Sugar Addiction Articles | Tips for Reducing Sugar Archives

Natural Sugar vs. Processed Sugar

by Kristen Clore | Sugar Addiction Articles | Tips for Reducing Sugar

Recently I’ve received a lot of questions about added sugar vs natural sugars and which ones are “good.” After much deliberation on this subject, I’ve come to an easy rule of thumb.

Here goes: “If you have to add sugar to your meal, it’s not a good sugar.” Now this is much easier said than done, right? Imagine this, would you make a steak and add protein powder to it? Or create a beautiful fresh salad, and then sprinkle it with dehydrated vegetables and top that with protein powder instead of a piece of fresh fish or meat on top? You answered never, right? So why are we compelled to add processed sugar to all of our meals? Well, the answer to that is another article altogether and that deals with sugar addiction. To get to the meat of things here is some information I found that I wanted to share with you about natural, processed, and chemically altered sugars! If you want more information about chemically altered sugars, read our post on scary facts about sugar.

First, try to eat a Natural Sugar instead of a Processed Sugar!

What is natural sugar? Natural Sugars are something that you or a local farmer could reasonably harvest. They are less likely to be GMO and less likely to have added chemicals and other processed agents that can cause havoc on your health! There are many types of natural sugar that may appeal to you.

Here is a chart to identify some naturally occurring sugars.

Sugar Type	Natural	Maintains Minerals and/or Nutrients	Glycemic Index Rating
Maple Syrup	Yes	Yes	54
Local Honey	Yes	Yes	50-75
Stevia Leaf	Yes	Yes	Less than 1
Coconut Palm Sugar	Yes	Yes	35

Avoid highly processed sugars. What are processed sugars? These are sugars which are cooked down, bleached, and do not resemble their original state.

Sugar Type	Natural	Maintains Minerals and/or Nutrients	Glycemic Index Rating
White table sugar	No	NO	65
Corn Syrup	No	NO	100

Finally, understanding that artificial sweeteners are toxic.

Do your best in avoiding additional sugars at meals and with your beverages! Next time you find yourself adding sugar, pause and ponder… why you are doing it. Is it really necessary to enhance the flavor of your already delicious food? Probably not! Improved awareness on the different types of sugar helps us make improved decisions and avoid some of the bad facts about sugar.

Yours in health and happiness,
Kristen

Confused about sugar? This should help.

by Kerry Cradit | Sugar Addiction Articles | Tips for Reducing Sugar

Let’s clear up any confusion on this: Sugar is BAD!

When you are trying to wade through all the conflicting information about what “diet” is right for you there is one simple truth to remember — White refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup are bad, but why is sugar bad for you?

Once you know this and start to operate from this point of view some of the other diet confusions will be easier down the road.

Make a plan to decrease your white sugar consumption. And set a future goal to eliminate it totally. The reasons to do this are as numerous as the health facts about sugar.

Here are nine bad facts about sugar:

Sugar causes inflammation.
Sugar creates bowel problems.
Sugar feeds immune challenges, makes you more likely to get sick and stay sick longer.
Sugar contributes to depression and anxiety.
Sugar causes cardiovascular disease.
Sugar makes you gain weight.
Sugar raises cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Sugar consumption can lead to cancer.
Sugar is highly addictive. Sugar is in the majority of processed foods. So, many people find the thought of stopping sugar impossible.

I would like to tell you it is possible.

It’s not easy.

But, it is possible.

We see patients every day in our office who have made the decision to eliminate sugar from their diet and their lives and health are greatly improved as a result. You can do it, too.

What symptom do you have that is bothering you?

It is probably related to sugar? If you have a health concern chances are it would improve with the reduction of sugar in your diet.

Give it a try. Your body will benefit. Come into our office and we can help you with your optimum food plan and kick the sugar habit!

Yours in health, Kerry Cradit

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13 Scary Things About Sugar You Need to Know [Updated]

by Dr. Darren Schmidt | Dr. Schmidt's Blog, Sugar Addiction Articles | Tips for Reducing Sugar

Sugar may not seem scary, but what it can do to your health and body are.

This article with bad facts about sugar will tell you some of the top reasons to cut sugar out of your life. Sugar is bad.

When we say sugar, we mean Sucrose – refined, white sugar; brown sugar; evaporated cane juice; and others. We also mean high fructose corn syrup, natural fructose (fruit), lactose (milk), starchy foods, and refined carbohydrates that act like sugar in the body.

Sugar makes you tired. Sugar may seem to give you a short-term boost, but it always results in a crash. If you drink pop at noon and you feel tired at 3:00, it’s because of the sugar.
Sugar makes you hungry. Foods that contain sugar in them have very little nutrients, so your body gets hungry sooner than if you had eaten a balanced meal. People who drink pop all day or eat candy do so because the body is looking for nutrition and it’s not receiving it, so it stays hungry.
Sugar makes people, not like you. When you get a sugar crash, you get grumpy or grouchy, and you are no fun to be around.
Sugar makes things go wrong around you. Immediately after consuming it, your brain floods with glucose, and it goes into hyperdrive. Reasonable and proper thought and function of the brain turns into: “Zoom, zoom! – oops – mistakes made!” Then the sugar crash happens, and it’s: “Wah, Waah – too slow – who cares – let it slide!” Either way, your productivity, and efficiency go down at work and at home.
Sugar makes you fat and bloated. Sugar feeds bad yeast in your gut, and you bloat up. Sugar is the cause of rising obesity in kids and adults in this country. It’s not from eating too much fat; it’s too much sugar and refined carbohydrates. Sugar turns on your fat gene– SCD-1. If your fat gene is turned on, well, fortunately with proper nutrition, it is possible to turn off.
Sugar causes disease. Sugar makes you unhealthy. Sugar breaks down tissues in your body, damaging your organs and causing disease.
Sugar makes you stink. The broken-down tissues in your body are like rotting flesh. It can get pretty gross and can make you have bad body odor even if you’re a clean person.
Sugar causes chronic pain. It causes inflammation in areas where you have destroyed tissue which leads to pain.
Sugar is expensive. The cost accrues after you eat it. You have decreased productivity at work, you get sick, you end up in the hospital after years of consumption. The number one cause of personal bankruptcy is health care costs (even with insurance coverage!) Not mortgage defaulting.
Sugar is a gateway drug. If you tell your doctor that you are tired or grumpy during the day because of your sugar crash… WATCH OUT! He may give you Prozac or some other mind-altering drug.
Sugar makes you old. It dries out your skin and worsens your vision. Your joints deteriorate, so you need a cane or something to aid your walking.
Sugar ruins your life. It can give you cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
Sugar kills you. It’s much slower than a bullet, though.

These scary facts about sugar come from empirical evidence found right here in the office. We see it in our patients when they first come in to get help with their health. It’s backed up by thousands of studies as well. But, our best evidence is our patients who’ve come to see us because of health problems related to eating sugar and refined carbs and excessive insulin production. After they get educated about real food and nutrition, they turn their health around avoiding surgery and potentially deadly future health problems. Learn about different types of sugar to maintain good health today.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Darren Schmidt, D.C., N.D