Sugar Coated “Facts”

An old study is shining new light on the truth about what sugar does to your health —and the lengths to which the sugar industry has gone to keep consumers in the dark for decades.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, uncovered and recently released historical documents revealing that Big Sugar covered up research linking a diet high in sugar to high blood cholesterol levels and cancer in rats.

According a report in the journal PLOS Biology, in the 1960s, the Sugar Research Foundation (known today as the Sugar Association), funded animal research that studied the effects of sugar consumption on cardiovascular health—and then suppressed the research.

Stanton A. Glantz, one of the study’s co-authors, said:

“This is continuing to build the case that the sugar industry has a long history of manipulating science.”

Read the PLOS Biology study

h/t: Organic Consumers Organization

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Sugar is 8 Times More Addictive than Cocaine

(The Real Agenda News) People don’t have sugar cravings, they have sugar addiction. That is the bitter truth about sugar.

Just as cocaine addicts do, sugar addicts also reject the notion that they are hooked to the sweet drug, but recent and not so recent research reveals that sugar has the power to make people even more dependent to it that illegal drugs such as cocaine or heroin can.

If the food industry, at some point along the way, meant to keep people dependent on sugar, they succeded in an extraodinary way.

Most canned or boxed food is infested with artificial sweeteners or with large amounts of refined sugar that do nothing else than activate the same kind of “positive” neurological reaction than cocaine does in drug addicts, except that sugar does it even better.

The massive consumption of sugar goes beyond its well-known “high” and “low”, the rollercoaster many people don’t seem to be able to get off of after they become sugar consumers.

A History of Lies and Disease

In the early 1960s, evidence began to accumulate that sugar consumption was related to metabolic disorder and heart disease.

In 1965, the Foundation for Sugar Research, created and financed by the sugar industry, paid off the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most influential medical journals, to publish a technical article that discarded those results.

By 1970, the same pseudo-scientific foundation paid for experiments on animals with the intention of demonstrating the healthiness of their product.

When the results were the opposite of those expected, the foundation aborted the project and prohibited scientists from publishing those results. And those harmful practices last until today.

The comparison with the tobacco industry jumps at sight. One of the great arguments that allowed lawyers hired by the White House to paper the tobacco companies – a blow they have not yet recovered from – was just the evidence that these companies had known for decades the damages of tobacco.

After everything was said and done, the public learned that the tobacco industry had hidden, if not perverted, with the most obscene disregard for public health, and with an exclusive focus on their economic interests, all evidence that smoking was dangerous to humans.

Facts revealed on the science of smoking completely disqualified them as solvent social agents.

The Sugar Industry follows the steps of the Tobacco Industry

Sugary soft drinks, buns and sweets will soon follow the same path, if history teaches us anything.

The analogy of sugar with tobacco has another interesting angle. It is unlikely that there is a single earthling right now who does not know that smoking harms one’s health. And yet we keep smoking.

Human beings are not governed, in general, by rational arguments. The truth helps to contain our insane tendencies, but it is not enough to exterminate them.

Give a mouse a lever that will give him cocaine, another one that will provide him with food, and you will be amazed how the mouse will choose to starve to get a good bump. We do not distinguish ourselves from beasts in that.

Losing the confidence of public opinion

Part of the pharmaceutical industry has incurred practices similar to those of tobacco and sugar, hiding the adverse results to their drugs, financing biased clinical trials and incurring in other bad practices that do not come from their scientific laboratories, but from their executive sharks.

If a company is not able to discern its ethics from its income statement, it does not deserve the public’s trust. The sugar lawyers have done a disservice to their employers, and an objective damage to the society that welcomes them swallowing buns and drinking poison.

Conclusion?

Only true research, for all that we are seeing, can promote the quality science that we need.

Food companies are losing the confidence of public opinion.

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5 Foods That Destroy Your Immune System

A strong immune system is vital for staying health. Getting enough sleep, exercising, and good nutrition are all things that support your immune system. Conversely, running on a sleep deficit, living a sedentary lifestyle, and eating unhealthy foods will make your immune system weak. Let’s take a look at some of the absolute worst types of food for your immune system.

Foods That Destroy Your Immune System

Nutrition is a factor when considering the strength or weakness of your immune system. Eating whole, organic foods that are free of additives and chemicals provide the best nutrients without any toxins. This is the food that nourishes your body and supports immune function. But not all foods do that, let’s look at the 5 that are the worst for immune function.

1. Red Meat

A recent study from the University of California suggests red meat can trigger a dangerous reaction that can weaken the immune system. ^[1] The issue comes from a natural sugar in red meat that our bodies can’t digest. The sugar is believed to cause a host of other health problems—a higher risk of cancer being one of those.

2. Fried Foods

In addition to being full of fats that could increase your “bad” cholesterol, fried foods can also trigger inflammation, leading to reduced immunity. But one study suggests that just cutting back on fried foods—or better yet, getting rid of them altogether—could “help restore the body’s natural defenses regardless of age or health status.” ^[2] Plus, fried foods accumulate acrylamide, a dangerous carcinogen.

3. Soda

If you’re drinking soda—it really doesn’t matter what it’s sweetened with—you’re likely destroying your immune system. Even diet soda is a bad option. Because soda has no beneficial nutrients, drinkers are less likely to get enough vitamin A, calcium, and magnesium—all necessary for an optimum immune system. And, if that wasn’t enough, phosphoric acid (found in sodas) can also deplete calcium and magnesium in the body.

4. Sugary Snacks

Some sugars—refined ones are the absolute worst—can actually suppress the immune system. One study suggests that the sugar actually targets the cells that attack bacteria. ^[3] And the effect can even last for hours after you eat something sugary.

5. Processed Foods

One of the most dangerous foods to immune health, in my opinion, is processed foods. How come? Because there are many food companies out there who are using the terms “natural” to describe their product, even though their foods may have a hefty amount of refined carbohydrates, sugar, and hidden flavorings. Even organic processed foods, like cereal and breads, can contain immune-suppressing sugar. Processed foods are basically anything that comes in a package, contains more than one ingredient, and has been cooked and modified mechanically. Eating processed foods can lead to chronic irritation in the body. A recent study even suggests that the toxins of a modern diet completely outweigh the possible nutritional gains. ^[4] All this is leading us to weaker immune systems, higher rate of illnesses and diseases, and all-around poor health.

Natural Immune System Support

If you want a healthy immune system, in addition to getting rid of these foods, you could also try eating some that boost your immunity instead. These include vitamin C-rich foods like green vegetables and citrus. Exercise is also a healthy component, as is stress reduction and vitamin D supplementation. Oregano oil is also a powerful harmful organism cleanser and may have some benefit for immune health.

But, now, that you know about these 5 foods that could be hurting your health, what will you do about it? Share your thoughts in the comments!

References:

1. Samraj, A. N. et al. A red meat-derived glycan promotes inflammation and cancer progression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 112 (2).


2. Vlassara, H. et al. Protection against Loss of Innate Defenses in Adulthood by Low Advanced Glycation End Products (AGE) Intake: Role of the Antiinflammatory AGE Receptor-1. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 94 (11).


3. Sanchez, A. et al. Role of sugars in human neutrophilic phagocytosis. he American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 26 (11).


4. Myles, I. A. Fast food fever: reviewing the impacts of the Western diet on immunity. Nutrition Journal.st alternative, natural and organic health resources on the Internet.

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Marijuana in Halloween Candy Won’t Kill Your Kids, but the Sugar Might

(ANTIMEDIA) Every Halloween, warnings to parents sound the alarm on cannabis and other drugs ending up in their children’s candy. While these advisories rarely come to fruition, another dangerous substance is guaranteed to be in kids’ treats: sugar.

Though the link between sugar consumption and cancer has been increasingly established in recent years, researchers at KU University in Belgium published further evidence this month in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.

According to a press release from VIB, a research institute affiliated with study researcher Johan Johan Thevelein, who co-founded the nine-year joint research project that released the findings:

“Scientists have clarified how the Warburg effect, a phenomenon in which cancer cells rapidly break down sugars, stimulates tumor growth. This discovery provides evidence for a positive correlation between sugar and cancer, which may have far-reaching impacts on tailor-made diets for cancer patients.”

Non-cancerous cells produce energy through aerobic respiration, which breaks down digested food into energy. Through this process, Northwestern University explains, “glucose is converted into CO2 and H2O in the presence of oxygen, releasing large amounts of ATP,”  adenosine triphosphate, often considered the “energy currency of life.”

In contrast, cancer cells obtain energy by fermenting sugar, even when ample oxygen is available. This process is called the Warburg effect.

According to Thevelein:

“Our research reveals how the hyperactive sugar consumption of cancerous cells leads to a vicious cycle of continued stimulation of cancer development and growth. Thus, it is able to explain the correlation between the strength of the Warburg effect and tumor aggressiveness. This link between sugar and cancer has sweeping consequences.”

Business Insider further explained how the study clarified the Warburg effect:

“The researchers behind the new study observed yeast cells in the lab, and found that their fermentation process — the same one that cancer cells prefer — actually stimulates tumor growth.

“Their findings suggest that the most common cancer-causing genes, called Ras proteins, fuel aggressive tumors with their sugar intake. In short, sugar ‘awakens’ existing cancer cells, making them multiply and expand rapidly, according to these scientists.”

Though the study was conducted in human cells, the researchers cautioned that the next step is to study actual patients in clinical trials before conclusions about treatment and diet can be made.

Nevertheless, sugar is also linked to other health ailments, including heart disease and obesity. According to the University of California San Francisco medical school, added sugars, which are “added in preparation of foods, either at the table, in the kitchen or in the processing plant,” and include sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, “ are  often overconsumed in the United States and pose a particular risk to children and teens.

“The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting total intake of discretionary calories, including both added sugars and fats, to 5% –15% per day,” UCSF explains. “Yet children and adolescents in America obtain about 16% of their total caloric intake from added sugars alone.”

Further, they note that “the average American consumes 19.5 teaspoons (82 grams) every day. That translates into about 66 pounds of added sugar consumed each year, per person.”

UCSF also points out that sugar may have addictive qualities:

“Using brain-scanning technology, scientists at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse were among the first to show that sugar causes changes in peoples’ brains similar to those in people addicted to drugs such as cocaine and alcohol. These changes are linked to a heightened craving for more sugar. This important evidence has set off a flood of research on the potentially addictive properties of sugar.”

As parents prepare to take their children trick-or-treating, evidence suggests they should be far more concerned about conventional candy than weed-laced gummy bears.

Creative Commons / Anti-Media / Report a typo

How and Why You Should Try a Sugar Detox

While some people jokingly refer to themselves as sugar addicts, the truth is no laughing matter. Refined sugar causes real, clinically verifiable addictive patterns in your brain and ruinous effects on your body. The average American consumes between 22 and 30 teaspoons of added sugar every day.^[1] That’s sugar that you could easily cut from your diet entirely by making intelligent dietary decisions—or you could if sugar didn’t have you hooked. A sugar detox is a way to break the hold sugar has over you.

Basically, a sugar detox is when you cut all sugar out of your diet for a set period of time. ALL sugar. That means no honey, no maple syrup, no agave syrup, no white bread, no alcohol, no natural sweeteners, no artificial sweeteners, no high fructose corn syrup. You’ll be amazed by how much better you’ll feel when you cut the added sugar.

Natural Sugars vs. Added Sugars

It’s important to make the distinction between natural sugars and added sugars. Natural sugars are those found naturally in fruits and vegetables. Bound to other nutrients like protein and dietary fiber, these sugars are broken down more slowly and provide a healthier source of energy.^[2]

Added sugars are often refined and stripped of these nutrients, leaving only empty calories. These refined sugars are then added to processed foods and beverages. You may feel a temporary surge in energy from these refined sugars, but they burn fast, and you’ll crash hard afterward. These sugars are absorbed very quickly, which leads to a spike in blood sugar, followed by a sharp increase in insulin, which is in turn followed by a steep drop in blood sugar. Low blood sugar causes hunger, and the whole process repeats in a vicious cycle.

When combined with a sedentary lifestyle, refined sugars lead to weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, and increased oxidative stress throughout the body.^[2]

How Is Refined Sugar Addictive?

Most people will accuse you of exaggerating if you liken sugar addiction to drug addiction, but studies have found the comparison to be spot on. When you eat sugar, your body releases opioids and dopamine. These compounds stimulate the pleasure centers of your brain, much like addictive drugs.^[3] What’s worse, studies have found that cutting off your sugar intake causes withdrawal symptoms. The effects of withdrawal are less intense than that of hard drugs like heroin, but the process is essentially the same.^[4]

Health Effects of Refined Sugar

Refined sugar is one of the most harmful things you can put in your body that isn’t outright classified as a narcotic or poison. We now know that sugar is one of the top contributors to metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Two out of every three Americans are overweight, and one-third of the country’s population is considered obese. Diabetes now affects 26 million Americans and heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.^[5, 6]

Emerging research implicates sugar in a growing list of serious health conditions. Sugar causes our cells to degrade faster, leading to DNA damage and accelerated aging. It’s linked to Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss, and other detrimental cognitive effects. Excess sugar consumption even increases your risk of certain types of cancer, including colon cancer.^[5, 7]

Benefits of a Sugar Detox

You may not feel like you consume too much sugar, but I urge everyone to try a sugar detox at least once. The results may astonish you. You’ll lose weight, have fewer headaches, have more energy, and generally feel loads better.

A 2015 study found that cutting sugar for as few as ten days significantly improved virtually all aspects of metabolic health in obese children. It reduced diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride levels, blood glucose, and LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol).^[8] Restricting sugar intake improves heart health, cholesterol profile, liver function, and longevity.^[9]

One of the more unusual effects of a sugar detox is that your palate will become more attuned to the natural sweetness of fruits and vegetables.There’s a reason foods like sweet onions and sweet potatoes have the word “sweet” right in their names. If you can’t taste it, it’s because your taste buds are seriously desensitized.

With your sugar tolerance back in balance, foods you never thought of as particularly sweet, like bell peppers, carrots, and beets, will start tasting very sweet. An apple will taste like candy.

Once you’ve broken the cycle of sugar dependency and cleansed your system of its effects, sugary snacks like donuts and cake won’t have the same irresistible appeal they once had. I’m not saying that you’ll never want a cookie ever again, but outside of the stranglehold of sugar dependency, you should be able to make clear-headed decisions and enjoy those type of treats in the extreme moderation they deserve.^[9]

How to Do a Sugar Detox

The worst part of sugar dependency is that the more you eat, the more you crave. A sugar detox can help break this vicious cycle. Here’s how to do it.

Plan Ahead

Decide ahead of time how long your sugar detox will last. It takes about four weeks to see the full benefits of the cleanse, so I recommend you try it for at least a month. If this seems too daunting, you can try a short week-long cleanse first. You won’t reap the full benefits of a month-long detox, but it’s a good place to start if this is your first sugar cleanse.

Generally speaking, restaurant food is loaded with added sugar, and many eateries don’t provide nutrition facts for their food. This means that you’ll need to prepare your own food during this cleanse. Plan your meals ahead of time. An easy way to do this is to sit down on Sunday and plan out all your meals for the week. After you set a meal plan, shop for all the ingredients you’ll need. Try to add a little variety to keep things interesting.

What Not to Eat on a Sugar Detox

So what shouldn’t you eat during a sugar detox? Avoid foods with a high glycemic index (GI). Let’s start with the obvious stuff. Sugar is clearly off the menu, along with any candy, syrups, cookies, pastries, ice cream, and other obvious sugary foods and drinks.

Get Rid of Soda and Energy Drinks

This may seem like one of the obvious ones, but soft drinks bear special mention as they are the number one source of added sugar in the American diet. Soft drinks are often peddled as a thirst-quenching beverage, but the truth is that they’re little more than liquid candy with added chemicals. Energy drinks can be even worse. The American Heart Association attributes 25,000 deaths every year to sugary sodas in the U.S. alone.^[1] Get rid of all of them!

Watch Out for Hidden Sugars

What may surprise you are some of the hidden sources of added sugar. Salad dressing, pasta sauce, granola bars, yogurt, instant oatmeal, breakfast cereals, canned fruit, fruit juice, sweet tea, smoothies, and processed foods all frequently have added sugar.

Watch out for condiments, as many have a very high sugar content. Ketchup, for example, is nothing more than reconstituted tomato paste mixed with high fructose corn syrup. Salad dressing and Sriracha are also loaded with added sugar. Condiments can be especially tricky as we often don’t factor them in when counting calories, and restaurants typically don’t include them in nutritional data. A salad may have only 400 calories and no sugar, but that changes as soon as you add half a cup of honey mustard.

While avoiding refined sugar is the main part of a sugar detox, it’s also important to remove other refined carbs. This means cutting out everything that’s made from bleached white flour. That includes white bread, bagels, cereal, pasta, and crackers.

Cut Natural Sugars, Too

There are also some foods you shouldn’t eat on a sugar detox because of their high carb content, including starchy vegetables like corn, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and pumpkin.

While fruits are normally healthy, you should avoid fruits with a high glycemic index like bananas, pineapple, and watermelon during the first two weeks of a cleanse. Cut out dried fruit entirely. The sugar content is concentrated and many fruits sold as “dried” are actually candied, which means they were boiled in sugar syrup to make them sweeter.

If you are doing a month-long detox, you can slowly add in naturally sweet fruits after the first two weeks. For a shorter cleanse, avoid them entirely.

Avoid Artificial Sweeteners

“Why no artificial sweeteners?” you may ask. Well, aside from their known harmful effects, this isn’t just a cleanse for your body, it’s also a cleanse for your palette. The chemicals that make up artificial sweeteners can be many hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.^[10] Just like a drug addict builds up a tolerance for drugs, our taste buds become desensitized to sweetness. This creates an artificially inflated standard of sweetness, and we require greater and greater amounts of sweeteners just so that our food “tastes right” to us.

Worse, studies indicate that artificial sweeteners can ruin your body’s ability to regulate caloric intake. In other words, they make you feel hungrier, and consume more calories than you normally would, leading to weight gain and obesity.^[11]

Read the Ingredients!

Always read the ingredients on any food product you buy. You’d be surprised how often a product whose label boldly states “No Added Sugar” lists sugar as a main ingredient. Food manufacturers often just call sugar by a different name. Other names for added sugar that may appear on a food label include:^[12]

• Anhydrous dextrose


• Cane juice


• Corn syrup


• Corn syrup solids


• Crystal dextrose


• Dextrose


• Evaporated corn sweetener


• Fructose


• Glucose


• High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)


• Honey


• Invert sugar


• Lactose


• Malt syrup


• Maltose


• Maple syrup


• Molasses


• Nectars (e.g., peach nectar, pear nectar, fruit nectar)


• Pancake syrup


• Sucrose

What You Should Eat During Your Sugar Detox

Though it might first appear that this is a very restrictive diet, consider a sugar detox an opportunity to expand your culinary horizons. Here are some of the best foods to eat during your cleanse.

Vegetables

Eat plenty of low glycemic index vegetables, especially dark leafy greens and cruciferous veggies. Kale, spinach, chard, mustard greens, dandelion greens, arugula, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are all good options. Eat them roasted, sauteed in sunflower oil, or raw in salads.

Protein

Include plenty of plant-based protein in your diet. That means legumes, seeds, and nuts. You’ll likely be eating a lot of lentils during your detox, so look up some recipes. I recommend batch prepping some chili or black bean soup for an easy meal. If you find yourself craving an afternoon snack, skip the sweets, and have a handful of walnuts instead. Pumpkin, sunflower, flax, and chia seeds are a nutritious addition to salads.

Healthy Fats

An important part of a sugar detox is to add healthy fats back into your diet. Many so-called “fat-free” foods often just add extra sugar to make up for how bland they taste when fat is removed.^[13] Your body needs fat to function, and fats help slow the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream.^[14] However, this isn’t an excuse to eat fried chicken and pizza. Add healthy fats like olives, avocados, coconut oil, seeds, and unsweetened nuts.

Alternate Grains

Since white flour and white rice are out of the picture, you’ll need an alternative source of healthy grains. Look for complete grains. These are grains that still have their full fiber content, which slows the impact that carbs have on blood sugar. With its high protein and fiber content, quinoa is a wonderful option. Buckwheat, which is unrelated to conventional wheat and thus gluten-free, is another. Millet, amaranth, and kamut are all solid choices.

After Your Sugar Detox

Once you’ve completed this cleanse, it’s important not to go back to old, bad habits. Don’t binge at the bakery or chug a celebratory soda. A detox can help reset your system, but it’s only a temporary respite unless you incorporate healthy habits on a permanent basis.

If you do find yourself craving a sweet treat, look to natural alternatives. While you avoided these foods during the detox, they can, in moderation, be safely added to your long-term dietary plans. Reintroduce raw fruits into your diet; you’ll be astounded at the depth of flavor. When you need to add some sweetness to your coffee or tea, reach for raw organic honey, blackstrap molasses, stevia, maple syrup, or natural fruit sugars.

You’ll feel better, look better, and have fewer sugar cravings. These effects will be all the more noticeable the longer your cleanse lasts. If you did a week-long sugar detox, try a month next. If you can do a month, then work on making these changes a lifelong commitment. Ultimately, a sugar detox shouldn’t be a one-week gimmick, but a new, healthier way to live your life.

References (14)

1. “How to break the sugar habit-and help your health in the process.” Harvard Health. Harvard Medical School, July 2013. Web. 25 July 2017.


2. “Is Sugar Addictive?” SOURCE: Colorado State. Colorado State University, Jan. 2017. Web. 25 July 2017.


3. Avena, Nicole M., Pedro Rada, and Bartley G. Hoebel. “Evidence for Sugar Addiction: Behavioral and Neurochemical Effects of Intermittent, Excessive Sugar Intake.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 32.1 (2008): 20-39. Web. 25 July 2017.


4. “Sugar on the Brain: Study Shows Sugar Dependence in Rats.” Princeton University. The Trustees of Princeton University, 20 June 2002. Web. 25 July 2017.


5. “Too Much Can Make Us Sick.” SugarScience.UCSF.edu. University of California San Francisco, n.d. Web. 25 July 2017.


6. “Overweight & Obesity Statistics.” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2012. Web. 25 July 2017.


7. “Too Much Can Make Us Sick.” SugarScience.UCSF.edu. University of California San Francisco, n.d. Web. 25 July 2017.


8. Lustig, Robert H., et al. “Isocaloric Fructose Restriction and Metabolic Improvement in Children with Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome.” Obesity 24.2 (2015): 453-60. Web. 11 Sept. 2017.


9. Alpert, Brooke, and Patricia Farris. “The Sugar Detox: Lose the Sugar, Lose the Weight–look and Feel Great.” Boston: Da Capo Lifelong, 2014. Print.


10. Wax, Emily, et al. “Sweeteners – Sugar Substitutes.” MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 14 July 2015. Web. 25 July 2017.


11. Swithers, Susan E., and Terry L. Davidson. “A Role for Sweet Taste: Calorie Predictive Relations in Energy Regulation by Rats.” Behavioral Neuroscience 122.1 (2008):161-73. Web.


12. “What Are Added Sugars?” Choose MyPlate. United States Department of Agriculture, 09 Nov. 2016. Web. 25 July 2017.


13. “Ask the Expert: Healthy Fats.” Harvard: T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Web. 11 Sept. 2017.


14. “Carbohydrates and Blood Sugar.” Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The President and Fellows of Harvard College, 25 July 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2017.

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4 Sugar Alternatives That Won’t Poison You

You may think that staying slim and eating healthfully means NO sweets, but guess what? There are natural and delicious sweeteners that won’t wreck your diet, and are even GOOD for you!

No arena of health and wellness is more debatable than what we should be eating. Looking back through time, the foods that constitute a healthy diet have changed so dramatically, you can literally mark the passage of time by the coming and going of dietary fads.

• Weight-loss clubs and diet pill popping in the 1970s


• Cabbage soup and liquid diets in the ‘80s


• The Zone and blood-type diets (along with lawsuits related to diet pills!) in the ‘90s


• In the aughts, Atkins and gluten-free


• In the 2010’s, it’s Paleo, raw, and local

Despite this obsessive focus on what to eat, Americans are fatter and in many ways, unhealthier than ever before^[1]. In 2016, two-thirds of the adult population were considered overweight or obese, according to a U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services study^[2]. This health epidemic spans ethnic and cultural boundaries, and is affecting more adults and children every year.

One factor that is contributing to America’s growing problem with weight is our obsession with sugar. You probably don’t need to see the results of a clinical study to believe that the more sugary calories you consume, the greater your risks of obesity^[3]. What you may not know, is that what passes for sugar these days is actually a hyper-sweetened extract of one of the cheapest, most heavily-sprayed, GMO-pervasive crops on the planet.

Why Sugar Isn’t Sugar Anymore

Despite a marked decrease in consumption of refined cane and beet sugars over the last generation, we are taking in more dietary sugar overall, thanks to the prevalence of corn-based sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup, in nearly everything on grocery store shelves^[4].

Switching to corn-based sweeteners is a case of jumping from the funnel cake grease into the fire! Corn syrup has become the go-to sweetening agent for processed foods due to its low cost and high concentration (at least 1.5 times that of cane sugar). Thanks to government subsidies, corn is alluringly cheap for food and beverage companies that need a steady supply of sweetness.

Corn is also a top GMO crop with at least 92% of the nation’s corn supply being genetically modified to withstand large doses of herbicides^[5]. Setting aside the shocking effects of GMO consumption, this intense concentration of simple sugar is wreaking havoc on the collective metabolism. Studies abound correlating intake of high-fructose sweeteners to increased risks of obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, fatty liver disease, diabetes, and more^[6].

What About Zero-Calorie Sweeteners?

Aspartame, Equal, sucralose, Splenda, saccharin: they go by many names but do any of them sound truly sweet? Not when you read the nearly 100 scientific abstractsGreenmedinfo has collected on the perils of artificial sweeteners. Chemical fascimiles of sugar, these unnatural compounds can be far worse than the real thing.

Linked to increased risks of kidney disease, metabolic dysfunction, diabetes, and obesity, these calorie-free sugar substitutes trick consumers into thinking that previously unhealthy foods can get “a sugar-free pass.” But fake sugars are far from harmless. Studies show consuming synthetic sweeteners generates excessive cravings for the sweet taste, leading to weight gain and other negative effects linked to excessive sugar consumption^[7].

While it might be tempting to think that these sugar imposters can help you bypass the weight and still eat the treats, if you value your health, steer clear of these dietary destroyers!

Nature Has the Solutions

Wondering what options this leaves you when only something sweet will do? Fortunately, nature has got you covered. Here are four solutions for satisfying your sweet tooth that won’t rot your teeth, create blood sugar imbalance, or cause weight gain. In fact, these natural wonders pack some amazing health benefits!

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol derived from xylose – a crystalline sugar found in birch bark^[8]. Sweet like sugar but with only 40% of the calories, xylitol is fast becoming the preferred sweetener of health-conscious consumers.

Low-carb dieters will find xylitol appealing, with less than a quarter of the carbohydrates found in cane sugar. It also stands apart from synthetic sweeteners thanks to its natural origins. Besides birch trees, xylitol is found in the cellular structure of fruits like raspberries, and in vegetables like the corn-cob. Even our bodies produce xylitol (between 5-15 grams per day) during normal metabolic processes.

With a glycemic rating of 13, xylitol is metabolized around eight times slower than regular sugar, making it a safer choice for diabetics. Unlike sugar, which provokes the release of insulin in response to its consumption, xylitol is metabolized independently of insulin in the gut. It metabolizes slower and steadier than sugar, making it a much safer sweetener for hypoglycemics and the sugar-sensitive.

And there’s good news for sufferers of cavities or Candida: Xylitol actually discourages the bacterial growth that feeds these conditions. The bacteria that cause candida, dental caries, and even Streptococcus mutans, thrive in acid-based environments, with sugar as their food of choice. Xylitol is non-fermentable, creating an alkaline reaction in the body that bacteria find inhospitable. Xylitol consumption has been shown to dramatically decrease cavities and ear and throat infections, among other infectious organisms.

The dental health community are one of the biggest supporters of Xylitol. Studies have shown that plaque build-up and dental caries can be reduced by 80% with the introduction of moderate amounts of xylitol (up to  half an ounce per day). Research also indicates that consuming  xylitol may increase bone strength and bone density.

*Important Notes: Xylitol can have a laxative effect, so start slowly. It is best to obtain Xylitol from a manufacturer who uses birch rather than corn. Finally, Xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs, so please keep it away from Fido! Xylitol is sometimes made from corn, which includes GMO corn. Look for the higher quality, non-GMO certified, and best of all: birch tree derived form.

300 times sweeter than sugar and without caloric content, the Stevia plant has been used by native people to sweeten food and drink for centuries. Stevia’s popularity as a modern sugar substitute grew in the 1990’s, and new research confirms what tribal cultures knew: this plant provides a safe, affordable and tasty alternative to expensive and potentially dangerous sweeteners.

The study^[9], published in August 2017, calls Stevia “a suitable calorie-free sweetener,” with both “pharmacological and therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, and anticancer.” Researchers further heralded Stevia’s positive effects on those metabolic conditions aggravated by excess sugar consumption, namely obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

Stevia reduces blood sugar, reduces blood pressure, combats infections, and reduces risks of diabetes. One study even found that consuming stevia was as effective as a popular oral antidiabetic drug, but with fewer side effects.

If you haven’t tried Stevia in a while, you will be pleasantly surprised by new formulations. What began as a strong-tasting plant extract only available in health food stores, is now widely available in crystallized-sugar form, as a finely distilled concentrate, and in formulations that approximate the less-sweet taste of cane sugar, but without the negative effects!

Identified as containing more than 181 health-promoting substances^[10], honey converts the vital, healing energy of plants into a medium that is perfect for human consumption. Rich in phytonutrients (nutrients absorbed from plants), raw honey is renowned worldwide for having powerful anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties^[11].

Raw, unfiltered honey is very different from the pasteurized product you find on most grocery store shelves. Nearly all commercially-produced honey is heated to kill potentially harmful bacteria, reduce crystallization, and improve product flow. Unfortunately, this process also kills the vital, living enzymes and good bacteria which make raw honey one of the world’s oldest-known superfoods.

The bacteria in raw honey serves as a prebiotic: a substance containing helpful microorganisms that aid in the process of digestion. When consumed raw, honey’s natural enzymes aid in the breakdown and assimilation of the many nutrients it contains.

Raw honey is also rich in powerful antioxidants called phenolic compounds, known to play an important role in cancer prevention^[12].  These compounds found in honey have also shown promise in reducing arterial blockages and lowering overall risks associated with cardiovascular disease^[13].

Perhaps most profound of all is that raw honey contains probiotic strains that are so ancient that one form of Lactobacillus present with certain varieties is believed to be of a lineage 80 million years old. Learn more:  Could Eating Honey Be A Form of Microbial Time Travel?

Molasses

Blackstrap molasses, known to sugar-refiners as “final molasses,” refers to the thick, brown syrup that is the end result of boiling sugar cane during the production of table sugar. What sets molasses apart from cane sugar, besides the obvious appearance, is its high nutritional value. Unlike its nutritionally bankrupt cousin, a 3.5 oz serving of blackstrap molasses contains more than a quarter of your daily supply of vital minerals such as iron, magnesium, potassium, manganese, and B vitamins^[14]. Molasses delivers this nutritional punch with much less sugar, thanks to being at the end of the line of the crystalline-sugar extraction process^[15].

Molasses has long been a popular folk remedy, treating everything from menstrual cramps to constipation^[16]. An old wives’ tale credits an elixir of molasses and milk with having the power to maintain endless youth and beauty. There may be some truth to this, thanks to molasses’ high antioxidant content^[17]. Polyphenols, the plant compounds that imbue antioxidant properties, are abundant in molasses, and have been recognized for having anti-cancer properties^[18] in clinical studies.

A 2011 study showed that adding molasses to a high-fat diet had the effect of reducing body weight and body fat percentages, thanks to decreased calorie absorption. Researchers concluded that “supplementing food with molasses extract might be a way to address the escalating rates of overweight and obesity.”^[19]

Rich in copper, iron, and calcium, molasses can play a vital role in maintaining healthy blood and bones. This makes molasses a great alternative to non-nutritive sweeteners for pregnant or nursing women, or women who are trying to become pregnant. It also makes a great dietary supplement for women at risk of developing osteoporosis.

These four, healthful alternatives to sugar prove that craving a taste of sweetness doesn’t have to cause cavities, promote weight gain, or lead to blood sugar imbalances. On the contrary, when we look to nature, we find natural foods which actually sweeten our health, as well as our palates.

---

References

^[1]https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/Earlyrelease201705_06.pdf

^[2] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity

^[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23321486

^[4] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/13/whats-on-your-table-how-americas-diet-has-changed-over-the-decades/ft_16-12-09_food_more_less/

^[5] http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/311/ge-foods/about-ge-foods#

^[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477723/

^[7] http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/4/688

^[8] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xylitol

^[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28792778

^[10] White JW. Composition of honey. In: Crane E, editor. Honey, a comprehensive survey. London: Bee research Association and Chalfont St Peter; 1975. pp. 157–206.

^[11] https://www.livescience.com/52541-phytonutrients.html

^[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20043255

^[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3005390/?tool=pubmed

^[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses

^[15] http://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/sugarcane-juice

^[16] http://journals.lww.com/pec-online/Abstract/2011/12000/Safety_and_Efficacy_of_Milk_and_Molasses_Enemas.3.aspx

^[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19103324

^[18] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC305362/#B31

^[19] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712094038.htm

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Top 5 Reasons Never To Use Splenda

Splenda is marketed as a no-calorie, no-guilt sugar substitute. Blood sugar stable, it “passes right through” the body, so it’s safe for diabetics AND you won’t gain weight! Are these claims masking the ugly truth about this chemical imposter? As mounting research shows, when it comes to our diet, there is no free lunch.

Splenda’s Spurious Claims

The allure is plain to see: a sweetener made from sugar, that tastes like sugar, but has zero calories. If the marketing is to be believed, this product is better than the real thing. It’s everything we love, with all of the evils removed.

When it comes to product marketing, beware the free lunch. Despite claims by the manufacturers that Splenda use is part of a healthy lifestyle, research is piling up that tells a very different story.

From the myth-busting studies linking Splenda to diabetes and weight-gain to sobering research showing increased risks of cancer, and more, our sucralose research portal reveals 22 different signs of trouble associated with this artificial sweetener.

Before we dive into the top reasons to avoid Splenda, let’s separate fact from fiction regarding exactly what this false promise really is.

What IS Splenda?

The brand name “Splenda” refers to the chemical compound sucralose. The story of this substance does not attempt to conceal its bizarre origin: The year was 1974, when a chemist at a British college was told to “test” this new creation. Instead, he heard “taste,” which he did. The substance had an intensely sweet impact on the tongue, and like that, a new “food” was created for the public.

Seeing the actual chemical name of Splenda makes the synthetic product’s true nature much clearer:

1,6-dichloro-1,6-dideoxy-BETA-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside

Although the product is touted as being derived from sugar, sucralose, aka Splenda, is not a form of sucrose, or cane sugar. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. Sucralose is produced through substituting three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) with three chlorine atoms in the sugar (sucrose) molecule.

When sugar molecules are transformed into Splenda, they become chlorocarbons, the same chemical family as the deadly pesticide, DDT, disinfectants like Clorox Bleach, and the WWI poison gas, dichlorourea. Thanks to its sugary simulation, this dangerous toxicant has earned a place on grocery store shelves and in products worldwide.

Who’s Protecting You?

You may be thinking, “The FDA would never approve this if it wasn’t safe.” Common sense dictates that trying to pass toxic chemicals off as foods would never be allowed to happen in civilized society, right?

Sadly, our collective past has proven that regulatory safety nets often fail to protect consumer safety. Artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame are approved for sale in 90 nations around the world, despite overwhelming evidence linking them to a wide range of serious health conditions, such as cancer, liver failure, and brain damage.

But as concerns about sucralose mount, the scientific consensus is taking notice. A recent Italian study linking Splenda to leukemia in mice prompted the Center for the Public Interest in Science to downgrade the safety classification for Splenda from “safe” to “caution.”

New evidence indicates that many of the associated health concerns present at even lower exposure levels than the manufacturers would have us believe. “Use caution” may prove to be an understatement with serious health consequences.

How Much is Too Much?

While manufacturers go to great lengths to cherry-pick studies in which damage occurs only in high doses, research shows the amount of Splenda required to cause toxic effects is much lower than current guidelines allow. In fact, the acceptable daily intake of Splenda may be set hundreds of times too high to ensure safety.

In 1998, the FDA approved an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for humans of 5 mg/kg per day, based on toxicity studies in rats measuring observed effect level. This safety limit was based on observations of the rats’ outward presentations of disease symptoms.

Since that time, much has been learned about the importance of what is unseen in our biological ecosystem, namely the trillions of microbes that constitute the microbiome. Research into the impact of Splenda on gut health concluded that the observation threshold for adverse effects to the microbiome of rats was 454 times lower than when initially measured, indicating that significant effects are expected in humans who are consuming far less than the advertised acceptable daily intake of Splenda.

When you understand what Splenda is, and realize there is no regulatory safety net between you and harm, it makes understanding the facts about Splenda even more critical. Here are five alarming reasons to avoid this artificial sweetener.

1. It’s toxic and carcinogenic

Regulatory agencies may be slow to recognize the signs, but our bodies know immediately what is food, and what is poison. A recent study published in the European Journal of Nutrition concluded that rats metabolize sucralose in the same way they metabolize other harmful drugs and toxins. The body treats Splenda as a poison, and works fast to remove it.

Scientists found other toxicological issues with long-term exposure to sucralose. Bowel enlargement, kidney mineralization, and changes to pelvic tissue were some of the side-effects of doses well within limits of the allowable daily intake level set for humans.

These findings do much to disprove the manufacturers claim that this substance merely passes, unaltered, through the digestive tract. The makers of Splenda argue that this “remarkably stable” chemical transits, unchanged, into the urine and feces, when in fact, up to 11% to 27% is absorbed into the body (FDA, 1999).

What effects will these accumulated chemicals have on our health? According to James Bowen, M.D:

“Any chlorocarbons not excreted intact from the body can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs.”

Warning: Heating Splenda Increases the Risks

Recent findings add increased urgency to existing safety concerns surrounding Splenda’s heat-stability.  Advertised as “ideal for baking”, results show that Splenda is even more dangerous when heated to a mere 248℉.

At this relatively low-heat level, Splenda degrades into toxic compounds like chloropropanol and deadly dioxins. This evidence presents a sharp contrast to the claim that Splenda can safely be used in high-heat processes.

2. Increases risks of diabetes and obesity

Splenda is marketed as a way to “get a little sweetness in your life” without any of the concerns surrounding weight gain or sugar sensitivity. It’s becoming clear just how false this advertising really is. In fact, the trade-off may be far worse than the real thing.

Studies on human test subjects show that sucralose alters the body’s ability to process glucose, creating glucose intolerance, metabolic disturbances, and diabetes-promoting effects that are key factors in obesity. These harmful responses occur despite sucralose containing no calories and being classified as a ‘non-nutritive sweetener.’

In one such trial, a single dose of sucralose led to increases in plasma glucose concentrations, a 20% increase in insulin levels, a 22% greater peak insulin secretion rate, and a 7% decrease in insulin sensitivity.

This human study linked Splenda to diabetes-associated metabolic changes, including increased appetite and weight gain, calling into question its value as a sweetener for those suffering with, or wishing to prevent, blood sugar disorders.

If these sweeteners pass through the gut intact, and are mostly unabsorbed by the body, what could be responsible for these adverse impacts on gut function and insulin response?

It’s in the Microbiota

Researchers hypothesized, and later proved, that gut microbiota drove these adverse effects, including “increased weight and waist-to-hip ratio; higher fasting blood glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, and elevated markers of fatty liver disease.”

They observed significant changes to the gut bacterial composition of mice consuming artificial sweeteners, which brings us to the next reason to avoid Splenda: its effects on the all-important intestinal microbiome.

3. Harms the GI tract

Research into the microbiome continues to yield breakthrough discoveries on the intimate relationship between the ‘enteric brain’ and the central nervous system. This connection may reveal previously unrecognized consequences of the use of this artificial sweetener. It’s negative impact on the microbiome is clear:

• Sucralose reduced the number of beneficial bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., lactobacilli, bifidobacteria),


• While increasing the count of detrimental bacteria (e.g., enterobacteria).


• Adverse effects on gut flora did not return to normal (baseline) despite the allowance of a 3-month recovery period.


• Sucralose altered the pH of the gastrointestinal tract, a prime factor in the development of disease states

These findings coincide with a global uptick in inflammatory bowel disease, particularly evident in Canada, where Sucralose has been proposed to be a primary driver of this disturbing trend.

4. Contaminates breast milk

The use of sucralose has grown so prevalent, even our most vulnerable populations are incapable of opting out of exposure. A recent government-funded study found sucralose contaminated 65% of all breast milk samples assayed.

The groundbreaking study, “Nonnutritive Sweeteners in Breast Milk“, found that sucralose survives maternal metabolism and enters breast milk in the majority of samples tested. The presence of non-nutritive sweeteners in the breast milk was irrespective of whether the mother knowingly consumed the substance.

Adequate proof of the safety of sucralose in infants is not available, and tests are unethical to perform in human subjects. This is one reason for the use of animals in surrogate risk assessments. One such assessment involves testing a chemical’s safety by determining the amount needed to kill 50% of rodents within a short time frame (“acute toxicity”), and then deducing an “acceptable level of harm” to humans. This is done primarily by adjusting for body weight differences between rodents and humans.

This outdated and misleading standard does not account for low-dose, chronic exposures over time, nor does it account for the synergistic toxicities of multiple chemical exposures occurring simultaneously in real-world situations. Until such rigorous testing can be performed, the use of non-nutritive sweeteners should be halted by those wishing to conceive, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

5. Suppresses Thyroid Function, Disrupts Hormones

A study published in the European Journal of Nutrition is the first study of its kind to evaluate the effects of Splenda on thyroid function and metabolism.

Their findings reveal that sucralose is an endocrine disruptor: it disrupts the body’s hormonal systems. In this study, resultant effects included thyroid hormone suppression, increased appetite, and weight gain.

The researchers believed that Splenda’s adverse effects would be reflected in “thyroid histopathology,” i.e. increased instances of thyroid lesions and tumors. Could this be one of the drivers behind the mysterious global uptick in thyroid cancer diagnoses?

In this study, researchers lament the widespread use of non-nutritive sweeteners, particularly concerning due to lack of research on their effects on thyroid:

“Non-nutritive sweeteners are the most widely used food additives worldwide. However, their metabolic outcomes are still a matter of controversy and their effect on the thyroid activity, a key regulator of metabolism, has not been previously studied.”

The chief aim of this study was to reveal the effect of “sweet-type flavor on selected parameters of thyroid activity.”

105 rats were divided into 3 groups that could consume, free-choice, one of three different diets. The three, wheat starch-based diets had identical caloric content, yet differed in the following ways:

• Diet #1 contained no sugar


• Diet #2 contained 10 grams of sucrose (cane sugar)


• Diet #3 contained .0167 grams of sucralose, enough to create the same sweet flavor intensity as Diet #2

Because previous research has established that carbohydrates directly affect thyroid, this study was designed to isolate only the difference between the artificial and natural sweetener. Results indicated that both the presence and type of sweet-flavor carrier effects thyroid activity.

Compared to the diet with cane sugar which stimulates thyroid activity, sucralose diminished thyroid hormone activity. Additionally, key hormone concentrations (T4 & T3) were lower for subjects eating sucralose than in either the sugary or non-sweet diets. Researchers determined that sucralose significantly altered the thyroid and metabolic functions of the animals, with symptoms resembling those of hypothyroidism.

This study proved sucralose is not metabolically inert, the claim often made when questions of toxicity are raised. The results provide compelling evidence that the difference in thyroid and metabolic effects observed between the study groups were due to sucralose’s significant and complex toxicological properties.

For more information and the latest medical research, check out GreenMedInfo’s sucralose research database.

Check out the research on the health benefits of natural sweeteners like honey, and stevia, a no-calorie alternative to synthetic sweeteners.

© August 3o, 2017 GreenMedInfo LLC. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of GreenMedInfo LLC. Want to learn more from GreenMedInfo? Sign up for the newsletter here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/newsletter.

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