- Of all the foods consumed today, refined sugar is considered
to be one of the most harmful. ...In 1997 Americans devoured 7.3 billion
pounds of candy. Americans spent an estimated $23.1 billion dollars on
candy and gum. The average American consumed a record 27.3 pounds of candy
and gum in the same year-the equivalent of about six regular sized chocolate
bars a week-marking the fifth consecutive year of increased demand. (1)
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- ...Consumption of processed foods (which are laced with
sugar) cost the American public more than $54 billion in dental bills each
year, so the dental industry reaps huge profits from the programmed addiction
of the public to sugar products. ...Today we have a nation that is addicted
to sugar. In 1915, the national average of sugar consumption (per year)
was around 15 to 20 pounds per person. Today the average person consumes
his/her weight in sugar, plus over 20 pounds of corn syrup. To add more
horrors to these facts there are some people that use no sweets and some
who use much less than the average figure, which means that there is a
percentage of the population that consume a great deal more refined sugar
than their body weight. The human body cannot tolerate this large amount
of refined carbohydrates. The vital organs in the body are actually damaged
by this gross intake of sugar.
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- ...Refined sugar contains no fiber, no minerals, no proteins,
no fats, no enzymes, only empty calories. What happens when you eat a refined
carbohydrate like sugar? Your body must borrow vital nutrients from healthy
cells to metabolize the incomplete food. Calcium, sodium, potassium and
magnesium are taken from various parts of the body to make use of the sugar.
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- Many times, so much calcium is used to neutralize the
effects of sugar that the bones become osteoporotic due to the withdrawn
calcium. Likewise, the teeth are affected and they lose their components
until decay occurs and hastens their loss. ...Refined sugar is void of
all nutrients, consequently it causes the body to deplete its own stores
of various vitamins, minerals and enzymes. If sugar consumption is continued,
an over-acid condition results, and more minerals are needed from deep
in the body to correct the imbalance. If the body is lacking the nutrients
used to metabolize sugar, it will not be able to properly handle and rid
itself of the poisonous residues. These wastes accumulate through the brain
and nervous system, which speeds up cellular death. The bloodstream becomes
over-loaded with waste products and symptoms of carbonic poisoning result.
-
- ...Sugar also makes the blood very thick and sticky,
inhibiting much of the blood flow into the minute capillaries that supply
our gums and teeth with vital nutrients. Therefore, we wind up with diseased
gums and starving teeth. America and England, the two largest sugar consumers,
have horrendous dental problems.
-
- ...In 1948, a $57,000 ten-year study was awarded to Harvard
University by the Sugar Research Foundation to find out how sugar causes
cavities in teeth and how to prevent it. In 1958, Time magazine reported
the findings, which were reported in the Dental Association Journal. They
discovered there was no way to prevent the problem and their funding immediately
disappeared.
-
- ..."The most significant human study was done in
Sweden, reported in 1954, and known as the Vipeholm Dental Caries Study.
More than 400 adult mental patients were placed on controlled diets and
observed for five years. The subjects were divided into various groups.
Some ate complex and simple carbohydrates at mealtimes only, while other
supplemented mealtime food with between-meal-snacks, sweetened with sucrose,
chocolate, caramel, or toffee. Among the conclusions drawn from the study,
was that sucrose consumption could increase caries activity. The risk increased
if the sucrose was consumed in a sticky form that adhered to the tooth's
surfaces. The greatest damage was inflicted by foods with high concentrations
of sucrose, in sticky form, eaten between meals, even if contact with the
tooth's surfaces was brief. Caries, due to the intake of foods with high
sucrose levels, could be decreased when such offending foods were eliminated
from the diet. But individual differences existed, and in some cases, caries
continued to appear despite avoidance of refined sugar or maximum restriction
of natural sugars and total dietary carbohydrates." (2)
-
- ...Diabetes is another commonly known disease caused
by sugar as well as a high fat diet. Diabetes is caused by the failure
of the pancreas to produce adequate insulin when the blood sugar rises.
A concentrated amount of sugar introduced into the system sends the body
into shock from the rapid rise in the blood sugar level. The pancreas eventually
wears out from overwork and diabetes then rears its ugly head.
-
- ...Hypoglycemia occurs when the pancreas overreacts to
the large amount of sugar in the blood and releases too much insulin leaving
one with the "tired" feeling as the blood sugar level becomes
lower than it should be.
-
- "A recent article in the British Medical Journal,
entitled The Sweet Road to Gallstones, reported that refined sugar may
be one of the major dietary risk factors in gallstone disease. Gallstones
are composed of fats and calcium. Sugar can upset all of the minerals,
and one of the minerals, calcium, can become toxic or nonfunctioning, depositing
itself anywhere in the body, including the gallbladder.
-
- ..."One out of ten Americans has gallstones. This
risk increases to one out of every five after age forty. Gallstones may
go unnoticed or may cause pain-wrenching pain. Other symptoms might include
bloating, belching, and intolerance to foods." (3) ...Another serious
problem with sugar that is now coming to the forefront is the various levels
of mental problems. Our brains are very sensitive and react to quick chemical
changes within the body. As sugar is consumed, our cells are robbed of
their B vitamin, which destroys them, and insulin production is inhibited.
Low insulin production means a high sugar (glucose) level in the bloodstream,
which can lead to a confused mental state or unsound mind, and has also
been linked with juvenile criminal behavior. Dr. Alexander G. Schauss,
brings this solemn fact out in his book, Diet, Crime and Delinquency. Many
mental ward and prison inmates are "sugarholics" and erratic
emotional outbreaks often follow a sugar binge.
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- REFINED SUGAR-A DRUG?
-
- ...Refined sugar, by some, is called a drug, because
in the refining process everything of food value has been removed except
the carbohydrates-pure calories, without vitamins, minerals, proteins,
fats, enzymes or any of the other elements that make up food. Many nutrition
experts say that white sugar is extremely harmful, possibly as harmful
as a drug, especially in the quantities consumed by the present-day American.
-
- ...Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always
Wanted to Know About Nutrition says, ".white refined sugar-is not
a food. It is a pure chemical extracted from plant sources, purer in fact
than cocaine, which it resembles in many ways. Its true name is sucrose
and its chemical formula is C12H22O11. It has 12 carbon atoms, 22 hydrogen
atoms, 11 oxygen atoms, and absolutely nothing else to offer." ...The
chemical formula for cocaine is C17H21NO4. Sugar's formula again is C12H22O11.
For all practical purposes, the difference is that sugar is missing the
"N", or nitrogen atom.
-
- ...Refining means to make "pure" by a process
of extraction or separation. Sugars are refined by taking a natural food,
which contains a high percentage of sugar, and then removing all elements
of that food until only the sugar remains. ...While sugar is commonly made
from sugar cane or sugar beets. Through heating and mechanical and chemical
processing, all vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, enzymes and indeed
every nutrient is removed until only the sugar remains. Sugar cane and
sugar beets are first harvested and then chopped into small pieces, squeezing
out the juice, which is then mixed with water. This liquid is then heated,
and lime is added. Moisture is boiled away, and the remaining fluid is
pumped into vacuum pans to concentrate the juice. By this time, the liquid
is starting to crystallize, and is ready to be placed into a centrifuge
machine where any remaining residues (like molasses) are spun away. The
crystals are then dissolved by heating to the boiling point and passed
through charcoal filters. After the crystals condense, they are bleached
snow-white usually by the use of pork or cattle bones.
-
- ...During the refining process, 64 food elements are
destroyed. All the potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, phosphate,
and sulfate are removed. The A, D, and B, vitamins are destroyed. Amino
acids, vital enzymes, unsaturated fats, and all fiber are gone. To a lesser
or greater degree, all refined sweeteners such as corn syrup, maple syrup,
etc., undergo similar destructive processes. Molasses is the chemical and
deranged nutrients that is a byproduct of sugar manufacture. ...Sugar manufacturers
are aggressive in defending their product and have a strong political lobby
which allows them to continue selling a deadly food item that by all reason
should not be allowed in the American diet. ...If you have any doubts as
to the detriments of sugar (sucrose), try leaving it out of your diet for
several weeks and see if it makes a difference! You may also notice you
have acquired an addiction and experience some withdrawal symptoms. ...Studies
show that "sugar" is just as habit-forming as any narcotic; and
its use, misuse, and abuse is our nation's number one disaster. It is no
wonder when we consider all the products we consume daily which are loaded
with sugar! The average healthy digestive system can digest and eliminate
from two to four teaspoons of sugar daily, usually without noticeable problems,
(that is if damage is not already present). One 12 oz. Cola contains 11
teaspoons of sugar, and that's aside from the caffeine. It's the sugar
that gives you quick energy, but only for a brief time due to the rise
of the blood sugar level. But the body quickly releases a rush of insulin,
which rapidly lowers the blood sugar and causes a significant drop in energy
and endurance. It is easy to see why America's health is in serious trouble.
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- EFFECT OF SUGAR ON NEUROLOGICAL PROCESSES ...One of the
keys to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, and this compound is found
in many vegetables. When sugar is consumed, the bacteria in the intestines,
which manufacture B vitamin complexes, begin to die-these bacteria normally
thrive in a symbiotic relationship with the human body. When the B vitamin
complex level declines, the glutamic acid (normally transformed into "go"
"no-go" directive neural enzymes by the B vitamins) is not processed
and sleepiness occurs, as well as a decreased ability for short-term memory
function and numerical calculative abilities. The removal of B vitamins
when foods are "processed" makes the situation even more tenuous.
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- WHAT ABOUT GUM CHEWING? ...Besides the sugar in gum being
damaging to the teeth there is another harmful problem to consider and
that is: "teeth and jaws weren't designed for more than a few minutes
of solid chewing per day-far less than the two hours clocked in daily by
hardcore gum chewers. All this chewing results in inordinate wear on the
jawbone, gum tissue and lower molars, and can change the alignment of the
jaws" says Michael Elsohn, D.D.S., in the Medical Tribune.
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- http://www.macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm
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