Original URL: http://life.familyeducation.com/nutrition-and-diet/foods/36008.html

Healthy Habits: Cut Back on Refined Sugars

Many doctors, nutritionists, and researchers consider refined sugar a major nemesis of American health. Nevertheless, sugar is, hands down, America's number one food additive. Would you believe that we consume ten times more of it than we do all the other 2,600 or so food additives put together?! The one exception is salt, but even it runs a very distant second.¹

Every year the typical American consumes between 120 and 150 pounds of refined sugar. ² That translates to over one-third of a pound a day, 600-plus calories of teeth-rotting, health-destroying sweetness. Sort of a contradiction in terms.

Even if you don't eat sweets, the amount of refined sugar you may be consuming would no doubt shock you. Over two-thirds of the refined sugar used in this country is added to manufactured food products. In other words, it's hidden in many of the things we buy at the supermarket. For instance, did you know that a tablespoon of ketchup contains a full teaspoon of sugar?³ Stuff like breads, soups, cereals, cured meats, hot dogs, lunch meat, salad dressings, spaghetti sauce, crackers, mayonnaise, peanut butter, pickles, frozen pizza, canned fruits and vegetables, tomato juice, and a host of other products all contain sugar. This doesn't even take into account the obvious sugary products like candies, cakes, ice cream, cookies, doughnuts, and soda pop.

Even if you are careful about reading labels, it's difficult to tell just how much refined sugar you're actually getting. It comes in many different forms, several of which might be contained in a single product. Terms like sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, and lactose may mean something to a scientist (or "scientose"), but how are average laypeople supposed to understand what they're putting into their mouths?

And what about all those other products that we use to sweeten our food? Are molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, and honey just as bad for your health as white sugar?

Obviously, there are many questions that arise in any discussion about sugars and sweeteners. Let's pick off a few and see if we can't get some understanding.

What Are the Various Forms of Sugars?
Sucrose
More commonly known as white, refined table sugar, it comes from sugar cane, sugar beets, and sugar maples, and is the most widely used form of sugar. The following is a list of products in the sucrose family:⁴

White sugar	99.9 percent sucrose
Turbinado sugar	99 percent sucrose
Brown sugar	96 percent sucrose
Maple sugar	95-98 percent sucrose
Maple syrup	65 percent sucrose
Molasses	50-70 percent sucrose

Fructose
Also known as levulose, fructose is found naturally in fruits and honey. It can also be commercially refined from corn, sugar beets, and sugar cane. Currently, the most popular form of refined fructose is corn syrup, which is added to hundreds of products. Since it is about 70 percent sweeter than sucrose,⁵ many food manufacturers now use refined fructose to replace refined sucrose in their products – same sweetness, fewer calories.

Maltose
This form of sugar results from "malting" certain grains together with natural enzymes. Two of the most popular forms are barley malt and brown rice syrup. Barley malt is made by sprouting barley, drying it, then mixing it with water and cooking it into a syrup. Brown rice syrup is made by adding dried sprouted barley to cooked rice. After the rice is cultured, it is strained and cooked to produce a syrup. Maltose is about one-third as sweet as sucrose.⁶

Glucose
Also known as dextrose, glucose is found naturally in fruit, honey, carob, and corn, or may also be found in refined form. It is about two-thirds as sweet as sucrose.⁷ Glucose is also the form that all sugars are broken down to by our bodies to be utilized for energy.

(Special note: Lactose is the form of sugar found in milk. Another form of milk sugar is called galactose. These are not consumed in sugar form, but as part of milk products. Therefore, they are not usually considered food additives.)

Which Sugars Are Better For Us?
As far as nutritional benefit to our bodies, all simple sugars are empty calories – about four per gram. As regards their impact upon our bodies, sucrose is the worst. It demands the production of insulin by our pancreas, causes significant fluctuation in blood-sugar levels, and robs nutrients from various stores in our bodies in order to be digested.

The myth of "quick energy" that accompanies refined sugar products such as candy bars and other sweets that are high in sucrose (white sugar) is destroyed by the reality that a temporary "sugar high" from this form of sugar is followed quickly by the "sugar blues."

The following is a list of generally accepted substitutes for sucrose. Although no sweetener is without problems, these seem to have less negative impact upon the body.

• Fruit juice – Because it is fructose, it causes less of a rise in blood-sugar levels than sucrose. Fructose sugars don't require insulin. They are metabolized in our liver rather than our small intestine, as is sucrose. They are also absorbed more slowly into our bloodstream than sucrose.
• Date sugar – Ground-up dates. The sugar in dates is predominantly fructose. Maltose – A complex natural sugar that requires some breaking down into simple sugars in our bodies. It has no sucrose in it. Like fructose, maltose is metabolized by enzymes that do not require insulin. No fluctuations in blood-sugar levels are caused by maltose. Amasake (a sweet pudding-like substance made from cultured brown rice), barley malt, and brown rice syrup are examples of maltose.
• Sucanat – This product is made by squeezing the juice from sugar cane, then evaporating the water through a special process. What's left is a substitute for white refined sugar that contains vitamins, minerals, and trace elements – all of which refined sugar does not.
• FruitSource – Derived from a mixture of fruit and grains, it contains both simple and complex carbohydrates as well as small amounts of proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
• Amasake – A whole-grain pudding-like sweetener made by adding fermented brown rice to cooked rice.
• Honey – It rots teeth faster than sucrose,⁸ and because it is a simple sugar it can cause fluctuations in blood-sugar levels.⁹ The more fructose is in it, however, the less significant the blood-sugar changes. Different types of honey have different types of sugar, depending upon the crops the bees drew pollen from. For instance, clover honey is 60 percent sucrose, which would tend to cause more significant blood-sugar changes than orange blossom honey, which is 70 percent fructose.¹⁰ Use only raw, unfiltered honey, although most honey is heated to some degree during bottling. If you can, buy it from a farmer or roadside stand where less processing is likely to have taken place. The more cloudy it is, the better. And if it crystallizes, that's a sign that it's had less destructive heat applied to it. Honeys produced in your own locale tend to operate in your body as anti-allergens, helping you counteract the effects of local allergy-producing substances.¹¹
• Maple syrup – It does contain about 65 percent sucrose. Compared to white sugar, however, its negative impact upon blood-sugar levels is less.
• Unsulfured blackstrap molasses – Molasses is the liquid that remains after sucrose is refined from sugar cane or sugar beets. It has the same energy-exhausting effect on the body as white sugar, although somewhat less intense. It can also contain concentrated amounts of the stuff that was on the sugar cane or beets, like pesticides and environmental toxins. If sulfur was involved in processing out the sucrose, traces of this can remain as well.¹² Even with all of this potentially stacked against it, blackstrap molasses is recommended by some as a viable substitute for white sugar. It does contain nutrients (calcium, iron, potassium, and B vitamins) that have been refined out of white sugar. The darker the molasses, the more nutritious, with blackstrap being the best.¹³

What Do Refined Sugars Do to the Body?
Refined sugars have a negative effect on the body, the details of which are explored below.

Tooth Decay
The bacteria in our mouths use sugar in our diet to form substances that cause tooth decay. These include a gummy material called glucan that helps the bacteria stick to our teeth, plus acids that corrode the protective enamel.

Obesity
Sugars are no more fattening than starch or protein. The problem is that you can pack a lot of sugar calories into a small amount of food. If our diets contain a lot of sugary foods, we tend to overconsume calories long before our stomachs are full. This overconsumption of sugar not only leads to becoming overweight, but the potential onset of diabetes becomes multiplied.

Hypoglycemia
This is a condition in which the pancreas overproduces insulin to deal with an influx of sugar and thus lowers blood-sugar levels (which is true for many of us), but the mechanism by which the resulting low blood sugar is restored to balance is not working properly. This leaves the individual in a low-blood-sugar or hypoglycemic state. Often he or she will consume more sugar to help restore his or her system, which in turn leads to further problems.¹⁴

Diabetes
"There is no doubt," writes David Reuben, M.D., "that diabetes mellitus – otherwise known as 'sugar diabetes' – is caused by excessive consumption of refined sugar."¹⁵

The simple truth is that refined sugars, also known as simple sugars, break down too quickly into glucose in our small intestine and are too rapidly absorbed into our bloodstream, causing a condition known as hyperglycemia, or what is often referred to as a "sugar high."

It's the job of our pancreas to control blood-sugar levels by producing insulin, a substance which transports glucose to our cells for energy, and any excess to our livers for storage as glycogen. With an influx of rapidly absorbed simple sugars, the pancreas overproduces insulin to protect our brain and other vital organs from sugar overdose. This rapid overproduction of insulin, which is triggered by refined sugar, soon results in too much sugar being removed from the blood. The result is a low-blood-sugar condition known as hypoglycemia – also referred to as the "sugar blues." At this point, our adrenal glands secrete a hormone that changes the stored glycogen into glucose to raise our blood-sugar levels again. Over time, this up and down roller coaster of metabolic needs due to the fluctuations of sugar ingestion leads to overtaxed, worn-out adrenal glands, liver, and pancreas.

"If your pancreas is forced to overproduce insulin for an extended period of time (20-30 years)," observes Dr. Gordon Tessler, "you run the risk of damaging the insulin producing mechanism."¹⁶ Diabetes, the third-leading disease in this country behind heart disease and cancer, is in many cases due to a pancreas that is not producing enough insulin, having been exhausted by long-time consumption of simple or refined sugars.

"Raw Nerves," Osteoporosis, and Arthritis
All sugar eaten, whether natural or refined, requires B-complex vitamins, calcium, and magnesium for digestion. Complex carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, and starches, contain enough of these nutrients to assist our bodies in their own digestion. However, the simple and refined sugars do not. Therefore, our bodies must call upon their stores of these nutrients in order to deal with this kind of sugar. B-complex is stolen from the nervous system, and calcium and magnesium are robbed from the bones and teeth. "Consequently," observes Dr. Tessler, "refined sugar 'rips you off' of these needed nutrients, resulting in 'raw' nerves."¹⁷

With a steady loss of calcium and magnesium from our bones and teeth, osteoporosis is a likely outcome – a dangerous softening of the bones and skeletal structure. And these released minerals float around in our bodies and they end up in part in our joints where they accumulate, a condition known as arthritis.

Impaired Immune System Functioning
The following chart shows what refined sugar can do to the effectiveness of our white blood cells, those members of our immune system that eat up foreign invaders, and in fact seek out and destroy our own cells that have become cancerous.

Effect of Refined Sugar on White Blood Cell Activity ¹⁸

Amount Refined Sugar Consumed	Number of Bacteria a WBC Can Destroy in 1/2 Hour	Decrease in Immunity
No sugar	14	0%
6 teaspoons = 8 oz. of soft drink	10	25%
12 teaspoons = frosted brownie	5.5	60%
18 teaspoons = apple pie à la mode	2	85%
24 teaspoons = banana split	1	92%
Uncontrolled Diabetic	1	92%

(Special Note: A 12-ounce can of soda contains 9 teaspoons of sugar. An 8-ounce serving of fruit-flavored yoghurt contains almost as much.)¹⁹

Candida Albicans
Often referred to simply as candida, this organism is a normal fungus (yeast) that lives in our bodies. It normally takes up residence in our intestinal tract, but can get into our circulatory system. No one really knows what good it does our bodies, if any. Perhaps the only reason it's there is to help the decaying process of changing our bodies back into dust when we die.

If our blood chemistry is in good order and our immune system is strong, candida is kept in check. However, if these systems are not up to par, the fungus begins to overgrow our bodies. In his book The Yeast Connection, William G. Crook, M.D., puts forth an extensive list of symptoms indicating possible yeast overgrowth. Among them are fatigue, lethargy, depression, irritability, headaches, inability to concentrate, inappropriate drowsiness, muscle weakness and numbing, recurrent vaginal or urinary tract infections, athlete's foot, jock itch, persistent digestive distresses (heartburn, indigestion, constipation, etc.), swollen joints, nasal congestion, recurrent sore throats, and more.²⁰

As was already pointed out, a steady intake of refined sugar in our diets can weaken the effectiveness of our immune systems, thus allowing candida to multiply. This, plus the fact that yeast feeds on sugar, makes refined sugar a real no-no.

And Much, Much More
This list could go on and on. In fact, Nancy Appleton, Ph.D., author of Lick the Sugar Habit, lists the following potential consequences of long-term consumption of refined sugars: hypoglycemia, diabetes, constipation, stomach or intestinal gas, arthritis, asthma, headaches, psoriasis, cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, obesity, candida albicans, tooth decay, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, canker sores, gallstones, and cystic fibrosis.²¹

Tips on Cutting Down on Refined Sugar
Don't Buy "Sweets"
Stay out of the candy aisle at the grocery store. Steer clear of the pastry section. Avoid the dairy cases. When it comes to spending your hard-earned money on sugar, "just say no"!

Rid Your Kitchen of Refined Sugar
Go through your refrigerator and cabinets, reading labels. If you find anything with these words on it, throw it out immediately: sucrose, fructose (obviously the commercially refined kind), glucose, maltose, lactose, galactose, cane syrup, corn syrup, corn sugar, invert sugar, dextrose, or anything else that smacks of refined sugar.

But all that food from my kitchen will be wasted, you're saying. "I know you're tempted to give it to poor people," writes Dr. David Reuben of what you'll find in your kitchen, "but don't do it unless you have something against poor people. And above all, don't give it to the dog. For one thing, the over-refined junk you're getting rid of probably doesn't meet the US Department of Agriculture standards for animal feed. It could get you in trouble."²²

Keep tossing until your kitchen is completely free from refined sugar. "Then if you need a 'fix,'" says Dr. Nancy Appleton, "you will have to drive to the store to feed your habit. This will give you time to think, and maybe you'll change your mind. If not, buy only enough to satisfy your craving. Don't buy any more than you can eat at the moment. Buy the smallest size of whatever it is you crave, and throw out what you don't eat. Better wasted outside the body than inside."²³

Eat Lots of Complex Carbohydrates
Build your daily diet around an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and starches. These foods contain sugars that need breaking down before they enter your bloodstream. They keep your blood-sugar level on an even keel, not the up and down "yo-yo" effect of sweets made with refined sugar – sugar highs and sugar lows. As your blood-sugar level stabilizes, you will find yourself craving refined sugar products less and less. Your body simply doesn't need that instant sugar energy.

Examine the Stressors in Your Life
Many of us turn to food, especially sweets, for a sense of psychological comfort. I know that for me, if I'm frustrated, frightened, or angry, one of the ways I'm always tempted to deal with it is to lose myself in a Snickers bar. But if I do, I'm not only still frustrated, frightened, or angry, but I've added to my inner turmoil by being mad at myself for what I've just done to my body.

Next time you find yourself reaching for the Coke Classic or a Hershey's bar, stop and ask yourself why. Analyze the situation. Are you craving sugar, something you know is bad for your health, as a pacifier? A kind of appeasement for something that's going on outside your body? Try to identify those things that trigger your cravings for sugar and make every effort to control them.

1. Jane Brody, Jane Brody's Nutrition Book (New York: Bantam Books, 1981), page 119.
2. Marilyn Diamond, The American Vegetarian Cookbook (New York: Warner Books, 1990), page 327.
3. Brody, page 119.
4. Karen MacNeil, The Book of Whole Foods: Nutrition and Cuisine (New York: Vintage Books, 1981), pages 304-305.
5. Brody, page 121.
6. Brody, page 121.
7. Brody, page 121.
8. Brody, page 122.
9. Gordon S. Tessler, Lazy Person's Guide to Better Nutrition (San Diego, CA: Better Health Publishers, 1984), page 112.
10. MacNeil, page 312.
11. MacNeil, page 310.
12. MacNeil, page 305.
13. Brody, page 122.
14. Nancy Appleton, Lick the Sugar Habit (Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing Group, 1988), pages 42, 43.
15. David Reuben, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978), page 206.
16. Tessler, page 186.
17. Tessler, page 89.
18. JoAnn Rachor, Of These You May Freely Eat (Sunfield, MI: Family Health Publications, 1986), page 83.
19. Diamond, page 327.
20. William G. Crook, The Yeast Connection (Jackson, TN: Professional Books, 1985), pages 17-26.
21. Appleton, pages 41-74.
22. Reuben, page 211.
23. Appleton, page 118.