How Does a Sugar-holic get on the 'Wagon' ?

This post is in response to some of the questions asked in the comments of the previous sugar posts. I am a carboholic. I crave sugar like crazy. Once I start eating it, I have a hard time stopping. It is delicious. So how do I control my sugar intake? I don't keep it in the house. My husband had some health problems about twelve years ago and they motivated him to change his diet. He said he ate enough ice cream and candy in the first thirty-five years to last his entire life. He is therefore supportive. If you don't keep it in the house, when you want it you would have to work hard to go and get it. I can resist a car trip to the store a lot easier than a short walk to the cupboard or freezer. I also remind myself that sugar feeds cancer cells and that it can be a major factor in Alzheimer's. This usually motivates me enough to stay away from it. I really like having healthy children.

I have worked hard to teach the children the correlation between eating sugar and not feeling well. When they don't feel well, we look at what they have been eating. Invariably, they have been enjoying too many sweets somewhere. We do not use any artificial sweeteners. Most of them are neurotoxins that have harmful effects. Many of them have splendid ad campaigns, but most of it is bunk. Remember, If you talk to any one older than 60, they can tell you of the ads, from their youth, run by the cigarette manufacturers extolling the health benefits of cigarettes.
If you want to see a lot of good articles on the artificial sweeteners, check out Joe Mercola's site at www.mercola.com. He had an article today on the problems with Agave syrup.

We try and limit anything in the dessert line at our house. It seems the more you have, the more you want. That is another problem with the artificial sweeteners. It keeps that sweet tooth alive and well. It is kind of like giving an alcoholic 'near beer'. It is too close to real beer and the next thing they know their will-power has gone out the window and they are hitting the bottle. Sugar junkies need to stay away from sweets - Period! I know, you think you don't have a problem. Try giving it up for a couple weeks and see how easy it is. It does take three weeks to get through the sugar craving issue. While going through that stage, try eating crunchy things, like celery with peanut butter or half an apple and a piece of cheese.

This was on the table at the wedding we were at last Saturday. Every table had a big bowl (like about 12 oz.). Some tables ate every single one and others were more reasonable. Some people were cruising other tables looking for more. Honestly, I ate one. It was a green one.

Here is the truth. I LOVE chocolate. I have NOT given that up. I have just adjusted my tastes to like the really dark stuff. I have my own private stash. I only do 70% or more cocoa. I also try and limit myself to just occasional treats. I can make a chocolate bar last a couple weeks.

I try and stay away from desserts. If people bring them to our home, I serve it and then send it home with them. It can't stay in our house. I do not feel guilty throwing sugar away either.

Here is a funny story.... An older friend of ours thought that we were neglecting our children by not giving them sugar. He brought us a dozen chocolate eggs and put them in an egg carton. I took it with a smile and somehow it got put in the refrigerator with the other eggs. I go to an Amish farm and buy eggs in large quantities and then sell them to friends. A friend of ours bought several dozen, and got the chocolate ones in their pile. I got a funny phone call a couple days later. This friend wondered if this was my private stash. I told him honestly, "no, there weren't any missing, were there?" I told him to just throw them out, and I would give him some real eggs the next time I saw him. I take better care of my stash than that.

The key to getting rid of sugar, is to just do it! Your body will thank you for the rest of your life. If you fall off the wagon, and you probably will, just dust yourself off and try again.

~Mom

Sugar, A Mind Numbing Substance

Most everybody knows that eating too much sugar can trigger type II diabetes, also known as adult onset diabetes. Type I is juvenile diabetes,and in that form the body stops making insulin. Type II is characterized by insulin resistance. The body still makes some insulin, but the receptors that it is supposed to work at, are basically burned out from over use. Type II is reversible with the right dietary changes. God made the human body to know how to heal itself, when we quit abusing it.
Why is an elevated sugar level a problem? When sugar becomes elevated it cross reacts with proteins and damages the tissue. This is why diabetics have so much of a problem with tissue healing.
But what about the "mind numbing" part of the title? I was at a seminar a couple weeks ago and some cutting edge research was presented on a new discovery. An organ can have localized insulin resistance while the rest of the body has normal blood sugar levels. Adult acne, for example, is known as 'diabetes of the skin'. The new research shows that there is localized insulin resistance of the brain as well. Scientists took mice and injected them with a drug that causes insulin resistance to them and sure enough they develop Type II diabetes. They took other mice and injected this drug into their brain. The mice developed diabetes of the brain, and the major symptom was dementia. On autopsy, they discovered that the brains of mice with this 'diabetes of the brain', and brains with Alzheimer's disease were identical. Although it is probably premature to say that eating sugar causes Alzheimer's disease, there is a strong enough reasonable correlation, to make one want to think twice before reaching for that piece of dessert.
Just something to think about...
~Mom

Sugar is not so Sweet!

This blog post is dedicated to Mrs. Potatohead. Sugar. It used to be a treat. Something to be enjoyed on a birthday or special occasion. Certainly not something that most people had on a daily basis. Even honey and maple sugar were utilized sparingly. Now it is part of every meal, and almost every beverage. The average American consumes over 100 pounds of the white stuff a year. It is addictive. It feeds the same craving as alcohol. When an alcoholic gives up booze he almost always turns to sugar, and in large amounts. He finds it harder to give up sugar than booze. It is everywhere. It is in almost everything!
Is this a problem?
I am a chiropractic physician and I can tell you when every major holiday is. I have a sudden upsurge in patient visits the weeks after the holiday. The adults come in complaining of musculoskeletal pain and the children have colds and flu's. I ask them what they have been eating and the story is always the same. There has been an overindulgence of sweets. I ask them if it is worth it. They ponder the question and then say "no!". Alas, the next time temptation on a plate is put in front of them, they forget and so the cycle continues. Maybe I shouldn't tell people how sugar works. It does keep me in business. I understand human nature well enough, that I know there is no danger of a sudden universal attack of self-control. My business will always have a steady stream of overindulgent patients.

What does sugar do? Why does it cause these problems? Let me give you a few basics...
1. Sugar increases inflammation. Anything that ends in "-itis", sugar makes it worse. Whether it is arthritis, dermatitis, sinusitis, etc. sugar makes it worse. All those chronic complaints suddenly become a major pain with the addition of sugar.
2. Sugar suppresses the immune system. It makes you more vulnerable to any passing cold or flu.
3. Sugar makes you more vulnerable to stress. Sugar requires drawing the B vitamins out of your system in order for your body to metabolize them. It upsets your blood sugar levels which puts extra stress on your adrenals. The adrenals have to work extra hard then on long term blood sugar stability. They have less ability to handle their other function of adapting to life stresses.
4. Sugar can cause depression. The constant ups and downs of the blood sugar make your body more prone to depression.
5. Sugar feeds cancer cells. If you have cancer in your body, the tumor has the fastest uptake of sugar of any tissue in the body. Your doctor knows this. That is why they attach a radioactive isotope to a sugar molecule, and inject it in your body to check for metastasis (cancer spreading). There has been some excellent research that indicates that a low carb diet ( less than 50 gm of carbohydrates) along with other therapies really improves the outcome of many cancers.
These are things to seriously think about.
I'm a mom with six children. How do we do it? First, I tell my children that it is not sinful to eat sugar. It is not wisdom, though. Second, My children have learned that a bite or two of sugar satisfies your curiosity of the taste. After that, you are just eating to eat. They generally will take a piece and split it up and they don't feel bad about leaving some on their plate. (We have a different rule for veggies.) We don't keep sugar in the house. If we bake we generally use honey or maple syrup as a sweetener. We try and keep the baking for special occasions and company. We got the sugar out of the house about 8 or 9 years ago. Prior to that we got sick just like every other family. We got fevers, colds and flu's a couple times a year. Since we gave up the sugar, we have only had children sick with fevers 3 times. Now when the children start to get a cold or not feel well, I ask them, "What did you eat?" Then it is confession time. I don't yell or punish, I just connect the behavior with the consequences. They have gotten smarter over the years and they very rarely indulge now. I do have one or two that threaten to go out and eat a bunch of sugar, just so they can get sick and get some time off of school. We didn't have any sick days the last school year for our children. I will admit that the stomach flu's have not been totally banished from our house - they seem to have different rules that they go by.
I hope that you have found this at least thought provoking. I am planning to write some more general nutrition posts in the coming months. What are your questions?
~Mom