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| Understanding What You Put in Your Body |
 drchristie writes, "It's important to know what exactly is in the food we eat. Here are the "top five killers" that may surprise you."
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Sugar
When you eat or drink sugar, the sudden energy surge your body experiences is followed by an insulin surge that rapidly drops the blood sugar level - so two hours later, you feel famished and tired. While sugar should be eaten, it should come together with fat or some element like fiber - as you would find in fruit - so you can absorb it a bit more slowly.
Nancy Appleton, PhD, the Author of “Lick The Sugar Habit” states: In addition to throwing off the body's homeostasis, excess sugar may result in a number of other significant consequences. The following is a listing of some of sugar's metabolic consequences from a variety of medical journals and other scientific publications.
1. Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
2. Sugar upsets the mineral relationships in your body: causes chromium and copper deficiencies and interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
3. Sugar can cause can cause a rapid rise of adrenaline, hyperactivity, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and crankiness in children.
4. Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
5. Sugar causes a loss of tissue elasticity and function.
6. Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, rectum, pancreas, biliary tract, lung, gallbladder and stomach.
7. Sugar can increase fasting levels of glucose and can cause reactive hypoglycemia.
8. Sugar can weaken eyesight.
9. Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption in patients with functional bowel disease, increased risk of Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
10. Sugar can cause premature aging.
When you purchase sweetened food, look for products that are sweetened with apple juice or stevia, rather than sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. To avoid the sugar "crash" and keep an even keel, replace simple carbohydrates with complex ones so the absorption is more controlled and you experience long-term satiety.
High Fructose Corn Syrup
The body processes the sugar in high-fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters your body's natural ability to regulate appetite. High fructose corn syrup blocks the ability of a chemical called leptin, which is the way your fat tells your brain it's there. It's not so much the 150 calories in the soda pop - it's the fact at that same meal you will normally consume an extra hundred calories of food than you would have. (Yikes!)
Enriched Wheat Flour (White Flour)
Contrary to what its name suggests, enriched flour is actually poor in nutrition. When grown in well-nourished, fertile soil, whole wheat is rich in vitamin E and B complex, many minerals, including calcium and iron, as well as omega-3 fatty acids. Proper growing and milling methods are necessary to preserve these nutrients and prevent rancidity. Unfortunately, due to the indiscretions inflicted by contemporary farming and processing on modern wheat, many people have become intolerant or even allergic to this nourishing grain. These indiscretions include depletion of the soil through the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals, high-heat milling, refining and improper preparation, such as extrusion. The reason they enrich it is because they already stripped out anything that was nutritious, and they add a little bit back so it doesn't look so bad. Instead, look for whole grains and whole grain flours. It has its kernels, it has its B vitamins - all the things you want to be in there.
Aspartame
Dr. Mercola explains many dangers in his article, "Proven Unsafe But FDA-Approved: Are YOU Still Consuming This Man-Made Poison?" Aspartame is an ingredient in NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Equal Measure, AminoSweet, Benevia, NutraTaste, Canderel (think sugar free yogurts and diet sodas). Research has shown decreased neurological functions, brain tumors, seizures, headaches, and adverse effects on children and pregnant women. Aspartame toxicity mimics several other health conditions Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Multiple chemical sensitivity, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Attention deficit disorder,Panic disorder, Depression and other psychological disorders, Lupus, Diabetes and diabetic complications, Birth defects, Lymphoma, Lyme disease, Hypothyroidism.
Hydrogenated Oil
To increase their shelf life, certain oils are hydrogenated. This process turns the oil into a solid at room temperature, but it also makes the oil unhealthy. This stuff is great because it doesn't go bad, but it's very bad for you. Avoid food products that contain hydrogenated oil, often labeled as trans fats (crackers, cookies, creamers, etc.)
There are many healthy oils, such as olive oil, sesame seed oil, flaxseed oil, grape seed oil and coconut oil. To maximize their health benefits good oils need to be used properly. Keep them in a dark bottle or in your refrigerator - or they could go rancid. Healthy oils are delicate, you have to treat them delicately.
Also, overheating good oils during cooking can damage them. Don't cook the oil, cook the food, which means put a tiny bit of oil in the pan, put the food in the oil and then put the food with the oil on it in the pan - that way the oil is preserved. It doesn't heat up and it doesn't get damaged by the heat.
Dr. Christie Hafer
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Posted on May 09, 2012 12:07pm.
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