4 Sugar Secrets the Food Industry is
Keeping from You
19
Posted on February 7, 2014 by The Alternative Daily
Just
one sugar-sweetened beverage alone contains 10 teaspoons of sugar, which
already pushes us over the edge!
Sugar has been around for a very, very long time, however, we have increased our consumption to outrageous amounts. Our ancestors, who got their food out of the ground, consumed about one ounce of sugar per day
Today, that has risen to
about six and a half ounces per day, with most of the increase in consumption
occurring over the last thirty years – mainly because of changes in our food
supply. These changes are driven by the food industry, the government and our
palate.
Just what is it that the food industry
does not want us to know about sugar? Why is this white gold so valuable to
them, yet so dangerous to us?
Mother
Nature’s checks and balances
A high enough dose of
anything can be lethal – too much water can cause a seizure, too much oxygen
can cause retinopathy and iron, although necessary, can cause liver damage in
excess.
Nature places limits on
our ability to ingest substances such as these, which keeps us from becoming
ill. In addition, none of these naturally occurring substances have a potential
for abuse, so the above mentioned diseases/conditions are rare.
Sugar
is indeed a different story
Paracelsus (1493-1541),
a natural scientist, philosopher and alchemist, once said, “the dose determines
the poison.” When it comes to sugar, a little is ok, a lot is not. We can
metabolize a small amount of sugar, however, we have exceeded that by a whole
lot and that is the problem.
Dietary guidelines established by the American
Heart Association indicate that men should not consume over nine teaspoons of
sugar a day, and women should not consume more than six. Sadly, we are
consuming a whopping twenty-two teaspoons on average.
What
they don’t want us to know
Why is the food industry
keeping secrets from us? What is it about sugar that they don’t want us to
know? What is going to happen when more people actually find out what is going
on?
These are all important
questions for us to be asking in light of the present rates of obesity,
diabetes and heart disease – we are a nation in the thick of a health crisis
that is largely driven by the corruption of our food system.
Education sparks
activation and the more you know about what they don’t want you to know, the
better decisions you can make for you and your family. Here are just four
things for you to consider:
Secret
#1: What happens when you eat sugar
Food manufacturers don’t
want us to know what really happens to our bodies when we consume sugar. Most
of us associate sugar with energy – and rightly so, it provides an immediate
source of energy. However, unless you are an elite athlete, which most of us
are not, this can be a major problem.
When sugar is consumed,
the bonds between glucose and fructose are broken and the fructose goes
straight to the liver where it is absorbed. If there is not an immediate need
for energy, the fructose is stored as fat. The overconsumption of sugar also
causes insulin resistance and completely turns our internal balance upside
down.
In addition, every time
fructose is processed, hydrogen peroxide is released inside of cells. While
hydrogen peroxide on a cut may be a good thing, it spells disaster to our
cells. In fact, it kills our cells and accelerates the aging process.
Of course, the health
implications of sugar are well documented. Here are just ten reasons why you
should avoid it completely:
§ Sugar suppresses the immune system.
§ Sugar elevates blood sugar.
§ Sugar disrupts mineral balance.
§ Sugar disrupts digestion.
§ Sugar causes tooth decay.
§ Sugar contributes to obesity.
§ Sugar can cause heart disease.
§ Sugar can cause food allergies.
§ Sugar can cause depression.
§ Sugar increases the risk of certain cancers.
Secret
#2: Manufacturers hide the sugar
Would you be surprised
if we told you that of the 600,000 or so foods that are manufactured and
consumed in the United States, over 80 percent of them contain added sugar? But, you
say, you don’t see sugar listed as an ingredient on the label. Well, the food
manufacturers have it covered – sugar actually has over 50 different names,
meaning that the food industry can easily pull one over on us by listing each
of these ingredients separately.
Furthermore, as they
list these ingredients on the label, they may appear as ingredient #3, #4, #7
and so on – so even if they are not the #1 ingredient, when you total up their
presence they do in fact become the #1 ingredient. Pretty crafty, aren’t they?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that Americans consume about 156
pounds of added sugar annually, or over 31 five-pound bags per person.
Most of this sugar is
probably consumed without the consumer even knowing it. If you eat packaged,
bottled or canned foods with more than 5 ingredients, or ingredients you can
not pronounce, chances are you are eating extra sugar.
Here
are just a few of the names you may not be so familiar with:
§ Barley malt
§ Corn syrup solids
§ Fruit juice
§ Honey
§ Beet sugar
§ Date sugar
§ Fruit juice concentrate
§ Invert sugar
§ Brown sugar
§ Dextran
§ Glucose
§ Lactose
§ Buttered syrup
§ Dextrose
§ Glucose solids
§ Malt syrup
§ Cane-juice crystals
§ Diatase
§ Golden sugar
§ Maltodextrin
Of course one of the
worst culprits of all time is high fructose corn syrup. This loosely bound,
highly unstable sugar forms compounds that damage cells and tissue, and is
linked to diabetes. When products with HFCS are consumed, there is a tremendous
strain on the pancreas and, according to research, the risk of pancreatic
cancer may increase.
Secret
#3: Sugar is an addictive substance
A book written by Dr.
Robert Lustig, Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar, is said to have
caused a backlash from the food industry. Lustig is a pediatrician who
specializes in treating overweight children in San Francisco. He’s spent 16
years studying sugar’s effects on the central nervous system, as well as
metabolism and disease.
Lustig says that the
industry has turned sugar into a diet staple, because they know it works to
hook consumers into buying more. He notes, “if some unscrupulous cereal
manufacturer went out and laced your breakfast cereal with morphine to get you
to buy more, what would you think about that?”
They do virtually the
same thing, but with sugar. He says cocaine and heroin are deadly because they
are toxic and addictive. So is sugar. Sugar plays with the reward center in the
brain, hijacking even our common sense and driving us back for yet another
soda, bowl of cereal or frothy latte.
Paul van der Velpen, the
head of Amsterdam’s health service, recently said in an online post: “This may
seem exaggerated and far-fetched, but sugar is the most dangerous drug of the
times.”
Van der Velpen points to
sugar’s addictive effect on the appetite as the reason for this claim: “Sugar
upsets that mechanism. Whoever uses sugar wants more and more, even when they
are no longer hungry. Give someone eggs and he’ll stop eating at any given
time. Give him cookies and he eats on even though his stomach is painful.”
So, if the more sugar we
consume, the more we want, it makes sense for food manufacturers, whose sole
objective is to make a profit, to hide this dirty little secret from us.
Secret
#4: When sugar pairs with other substances
As if adding extra sugar
covertly to foods isn’t bad enough, the giants in the processed food industry
have taken it a step further. They are combining sugar with other substances to
increase profits and health risk at the same time.
Let’s take fat to start
with. Is it the fat in the creamy milkshake or the sugar that we crave?
Actually, it is the sugar that increases the allure of fat, making the
combination irresistible for some people. Food scientists work around the clock
to concoct combinations of just the right amount of sugar and fat to drive our
sensory pleasure zones off the charts.
Sugar and caffeine are
another dangerous duo that combine in any number of processed foods, from
sweetened coffee beverages and sodas to baked goods. Although it can be argued
that moderate amounts of caffeine are harmless and may even be beneficial,
excess consumption may lead to agitation, problems with sleep and
disorientation, especially in individuals who are sensitive and children.
Large doses can
stimulate the heart, dilate vessels and increase gastric acid production and
metabolic rate. Withdrawal symptoms can be horrific, as with any other drug,
and can induce physical cravings.
When ten year olds are
lining up at Starbucks, they are not there for a cup of black coffee, but for
something entirely more dangerous. A short video posted online by the Toronto Star
examined just how much sugar is in Starbucks’ famous Frappuccino beverages. The
results were staggering. In addition to mounds of caffeine, these drinks
contain… way too much sugar.
Houston,
we have a problem….
The FDA last evaluated
sugar and its impact on health way back in 1986, when the average consumption
was far less than it is today. Data once deemed inconclusive is today very
clear, however the push needs to continue to get sugar on the docket for
discussion. Researchers all over the world are compiling study after study to
show that there clearly is reason for concern. Sugar provides energy, not
nutrition, and it is nutrition that the American people need.
New labelling laws,
continued education, consumer awareness campaigns, legislative action and
regulatory intervention to slow the sugar dump into our food supply must
happen. Remember, the food industry, like any other big business, has one thing
in mind – to pad their pockets with profits. You must be your own advocate and
declare war on sugar today!
-The Alternative Daily
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