Sugar....It loves me, It loves me not?

Today I come and write to challenge you.  Maybe some of you that read my blog are already familiar with the subject, but to some of you, this may be a whole new concept! 

Bear with me.
 

What I am about to suggest goes against everything that our society tells us.  It even goes against what most Doctor’s and Nutritionalists recommend. 

But who am I to question such matters?  I’m not a Doctor.  I’m not trained in the health field.  Heck, I don’t even have a degree! 

Here’s what I do have.  I have the ability to use logic and think for myself.   I have the “gift” of questioning and the desire to understand the how’s and why’s of things.  I have the ability to research things out for myself and find studies that are done by people that aren’t trying to make money off products.  I have a background of eating REAL, WHOLE Foods. 

So here is my question…

What if it’s not “fat” that is making us sick and fat?Note:  When I say “fat” I’m not talking about the refined seed and vegetable oils (soybean oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, margarines, butter substitutes etc...).  I’m talking about animal fats, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.

Say what? 

But that’s not what my Doctor says!  And that’s definitely not what sells!  What would happen to the hundreds and thousands of products that make money off fat free and low fat claims!

What if it’s SUGAR, and PROCESSED foods that are the culprits?  Note: When I say sugar, I mean added, processed sugars.  Not the sugar that naturally occurs in our food!

Now I’ve really lost it haven’t I? 

I follow a lot of natural health related pages on facebook and even more natural health blogs.  Every day I read at least one, if not more, articles that are saying that the health and obesity crisis that we are facing in America today is because of all the processed foods that Americans are consuming in place of Real, Whole foods.

Did you know that the obesity epidemic started around the same time the “low fat/fat free” craze started? And what was added to foods to make up for the fat?  That’s right – sugar. 

Did you know that studies are showing that heart disease has increased as more and more people replace butter with “heart healthy” butter substitutes and margarines?

Did you know that studies have shown that saturated fat is not only harmless, but that it raises the good, HDL cholesterol?

We all know that eating excess sugar contributes to weight gain & obesity, but new studies are now showing that it also leads to unhealthy cholesterol & triglyceride levels and heart disease.  Well, what is excess sugar?  The average American eats about 21 teaspoons (just under ½ cup) of added sugar a day.  The “recommended” amount is 6 teaspoons, which most people easily get (plus more) with their breakfast alone!

Sugar actually causes you to eat more.  Calories are not creates equal.  Our bodies don’t recognize sugar as a nutrient, so we could literally eat sugar all day long and not ever feel full or satisfied until we give our body actual nutrients.  

Sugar lowers your immune system’s ability to fight infections, and studies have also shown that cancer feeds off sugar!  Sugar negatively affects every area of our health. 

Sugar is horrible.  And processed foods are FULL of hidden sugars.   You can’t get away from sugar.  It’s in our drinks, it’s in our lunch meats, and it’s even in taco seasoning!  Manufactures are experts at hiding it on ingredient labels.  Reading nutrition labels is a wonderful start, but the labels don’t differentiate from sugars that are naturally in real foods, and sugar that was added in.  But even ingredient labels get tricky to navigate because it’s not just labeled “sugar”.  It’s labeled as sucrose, fructose, dextrose, syrup, evaporated cane juice,  corn sweetener, fruit juice concentrates, lactose, maltose, and the list goes on…

The more sugar you eat, the more sugar you want to eat.  You can become as addicted to sugar as a crack addict is to crack.  Think I’m kidding?  Try giving up sugar for 10 days.  Go without cold turkey.  Don’t eat anything that has sugar in it that doesn’t naturally have sugar in it.  Better watch that Jiffy Peanut Butter, ‘cause it’s laced with sugar!  That bread that you were going to slather the Peanut Butter on has oodles of sugar in it too!    You’ll actually go through withdrawal.  Could this be a reason why food manufactures add hide so much sugar in their products, so that you’ll eat more and line their pocket books?  Advertising a low fat product caused you to buy it, they added sugar to make up for the loss of fat, so therefore they are profiting off their “low fat claim”, while getting you more addicted to sugar to keep profiting from you!   

Eating Fat isn’t what is making you fat.  While eating too many calories produces fat, it’s not the actual fat that is creating all the extra cushion that we carry around!  And contrary to popular belief, studies are now showing that saturated fat has no relation to heart disease!

Unlike Sugar, fat is extremely satiating, which basically means that it makes you feel full and keeps you satisfied longer.  Your brain senses the fat as nutrients and switches off the hunger signal that makes you want to keep eating! 

Certain fats are some of the most nutritious foods that we can eat!  And if we don’t eat fat with our meals then our bodies are unable to absorb the nutrients are in certain vegetables! 

Doctor’s LOVE to hate on eggs.  High Cholesterol?  Avoid eggs like the plague!   But, what if I told you that studies have shown that people who eat eggs have lower LDL (The bad stuff) Cholesterol  and HIGHER HDL (The good stuff) Cholesterol than those that didn’t?  Cause guess what?  There are studies showing just that!  Eggs also contain choline, which is a nutrient that actually helps reduce the inflammation in the heart that leads to heart disease.   There are also nutrients in eggs that prevent blood clots and therefore reduces your risks of heart attack and stroke!  So throw away your egg beaters and go eat an egg, or 3.

I realize that I am probably stirring up a pot of worms here.  And I’m sure there are loads of people out there that will LOVE poking holes in my little theory here… But what if I’m right?  What if the fat isn’t the problem and it’s really the sugar?  Even if all I got you to do today was to open your mind up to something other than was society is telling us, and think for yourself, and do a little bit of research, then I consider this post to be successful, even if you decide that I’m 100% wrong!  All I’m asking you to do is do a little research for yourself instead of just listening to what everyone else is telling you!

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-13-nutrition-lies-that-made-the-world-sick-and-fat/
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20100420/high-sugar-diet-linked-lower-good-cholesterol
http://www.businessinsider.com/13-nutrition-lies-that-made-the-world-sick-and-fat-2013-10#7-meat-is-bad-for-you-7
http://healthextremist.com/are-eggs-good-for-you-30-reasons-to-eat-eggs/?utm_content=buffer44c3b&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/its-the-sugar-folks/?_r=0
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx
http://nancyappleton.com/141-reasons-sugar-ruins-your-health/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/high-fat-diet-healthy-safe/#axzz2kMtHryzY
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/top-heart-doctor-unprocessed-fatty-foods-may-actually-be-good-for-you-8897707.html
http://www.more.com/health/healthy-eating/saturated-fat-good?page=2

And trust me....you will want to watch this video about sugar!  It's well worth the 45 minutes!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/30/oreos-fructose-consumption.aspx?e_cid=20131030Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20131030Z1