Are You Sweet Enough?

Hi, I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last Blogged, well I have now lost 10 lbs in weight and counting, my next weigh in is on Sunday and unlike some people trying to lose weight, I can't wait as I am hoping to be in to the next stone, I'll keep you posted.  Here is an article on Sugar that I think is a must for everybody as it is for our Good Health, see what you think

Sugar
It’s said that for every American who eats only 5 pounds of sugar each year, another eats 295 pounds. This statistic is hard to deny, because about 60% of the U.S. population is now overweight or obese.

Part of my professional responsibility to you is to not downplay the serious damage that sugar can do to your body. I am passionate about communicating the harmful effects of sugar because I have seen clients and loved ones suffer from severe complications of type 2 diabetes, the onset of which was caused directly by their consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates. Processed sugar (which is in cakes, cookies, processed cereals, and many other foods) can literally be considered a poison, which is anything that directly causes harm and can lead to a diseased state when you ingest it.

For starters, daily sugar consumption produces a continuous acidic condition in the body. The body combats an acidic condition by taking minerals from body tissues to buffer against the acidic environment and rectify the imbalance.

For example, the body may absorb calcium from bones and teeth to protect the blood. As a result, bones weaken (resulting in osteoporosis) and teeth decay (resulting in cavities). Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body.

Sugar has been proven to be the cause of several diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

When the liver has stored all the sugar that it can, the excess is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These fatty acids are then stored as fat in the most inactive areas of the body: belly, buttocks, breasts, and thighs.

When these areas become completely filled with fat, fatty acids are then distributed among active organs (heart, liver, and kidneys), increasing the risk of developing diabetes and disease in these organs.

It is well known and well documented that cancer cells can survive only in an acidic environment and will die in an alkaline (non-acidic) environment.

Sugar keeps the body in an acidic state, and tumors are enormous sugar absorbers.

Sugar consumption causes a hormonal roller coaster of alternating high levels of insulin and blood sugar. These hormonal shifts can dramatically affect your attitude and your ability to concentrate during the day. Also, if you replace nutrient-dense foods with processed sugar, the chances of acquiring one of the following diseases or side-effects skyrockets :

・ atherosclerosis

・ attention deficit disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

・ behavior problems

・ cancer

・ chronic fatigue syndrome

・ colon cancer

・ coronary heart disease

・ food intolerance

・ kidney disease

・ liver disease

・ malnutrition

・ osteoporosis

・ overgrowth of yeast, especially Candida albicans

・ tooth decay

・ violent tendencies

Even if you don’t consume candy or sweets outright, once you begin to read the labels of most snacks, cereals, and drinks you consume, you will notice that it doesn’t take much to consume approximately 80 grams of sugar—the equivalent of 20 teaspoons—in a day!

When reading labels, don’t be thrown off by strange words like sucrose, maltose, dextrose, glucose, and the like; any word ending in -ose is a sugar. Quite often, one product will contain five or six different types of sugar. When you add up all its many forms, sugar is frequently the greatest source of total calories.

How about fruit? Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar (sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose. By itself, fructose breaks down more slowly in the body; sugar and insulin levels remain relatively constant. In contrast, sucrose is processed extremely quickly, causing a "spike" in insulin levels—rather like a power surge followed by a rapid return to baseline levels—that is stressful for the body.

Fructose puts a lot less stress on the body than sucrose, and most fruits have a low GI.

The biggest mistake people make is falling for the marketing hype from juice manufacturers. They want you to think their "fresh juice" is actually good for you. If you read the package, you’ll see that many such products are made "from concentrate," which could easily be translated to mean "from syrup"

by Isabel De Los Rios

To find out more on Sugar and Sweeteners and how you can avoid those harmful substances
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Alison
 

Is a Silent Killer Creeping Up On You?

Well I am pleased as I weighed myself this morning and have lost 2 lbs so watching the calories certainly works.  However, as I said earlier this week I have been studying a new way of eating and I am going to start it tomorrow so watch this space and I'll let you know the results

I have just been reading through this New Plan and I came across an article on Salt which I found very interesting, see what you think...........

Salt

Many people follow a low-salt diet because they have been led to believe that salt and

sodium are bad and unhealthy. Well, this belief may only be partially true. Salt is important in the

body for several functions.

Chemically, culinary salt is NaCl—sodium chloride, made up of equal amounts sodium

(Na) and chloride (Cl). “Sodium is an essential nutrient that the body cannot manufacture, yet is

required for life itself. Chloride is vital for optimum health, it preserves the acid–base balance in

the body, aids potassium absorption, supplies the essence of digestive stomach acid, and enhances

the ability of the blood to carry carbon dioxide from respiring tissues to the lungs” (Regenerative

Nutrition n.d.). But the only way to receive all of the life-sustaining benefits of salt is to

consume the right kind of salt: unrefined sea salt, not processed table salt.

Salt has such a bad reputation because 99% of the world’s salt research has been done

on commercial table salt—the only salt that most Americans know. Some of the best scientific

research on the healthy properties of unrefined sea salt are written in French, German, and

Portuguese; unfortunately, few American doctors have read them. So instead of suggesting that

patients use unrefined sea salt, American doctors suggest avoiding salt altogether, which can be

dangerous. In many parts of France, when a person visits a physician about a heart problem or

high blood pressure, the first question asked may be, “What kind of salt do you use?”

Some doctors believe that a low-salt diet can cause high blood pressure. A salt-free diet

can damage heart valves and negatively affect the contractibility of the heart muscles. Biochemically,

cells starve without salt.

In brief, salt

aids in balancing blood sugar levels

•

is needed for the absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract

•

is a strong natural antihistamine

•

can help prevent muscle cramps

•

is needed to make bones strong

•

regulates and normalizes blood pressure

•

increases energy levels

•

helps regulate the metabolism

•

helps maintain proper electrolyte balance

•

supports the immune system

The refined white table salt typically found at the grocery store is different from unrefined

sea salt, so its effects on the body are not the same. The body cannot assimilate isolated synthetic

sodium chloride (from typical refined salt), which contains none of the valuable minerals

and trace elements of unrefined sea salt, so the system recognizes it as a poison. Refined table

salt often contains anti-caking agents, some of which are aluminum based. (Aluminum is linked

with heavy metal toxicity and possibly even Alzheimer’s disease.) One such example is sodium

silicoaluminate, which is thought to be associated with kidney problems and mineral malabsorption.

Sodium acetate, a preservative, may cause elevated blood pressure, kidney disturbances, and water

retention (Chek 2004, 78).

I recommend that you replace refined table salt with Celtic sea salt, which can be found at most

food stores.  

It is extremely healthy and has the exact opposite effect of refined salt. It provides sodium chloride

in a form that that the body needs to function. It offers the perfect balance of minerals, nutrients,

and sodium chloride that the body needs for optimum health. Your body can recognize and

absorb these essential nutrients efficiently. Ninety trace elements found in the Earth’s crust give

unrefined Celtic sea salt its vital grayish color, and its slight moistness keeps the salt and minerals

in a form that the body can assimilate (Regenerative Nutrition n.d.).

Even heart patients and people with high blood pressure can use Celtic sea salt (but they

will receive its benefits only if they eliminate all forms of processed salt, sodium, and table salt

from their diets). The heart is fed by a saline solution from the blood and lymph and requires

proper amounts of sodium and potassium to function. Without salt in the diet, the heart cannot

contract normally, and the valves may be damaged (Regenerative Nutrition n.d.). If you don’t salt

your food, add a pinch of sea salt to each liter bottle of water you drink to maintain electrolyte

and energy levels.

Clearly, salt is important to optimum health. Simply eating salty food is not the answer;

using Celtic sea salt is. As with other dietary recommendations, moderation is always essential.

by Isabel De Los Rios

For Further Nutrition Tips
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