure glucose.
From personal experience i have drunk for several years no sugar soft drinks instead of normal sugar added soft drinks and have spent a considerable time drinking just water and milk
I found several things
When I dropped sugar totally from my diet within a week to 2 weeks my taste started to change. I could eat foods with a lot less sugar or flavoring added and they tasted just as good as the ones with.
This is a effective reversal for the desensitizing you have gained over the years
My partner Emz has had the amount of sugar she consumes massively reduced by me over the years and now when she takes a mouthful of soft drink or for example orange juice it is so sweet to her it almost tastes toxic.
No sugar alternatives including the no sugar soft drinks and such, many still activate the sweet receptors on your tongue and trigger both the reward response and the bodies get ready response from your brain.
What happens when you produce too much insulin and there is not enough sugar in your blood for it to move into the muscle tissues etc?
Your body tells you that it needs more food to balance out the equation in your bloodstream. You eat more when you do not need it.
You often feel dehydrated even after you just drank a no sugar drink. This triggers the same response, as most people mistake dehydration for a lack of food, once again you feel hungry when you are actually not.
Soft drink vs Dairy – liquid calories are not created equal
In a 6-month intervention study, 47 non-diabetic Danish participants were required to drink 1 litre of sugar-sweetened cola, diet cola, semi-skimmed milk or mineral water daily, to compare impact of these beverages on fat mass and organ and muscle fat deposit. (1)
Fat mass, and liver and muscle fat were measured, along with markers for cardiovascular health. Diet (aspartame sweetened) cola and mineral water showed a little impact on outcomes; but cola and milk are where the juicy results were revealed:
Sugar sweetened cola intake caused:
Significant increase in liver fat (143% when compared with milk).
Raised blood triglycerides (a precursor for heart disease)
Higher total cholesterol
Increased blood pressure
Increased visceral fat mass (the nasty abdominal fat)
Semi-skimmed dairy milk intake caused:
Reduced liver fat by 10%
Reduced blood pressure
Increase in lean body mass
My Conclusions:
I believe there are many methods of sugar reduction every single person can benefit from. Here are a few, use some, use them all, the choice is yours and I sincerely hope I can help even 1 person out there.
Start watching what you eat, check labels and try actively to reduce the sugar you put in your diet, alter recipes a bit and use less sugar in them.
Eat a piece of fruit instead of a cup of juice. The amount of sugar you intake without the benefits of the fiber and actual digestion of the fruit is a big deal.
Try to reduce the amount of pure sugar products in your diet, for example if you buy a tub of ice cream a week or a bag of lollies or a chocolate bar daily, halve it and then see if you can reduce that each week by a portion.
Aim for an eventual goal of having a treat or a reward as such not 80% to 100% of your diet try to get it down to 20% or even 10%.
Carbohydrates are in essence sugar when you are consuming them where possible go for low gi versions like sweet potatoes,basmati or brown rice these will help your brain chemistry deal with less severe spikes of sugar hit and you will feel less inclined to go for the next fix.
If you can get rid of juice and soft drinks out of your life entirely
If you are weak like I was or addicted to caffeine and dont enjoy headaches and need to use no sugar soft drinks as a crutch for a while, it will still help a little.
Try as soon as you are able to drink water instead of any soft drink or juice.
Drink black coffee or lessen the amount of milk added if you can.
If your local water is horrid or tastes funny or you just hate water like me try drinking soda water (carbonated). It is what I switched to eventually and it was great. Gotta love dem bubbles.
If you are able to totally remove sugar from your diet for a week or 2 try and see how it affects your taste buds I bet it will surprise you. Who cares about the health benefits, the yum factor is king, am I right?
Be aware of labels and packaging if it has something on it you don’t understand for example :maltodextrin choose the safer course and get a product that doesn't contain things you do not understand.
Eat where possible unprocessed foods.
Open your mind if a company making billions of dollars selling a product can make you want it more is it for YOUR benefit.
If you can remove almost all sugar from your diet “IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE” I guarantee it.
Even if you are not on board for your own health, try and think of a friend or family member or the children.
You just may make their life and health at the very least better in many ways, or heaven forbid save a life.
I need to convert a couple of the blogs to youtube and will post the next blog in a few days, where I will start going over my system for weight loss and health management without exercise for those of us who are physically challenged.
