Sugar AINT SO SWEET-HERES WHY

If there's one topic in all of the G-Files I've ever done that just isn't getting through to people in the way I would like, it has to do with sugar. Mama mia, is this stuff ever junk for you.

Most people don't even know why it's bad for them. So I have to start off by saying that in order for the body to process sugar it needs to leach out of you all of the B vitamins and minerals: calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12. All this just to process it.

And this idea that we have to have it every day? There's no recommended daily requirement for sugar, so people who say they need it are really saying that they have to have it.

This leads me to my third point. If sugar just became available now as an item, it would be classified as a pharmaceutical product because it's crystalline pure and has addictive properties.

Think I'm kidding? Just ask someone to get off of sugar.

So am I exaggerating here? I don't think so. I punched out 124 ways that sugar can ruin your health, backed up by medical references.



Sugar can cause or contribute to the following:

Weakened eyesight
Premature aging
Obesity
Varicose veins
Osteoporosis
Cardiovascular disease
Pancreas damage
Headaches (including migraines)
Depression
Cancer
These are just 10 ways sugar can ruin your health. And it's not like you haven't been told about this. There's a plethora of books out there against sugar: Sugar Blues; Lick the Sugar Habit; Pure, White and Deadly; and Sugar Busters! are just a few.

Hey, I like a New York cheesecake like everyone else but this is not a product we have in moderation. The truth is it (having sugar) should be a rarity because quite honestly, sugar is junk. Take it out of your diet and you'll notice health benefits across the board.

In the studio
"I'm talking about sucrose which is 50 per cent glucose and 50 per cent fructose. Now as soon as you get into other types of sugars, such as dextrose, lactose, etc., from different derivatives, that's a different situation," Sikk said. "We're really talking about white, crystalline pure 10,000-year shelf life sugar."

When reading labels, some of the words you're looking to avoid are sugar, liquid invert sugar, glucose, fructose and sugar solids. Since labels are listed in order of abundance, if you see any of those words in the top three, try not to pick it up - unless you have the product very rarely.

By Gunn Sikk

I am normally not a sweets person, but lately, I have been craving sweets like crazy, but I still try to keep my sugar intake down, for the baby, and try to eat fruits instead. But sometimes I just need a sprite or something. :)

I think it's a psychological craving as well. Moms give their kids a piece of candy to reward them or to make them feel better after a disappointment. As an adult, during a stressful situation, what do I crave? Chocolate!

can you clarify, is that natural sugars found in food (those we actually need for insulin etc), are you taliking white processed sugars, or white process sugars with no preservatives or addatives just natural product, or are you talking natural full grain unbleached unprocessed sugars that are good for you and are natrural, brown sugars or are you talking the sugarcane syrups etc that naturally occur in those plants and again have benefits for our health..

sugar is a necessity in our diets, sugar can be found in so many foods such as fruits, vegetables, flurs and the list goes on.sugar in excess casues extremem problems, sugar in too little amounts can als ohave health affects that are not positive.

one such physical ailment from not enough sugar is hypoglycemia, this is caused by low blood glucose. some ppl have problems that naturally lead them to this illness, but i my self have experienced it many times and it is an extremely unplesent and potentially very dangerous esp in my position.

how do i suffer from it you may ask? i am a bushwalker and often will walk and camp for over 100km in several days, this is done through bush using navigation, no nice trails and you carry all food and shelter on your back. during the walks often you blood glucose goes low, and it is often hard to realise that you are and by the time you do you have probably hurt yourself as the ailment can be very disorientating, cause agression, cobnfusion, loss of bbalance and the list goes on, theis is very scary and dangerous to experience, you ,may not realise it is happening until you are badly hurt etc or even dead due to disorientaiton. not only is this a bushwalkers prob, it happen naturally in some ppl. so sugar is necessary for such a situation, if i do not have sugar in that situation i would quickly deteriorate, that goes for most sports ppl too.

everything is good in moderation, in todays obese society that mesage seems to have gone straight over many heads and has casued panic and in turn may damage health such as the idea that all sugar is bad and none is necessary for healthy life, or that oils and fat is bad and should nto be eaten, as we have all seen it has now emerged you need fats for health and good fats are just that, good.but all in moderation.. sugars have been in our diets for thousands of years, i can take you out in the bush today and show you half a dozen bush food that contain sugar and have been eaten by aboriginal p[pl in this land for 50000 yrs.

but then the other side of the coin, 1/3 of usa obese population (not picking on usa but that is wehre the studies are done) suffers from type 2 diabeties, and that number will double in the conming years and that was not sugars fault, it was the falut of all those ppl who have no self control, serious eating disorders (counciling can fix it), ppl who dont excersise and live life properly. the obesisty is modern life resultant, lack of excersise, lack of laborous life, more processed foods the lot.

i dont blame sugar and all the research i have done and lived has indicated that sugar is a necessity for health and life, but again in moderation and natural stuff only.

food for thought

Hi Mel

I think the author is referring to processed sugars,as found in sweet cereals etc..and not natural sugars like Glucose found in many natural foods and honey.

I dont do honey either,,it messes up my blood sugars,but I do have lots of fruit and vegtables and I find I dont miss the sugar at all

opps, sorry i didnt realise it was written by another, just silly of me. you most likely dont crave sugar as you have enough of it in your foods, and that is the best way to get it, too much sugar in everything these days, for instance the amount of sugar in breads, it seems silly to me. i recently found out there is 10teaspoons of sugar in one can of coke, oh yuck, i love coke but that is a real turn off from the product and it has made me avoid it, eww yuck :p (< that is my yuck face) :D

Not only is sugar a phsycological dependancy, but a physical one as well.

I'm addicted to sugar... I freely adimit that. I know it's bad for me as diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family to great extremes. Can I stop eating sugar? Only if you want to see the most grumpy person in the world. I've cut back to the point where I no longer worry about diabetes caused by my diet, but since I'm overweight, I do worry about weight induced diabetes.

Am I losing weight? Yes....slowly as it should be done.
Will I ever stop eating things high in sugar? Probably not.
This is me...love me or leave me. :angel: