Type 2 Diabetic's Biggest Problem is SUGAR

I recently read a short article in Reader's Digest concerning sugar. The article starts out by imagining a life size sculpture of yourself made out of sugar cubes and consuming it over and over the next 365 days. It goes on to point out that is essentially what many of us are doing. The typical American eats an average of 128 pounds of added sugars each year. Those figures come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Here are some things to consider:

People who got between 10 and 25% of their daily caloric intake from added sugar are 3X more likely to die of heart problems that those who get less than 10% of their calories from sugar. It also mentioned that sugar harms your overall health even if you are NOT overweight and eat reasonably.

Other studies have shown there is a link between sugar consumption and higher levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, and LOWER levels of HDL cholesterol. Too much sugar intake is also associated with inflammatory chemicals which increase heart risk.

In addition, sugar messes with your brain and your body trying to tell you that you are full and to stop eating. Sugar hinders fat burning enzymes and leads to fat storage.

Something I didn't know............Sugar can be addictive and make it difficult for you to stop eating it. In a test ran on rats given free reign to eat sugar, their brains became flooded with dopamine, which is the same substance released during gambling episodes and cocaine use.

WHO (World Health Organization) recommends consuming less than 5% of your daily calories from sugar. One 8 ounce glass of sweetened tea as an example is your total daily limit. The average American consumes over 22 teaspoons of added sugar daily.

THE REAL PROBLEM comes in when you do not read labels while grocery shopping. Sugar is lurking everywhere. Read your breakfast cereal label, your bottle of salad dressing, your favorite cup of yogurt etc. The other problem is that even if you are reading labels and looking for the word sugar, you are still being deceived. Also look for hidden sugar with labeling such as fruit juice concentrate, or maltodextrin or rice syrup.

SUGAR ADDICTION HIDDEN SIGNS:

• You promise yourself only ONE cookie and realize the bad is empty before you know it
• You skip dessert, however more than make up for it by second helpings of pasta and bread
• You do okay at meal time and end up later snacking on potato chips and crackers
• You end up skipping some meals rather than eating smaller ones, and then over eat later
• You find yourself tired all the time
• You just want a taste of bagels, muffins, crackers, pasta, rice and bread and then go back for more
• You snack on high caloric, high sugar content foods through out the day
• You eat healthy while with other people and then lose it at home alone

TIP: Limit yourself to 24 grams of added sugar per day. Read labels and see how many grams of sugar are in just ONE packet or Quaker pre-packaged oatmeal. I checked and the average is 12 grams so if you eat two packets for breakfast, you are done for the day. 

Think you are cutting back by having yogurt for lunch? Yogurt can have over 24 grams of sugar in one serving which exceeds your daily limit to be healthy.

STAY HYDRATED on water, and NOT so called vitamin drinks or high energy drinks etc. Most of these type of drinks have 25% of the Min RDA for certain vitamins in the whole bottle and the sugar content is a lot more than you would think.

TRY TO THINK in terms of vegetables, low sugar fruits, chicken, (pistachios, walnuts, pecans, etc. for snack time.)

Start walking and work yourself up to 30-45 mins of brisk walking 5X weekly along with incorporating some light training with dumbbells, push ups against the stairs, abdominal crunches, stretching etc. Do it with a partner if you can and it will be more enjoyable.

God Bless,

Dan

STOP Drinking SUGAR....IT Is KILLING You And Making You Fat

Sugar consumption in America is at an all time high. One of the worst offenders are sugary drinks and colas. Part of the problem is that drinks such as orange juice, apple juice etc. contain NO FIBER which helps slow down your digestive process. You are much better off eating (1) orange than drinking a glass of orange juice as an example. Drinking sugary drinks overloads your liver causing heart problems, obesity and diabetes.

Somehow one has to train their mind to not just seek the "Next Pharmaceutical So Called Cure" or a higher dose of medication or increasing the amount of insulin your pump injects into your system. You need to CUT OFF the problem at its source and that is what you put into your mouth. You also need to dramatically increase your exercise output while cutting way back to ZERO if possible the fruit juices, and carbonated sodas etc. Don't buy into the "Contains Only REAL FRUIT JUICE labels. Some of those are TRUE and a lot of them only contain 3-5% real fruit juice. BOTH are not your best choice for a drink. That is why GOD created WATER.  Diabetics should not be drinking fruit juice except in a blood sugar plummet which puts you in the danger zone. You should be eating fruit (vs.) drinking over processed sugary fruit juice drinks.

You might want to read the book entitled, "Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar" for more information.

Here are some of the worst offenders in regards to sugar content. I recently looked at the label on a 16 oz can of root beer and there was close to 75 grams of sugar in that one can of carbonated root beer. Your body was NOT MADE to deal with that kind of sugar overload.

I am going to post a link here giving sugar contents of different popular drinks. What we need to do is two things:

1. READ the ingredient labels
2. QUIT buying this stuff and it will eventually disappear from the store shelves

(That is called the law of supply and demand)

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT MEASURING SUGAR CONTENT:

First of all a teaspoon is a unit of volume measurement

A gram is a unit of weight measurement

How then do you quickly calculate how many grams of sugar there are in ONE teaspoon?

It depends how granulated (fine or coarse) the sugar is.

On average: 1 teaspoon = 4.2 grams

 As an example in the orange juice listed below which contains 51 grams of sugar, you can roughly equate that to 12 to 13 teaspoons of sugar. Now, ask yourself a legitimate question. Would you sit down at the table with a bowl of refined white sugar and patiently eat 12 to 13 teaspoons of it at one sitting? I doubt many people would irregardless of how much of a sugar addict you might be. At the same time most people would not think twice about drinking a big glass of orange juice or Hawaiian Punch, or even a 16 ounce can of regular root beer on a hot day.

You need to start doing the math in your head before you eat or drink something. If you are thirsty drink a big glass of cold water, then eat an apple or eat an orange. EAT your fruit and DRINK water. Green smoothies that are weighted more to the vegetable side of the equation are OK. Celery, cucumber, kale, spring salad mix, baby carrots, sweet peppers, etc. with a medium size apple thrown in the smoothie mix are much healthier for you than a BIG glass of store bought, pre-packaged orange juice or apple juice etc.

Dan

Here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2301135/15-WORST-health-drinks-Orange-juice-Innocent-smoothies-sugar-13-Hobnobs-3-half-doughnuts.html

EXCERPTS:

WORST COFFEE SHOP FRUIT JUICE

PRET FRESHLY SQUEEZED ORANGE JUICE (500ml)

+16

Pret's orange juice contains as much sugar as 13 McVities Hobnob biscuits

229 calories
0.6g fat
51g sugar

SUGAR EQUIVALENT

13 McVities Hobnob biscuits

EXPERT VERDICT:
This drink is almost as sugary pound for pound as Coke, and it contains more calories than a can of Coke!

But because it's juice it's okay, right? Wrong.

Fructose sugar is found in high quantities in fruit juice and excessive consumption is a primary cause of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

It doesn't matter if it's juice or Coke, concentrated liquid sugar is bad - full stop.

Not convinced? Watch the video from sugar expert Dr Robert Lustig on the science behind the body's reaction to a glass of Orange Juice.

MANUFACTURER'S RESPONSE: 

Pret’s orange juice is made from 100 per cent freshly squeezed oranges with no added sugar. The sugar is naturally occurring in the fruit. 

We give our customers a wide choice of products and we lead the way in food labelling so people can make informed choices about what they eat and drink.

DRINK THIS INSTEAD: 

Pret Carrot Juice: 60 calories, 0.3g fat, 5g sugar

WORST SQUASH 

BLACKCURRANT RIBENA (500ml)

+16

Ribena has as much sugar as 13 Oreo cookies

215 calories
0g fat
52.6g sugar

SUGAR EQUIVALENT

13 Oreo Chocolate biscuits

EXPERT VERDICT
Good old Ribena. Made in the UK with real blackcurrants. Healthy? No. Drinking this 500ml bottle of Ribena gives you 60 per cent of your daily amount of sugar in one hit.

As sugary as a can of Coke, and with almost 100 more calories to boot, you'd do yourself a favour by choosing a less sugary option.

MANUFACTURER'S RESPONSE:  
Ribena offers people a choice of products including no added sugar options. 

We are continuing to develop healthier formulations of our Ribena ready to drink products, by reducing the sugars and calorie content.  

We have signed up as a partner to the government’s Public Health Responsibility Deal to demonstrate our commitment to encouraging people to eat and drink fewer calories.

DRINK THIS INSTEAD: No Added Sugar Ribena: 11 calories, 0g fat, 1.3g sugar 

Dangers of TOO MUCH SUGAR

The title seems obvious to a diabetic and yet most of us knowingly or Unknowingly simply consume too much sugar. Much of it can be hidden in canned or frozen foods or convenience foods. As I mentioned in a recent post, I found a 12 oz can of root beer in my refrigerator after the holidays (NO.....it wasn't mine).

I read the label to find out there are 43 grams of sugar in that 12 oz can. I know people who drink two or three soft drinks like this per day. Sugar is only part of the problem with any soft drinks since they also destroy your interstitial fluid which bathes your trillions of cells. The real danger here is sodas are acidic and they change the PH of your system to acid when it should be slightly alkaline. This alone leads to a host of other ailments.

Dan

Irish Proverb:

"Firelight will not let you read fine stories but it's warm & you won't see the dust on the floor"

See link below:

http://easyhealthoptions.com/news/the-dangers-of-the-sugar-you-eat/

EXCERPT:

The Dangers Of The Sugar You Eat

Carl Lowe | Jan 16, 2014 | 

If you’re like many Americans, most of the food you eat comes out of a package. A hidden surprise in many of those comestibles is the large amount of sugar that food companies add to their products. If you value your health, you must be more aware of the sugar you are consuming.

Consider these unfortunate sugar numbers:

• 27 percent: Your increased risk of obesity if you consume a sugary soft drink every day.
• 15 percent: Your increased risk of obesity even if you consume soft drinks only “occasionally.”
• 10 teaspoons: Amount of sugar in a typical soft drink.
• 7 teaspoons: Amount of sugar in a typical energy drink (250ml).
• 6 teaspoons: Amount of sugar the typical woman should consume daily, according to the American Heart Association.
• 9 teaspoons: Amount of sugar the typical man should consume daily, according to the American Heart Association.
• 60 calories: Calories from sugar a typical American consumed daily in 1914.
• 540 calories: Calories from sugar a typical American consumes in 2014.
• 180,000: Global deaths per year attributed to excess sugar consumption.

What you can do to cut back on sugar:

• Eat fewer packaged foods. Cook from scratch at home.
• If you need to feed your sweet tooth, eat whole fruits. Avoid supermarket fruit juice.
• If you make baked goods in your kitchen, cut the sugar you use in half.
• Add fresh fruit to your desserts instead of sugar.
• Cut back on restaurant food.
• Never let a soft drink cross your lips.

See my post entitled:

Interstitial Fluid and Type 2 Diabetes For Dummies / Like Me  / posted on 6/6/2011



EXCERPT from my own post:



Insulin Resistance occurs when the internal environment, which is the interstitial fluid that surrounds your body cells becomes acidic and oxidative (due to years of unhealthy diet). Years of exposing to oxidation and acidosis had reduced the sensitivity of the insulin receptors on the cell membrane. And when insulin cannot open up the glucose channels to transport the glucose molecule into the cells to be used or stored, that forces those glucose molecules to bounce back into the blood stream.

READ THAT FIRST PARAGRAPH AGAIN, AS I BELIEVE IT HOLDS THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE MYSTERY OF TYPE 2 DIABETES.

In addition to external sources of glucose (such as high carbohydrate or sugar foods), there is another source of glucose which is hidden within your body, the liver. When your body needs energy, it will signal the liver to turn those stored fat (in the form of glycogen) into glucose through a process known as gluconeogenesis. Thus, your body will try to use up the stored glycogen first before it sends out the "hungry signal" asking you to eat.

The right question to ask is, "What causes insulin resistance and how we can reverse it?" You must understand and always remember that the actual root of the problem is acidosis and oxidation. Thus, you should focus on how to neutralize the acidic toxic and how to increase the anti-oxidative capability within your body instead of wasting your time searching for the latest diabetes drugs.

Continuously taking Metformin will never solve your problem. Taking those temporary solution drugs  only rolls the problem to build up a much bigger problem (kidney or liver failure) in the future.