Sugar is not bad unless you are consuming too much. Our consumption of sugar has increased by more than 1000 % since the 70`s. Averaged out, each person is consuming about 180 lbs of sugar per year or 1/2 lb per day.
Every time something with sugar touches your taste buds it triggers the pancreas to send out a lot of insulin to break down & use the sugar. Because the sugar is burned very quickly, you are left with a very high amount of insulin in the blood. This free roaming insulin causes you to crave more sugary foods and the viscious cycle is in full swing. This is what leads to obesity and insulin resistance and then on to other major health problems.
Food processors today dont have to identify all the sugars in their product, they are only required to give you the `total grams` of sugar on the content label.
Here are some of the names of sugars used:
Corn syrup and high density corn syrup (HDCS)
Sucrose
Glucose
Maltose
Dextrose
Lactose
Fructose
Fruit concentrate
Malt
Maple sugar
Sucanat
Natural cane sugar
Dehydrated cane juice
High Fructose corn syrup is a `supersugar` and is an ingredient in almost every processed or sweetened food such as pop, cookies, cakes, baked goods, canned foods, frozen foods, breakfast cereals, salad dressings, luncheon meats, canned fruits, all bread products, peanut butter, all crackers, soups, sausage, yogury, relish, katsup, cheese dips, chewing gum, jams & jellies, frozen desserts. This is just a `short list`.
The introduction of HFCS is associated with the beginning of the obesity epidemic. The digestion, metabolism and absorption of fructose ( HFCS) is different from that of regular sugar. Regular sugar is a combination of fructose and glucose, known as `sucrose`.
Fructose is the type of sugar found in fruit, but the `whole` fruit also contains an abundance of fiber which slows down the absorption of the sugar and there is much less fructose in one apple as compared to 1 cup of sweetened apple juice. Glucose is the type of sugar the body uses for energy and is the type of sugar found naturally in beans & whole grains.
When fructose is processed into high-fructose corn syrup is is absorbed even more quickly than regular sugar and it does not stimulate the release of the hormone `leptin` which tells your brain you are full. Therefore you continue to be hungry and eat even more foods containing HFCS. When your food contains glucose your brain gets the message that you are full or satisfied. Once fructose
( HFCS) enters the cell it becomes acetyl-CoA which is made into cholesterol, produces a fatty liver and slows down your metabolism. Cut out processed foods and watch your cholesterol and triglyceride levels drop immediately.
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