Sugar [white and brown] and all high glycaemic foods that quickly break down to glucose, such as potatoes, corn and grain make up a disproportionate part of our diet. And the problem in the 21st century is that the more of these carbohydrates and processed foods we eat, the faster it interferes with our physiology and compromises our health.
You wouldn’t think it was a problem when you see all the ads for diet drinks, processed foods and sugary snacks. Our culture not only promotes but makes it seem acceptable to consume sugar and processed foods; we’re brainwashed to think that it is safe.
The truth is that sugar – too much of it – is slow suicide. Suicide is suicide, whether it is sudden or slow, whether done deliberately or in ignorance.
Did you know
- Essential B vitamins and minerals [calcium, phosphorus, chromium, magnesium cobalt, zinc and manganese] are depleted to metabolise sugar so there are less available nutrients to feed your skin.
- Sugar raises insulin levels, which promotes the production of testosterone in women, and inflammation in general, causing acne
- Sugar and vitamin C compete for a place in white blood cells. This means that the white blood cells of the immune system can be severely compromised. Eating even 100gm glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey or fruit juice, all significantly reduce the ability of
Neutrophils to engulf and destroy bacteria. Since neutrophils constitute 60-70% of your total circulating white blood cells, this can have a big impact on your immune system.
- Sugar can cause production of free radicals [superoxide, hydroxyl radical]. Free radicals can cause inflammation, pain, and have been found to speed up the ageing process.
- Sugar/glucose attaches itself to proteins that form ‘Advanced Glycated End Products’ [AGE’s]. The formation of AGE’s is irreversible and they decrease the elasticity of connective tissue. In other words your skin!
- Sugar has a very similar molecular structure to Vitamin C and displaces it from its’ proper binding sites which means that Vitamin C is not available for Collagen production.
- Sugar makes your system too acidic; during the refining process, substances such as sulfur dioxide, milk of lime, carbon dioxide, charcoal, and calcium carbonate are used to purify the sugar but which are acidic and toxic for your body. This has a knock on effect to your skin.
- Sugar interferes with how enzymes function and how hormones are made; if you don’t make enough oestrogen, for example, low oestrogen speeds up the ageing process.
- The glycaemic load of your diet [how fast your blood sugar and insulin levels rise] can affect your hormones. Hormone imbalances affect skin, in particular acne. Cutting out sugar [to reduce insulin levels] helps to balance hormones. Exercise also helps to improve insulin regulation.
You might think that snack bars would be a healthy alternative!
However anything with fructose/ high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is metabolised by your liver where it it converted into free fatty acids (FFAs) and VLDL (the damaging form of cholesterol), and triglycerides, which get stored as fat. These fatty acids accumulate as fat droplets in your liver and skeletal muscle tissues, causing insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Insulin resistance can lead to metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes.
If anyone tries to tell you “sugar is sugar, it’s all the same thing” they are way behind the times.