Finding the Pieces to the Health Puzzle

We all know sugar is bad for us, but do we know how bad?

Here are some things that it has been proven to effect in our bodies:

Sugar can suppress your immune system and impair your defenses against infectious disease.
Sugar can produce a significant rise in total cholesterol, triglycerides and bad cholesterol and a decrease in good cholesterol.
Sugar feeds cancer cells and has been connected with the development of cancer.
Sugar can cause many problems with the gastrointestinal tract including: an acidic digestive tract, indigestion, malabsorption.
Sugar can cause your saliva to become acidic, tooth decay, and periodontal disease.
Sugar contributes to obesity.
Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
Sugar is an addictive substance.
Sugar may induce cell death.
Sugar can contribute to diabetes.

I recorded these from http://www.nancyappleton.com (click on How Sugar can Ruin Your Health), where she sites these in list of 146 harmful effects of sugar and has a ton of references to back it up.

Another thing I am learning about sugar is that it is not just strictly sugar in the form of candy that is what is harmful to our bodies.

Did you know that the average American consumes 2-3 pounds of sugar a WEEK! How is that possible, you say? Well, just consider that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, sodas, salad dressings and a bizzillion other things we have come to accept in our every day diets.

So, I encourage you to check your labels for ingredients and look for the different forms of sugar. Comment back and let me know what products you are surprised have added sugar or even products you want to try not to eat anymore because of their sugar content. I have found that even on packages that are labeled “All Natural Ingredients”, they still contain High-fructose corn syrup (which is actually worse for you then table sugar, but I will write about that another time.)

(Pic from jdcb42)