Introduction to the Eating for Energy Series
Is it possible that just by eliminating 4 or 5 things from my diet that I could have a really meaningful change in my health and energy? Can it really impact my sleep and my relationships with my kids and/or family?
The answer is a resounding YES! By eliminating the 4 whites from your diet, the effect can be profound!
So, what are they?
What do they do that is keeping me from enjoying the level of well-being that I could have?
How can I accomplish this without going crazy?
And what are my next steps toward achieving optimal wellness?
Read on as I reveal the answers in this series of articles. If there is anything that is unclear or that you have questions about, please feel free to contact me at sabrams@earnlink.net. I will always do my best to get back to you the same day or at least within 24 hours.
EATING FOR ENERGY SERIES…
THE FOUR WHITES REPORT
(SOMETIMES FIVE)
By Sandy & Al Abrams
Part 1
WHITE SUGAR…SWEET TREAT OR TOXIC TRICK?
(at Halloween or any other time)
What is it? Sucrose. This is another name for plain old refined white sugar
Why eliminate it? When we refine sugar, we remove every nutrient that comes with it in nature that helps our bodies use it to promote good health.
Permisson for the picture from and thanks to http://www.naturalnews.com
Isn’t it interesting how words can be used! A “refined” person is defined as one who is cultured and has cultivated fine manners. The word “refined” as misapplied to foods would seem to mean that the food has been freed of impurities or unwanted ingredients. In fact just the opposite is true. What refined sugar, refined flour, and refined rice have in common is that they all have been stripped of the most important nutrients. They actually provide negative nutrition, meaning that your body has to work harder to utilize or eliminate them and so uses up other nutrients in trying to do so.
Over time they all also cause health problems
When little Hawaiian kids would to go out to the fields and chew on the canes, none of them got a bunch of cavities; they didn’t get a sugar high, or hypoglycemia. This is because in the natural form, it was a whole food and it contained all the vitamins and minerals needed to use the sugar properly.
An influx of sugar, sucrose, into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of extra insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level and which inhibits the release of growth hormones. That extra insulin means that your body is not burning the sugar and that promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re paving the way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.
Complex carbohydrates are absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels. Once your body signals that it has too much sugar and the extra insulin is released, it has to take that sugar and store it. There is only a tiny storage area for that sugar, which is stored as glycogen. There isn’t enough stored to even last for a full day of activity, so it doesn’t give you much “wiggle room”, and once it is full, then the rest of that sugar is simply stored as saturated fat. Now you know one of the reasons you may not be able to maintain your weight. It can be so frustrating.
Another problem with a high insulin level is that it also depresses the immune system. Not helpful if you want to be healthy. Just think of how many times you or someone you know has worked and fretted over a party, wedding, holiday meal wanting it to be perfect, and got terribly stressed. At those times most of us reach for the comfort foods, sweets, great rolls, and sodas. Many times that just sets us up to get sick because it compromised our immune systems.
Each time we eat, insulin is released into the bloodstream. This vital hormone, secreted by special cells in the pancreas, encourages our tissues – our muscles in particular – to gobble up the glucose surging through the bloodstream after we eat a meal. Insulin has many other vital roles as well.
That’s good news, because glucose hanging around in the blood is dangerous stuff. It can stick to proteins and destroy their ability to do their job. Kidney damage, blindness, and amputations may result.
But after a meal, insulin stops the liver from releasing any fat, a potential metabolic fuel, into the blood. Why after a meal? It turns out that just like glucose, these fats, released as triglycerides, are dangerous if they hang about in the blood too long.
Because refined dietary sugar is so lacking in minerals, vitamins, and fiber, and has such a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system, major researchers and major health organizations (American Dietetic Association and American Diabetic Association) agree that sugar consumption in America is one of the 3 major causes of degenerative disease that must draw upon the body’s micro-nutrient stores in order to be metabolized into the system.
The health dangers which habitually ingesting sugar creates are certain.
Here is a list of just some of the ways sugar affect your health. It can…
| suppress the immune system. | speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair. |
| cause hypertension. | increase total cholesterol. |
| upset the body’s mineral balance | contribute to weight gain and obesity. |
| cause drowsiness, anxiety, and decreased activity in children. | contribute to diabetes. |
| compromise the lining of the capillaries | contribute to osteoporosis. |
| contribute to hyperactivity, depression, and concentration difficulties in children. |
cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity |
| raise adrenaline levels and crankiness in children. | lead to decreased glucose tolerance. |
| produce a significant rise in triglycerides. | Increase systolic blood pressure |
| reduce helpful high density cholesterol | cause toxemia during pregnancy. |
| promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (HDLs). (LDLs). | cause food allergies. |
| cause hypoglycemia. | cause atherosclerosis. |
| cause kidney damage. | contribute to eczema in children. |
| contribute to a weakened defense against bacterial infection. | increase the amount of fat in the liver. |
| cause depression. | cause headaches, including migraines. |
| increase the risk of chromium deficiency. | increase bacterial fermentation in the colon. |
| lead to coronary heart disease. | cause free radical formation in the blood stream. |
| increase the body’s fluid retention. | cause hormonal imbalance |
| cause copper deficiency. | overstress the pancreas, causing damage. |
| interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium. | increase kidney size & produce pathological changes in the kidney |
| produce an acidic stomach. | cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver. |
| increase fasting levels of blood glucose. | increase blood platelet adhesiveness |
| promote tooth decay. | cause an increase in delta, alpha and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind’s ability to think clearly |
| cause cardiovascular disease. | high sugar diets compared to low sugar diets increase risk of blood clots and strokes |
| lead to periodontal disease. | high intake of SUGAR increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. |
About the author of this series, Sandy Abrams:
My name is Sandy Abrams and Al & I have enjoyed preparing this report for your benefit. I have been working in the wellness and environment fields since 1970 when I started my own wellness business. My husband, Al joined me in the business part time a couple of years later and then full time in 1995 when he retired from his job. Before I learned about nutrition, I thought I knew enough about it. I believed that what I learned in school and saw on TV gave me the information I needed to raise my five children healthfully and to take us all into our adulthood and middle age well. It didn’t occur to me that there even could be a way to avoid all of the problems associated with growing older. I also didn’t believe that there was a problem with the environment at all! I guess maybe I could have been called a ‘know it all”.
All of that changed in August on 1970 when I was introduced to the concepts that I now teach. I have actually lost track of the number of people that I have consulted with who have often had seemingly miraculous changes in their health. It wasn’t a miracle, it was the desire and commitment to use wellness principles in their daily activities and eating and in their immediate environment, and supplementation in their lives. My desire for you is that this series resonates with you and helps you to make your life and your family’s life healthier and more fulfilling.
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