Sugar phobia. Over the last several decades, sugar has become a villain in the modern American diet. General sugar-bashing has led to a sugar phobia, which has led to a dependency on chemical sweetener substitutes. This creates a craving for “replacement foods.” Sugar is blamed for causing many health problems including heart diabetes, diabetes, anxiety, fatigue, depression, hyperactivity, and even criminal behavior. But: 

 

          - Is this accurate information? 
          - Are we blaming the “right” form of sugar for our health problems? 
          - Has disinformation over time created a false fear of sugar?

 

Seventy-five years ago, the average American ate mere three pounds of sugar per year. Ten years ago, this level rose to seventy-five pounds per person per year. The sugar substitute aspartame found in NutraSweet/Equal that came on the market in 1981, complicating hypoglycemia, diabetes, weight management, and a myriad of health and emotional issues by increasing the body’s malnutrition levels, and by releasing toxic by-products in Splenda battling for the top position in the sugar-free market. Crafty advertising departments have created the mindset that people can eat and drink all the sugar-free products they want without penalty. Sorry to say this, but the piper will eventually have to be paid.

Some nutritionally-oriented physicians’ estimate a current eighty-five percent of their patients have abnormal blood sugar curves. This is the result of the current 125 pounds per year of processed, white sugar now eaten by the average American. There is no doubt that white flour and white sugar, man-made food chemicals, and environmental pollutants are the curse of civilized man. Wherever white flour, white sugar, and food chemicals are brought to primitive societies in various parts of the world, a new cycle of the same degenerative diseases prevalent in America begin anew.

Everyone needs to know that there is a difference between sugars-natural sugar, refined sugar, and corn syrup. Sugar is like a two-sided coin: heads-if natural, it can be useful to the body, and tails-if altered by man, it can be harmful to the body.

Natural sugars are normally not eaten in the quantity processed sugars are consumed, primarily due to their food sources. It is important to remember that natural unprocessed sugars are not the bad-guy when eaten in moderation. The human body requires energy from sugar just as it requires lubrication from natural oils. Basically, human beings are not eating enough sugars or oils-NATURAL sugars and oils, that is.
 
Low Blood Sugar

Many nutritionists source the primary cause of divorce to low blood sugar and its consequent irritability and irrational behavior. There was a judge in Oklahoma years ago who actually refused to grant divorces until both parties were checked for hypoglycemia.

Low and imbalanced blood sugar is a valid contributor to crime. Several hundred prisoners on death row in one California prison system were routinely checked for hypoglycemia in the 1960s. Without exception, they were murderers, and without exception, they were severely hypoglycemic. Why do the criminals in the country’s prisons kill one another regularly? It could be that their diets are high in white flour and white sugar, making them severely hypoglycemic and consequently irrational. I’m sure some inmates sip on diet drinks throughout the day as well. Add toxic chemicals to any diet and you have created a dangerous health situation, and it’s happening at younger and younger ages in modern societies.

Alcoholism is primarily caused by low blood sugar in conjunction with toxic chemicals circulating throughout the bloodstream. Alcohol is chemically comparable to sugar, and alcohol raises blood sugar levels. Additionally, alcohol is mixed with a sugar based flavoring-more chemicals. When someone drinks too much, raising his or her blood sugar too high, their sugar level will in turn plunge too low. This is when they pass out and slide under the table. Alcoholic’s Anonymous (AA) states: Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. This is true if the person does not cure the underlying cause-hypoglycemia. At AA meetings, hypoglycemia is never mentioned Members chew gum, smoke, drink coffee or caffeinated soft drinks, consume liters of diet soft drinks for the methanol (wood alcohol) content, eat cookies, cake or candy-all of which raise the blood sugar and make you feel good-temporarily. All alcoholics, like drug addicts, require proper vitamin and mineral supplements to physically recover from their addiction after they have detoxified the poisons remaining in their body tissues.

Healthy Choices -Natural Sugar

The following are an alphabetized list of the best natural choices for sweeteners safer for long-term health as opposed to the refined sugars and the artificial chemical sweeteners. Remember nothing is without consequence. Natural is always a better choice, but all of these should be eaten in moderation. “Natural” doesn’t necessarily mean “low-calorie”

The safest natural sweeteners:

• Barley Malt
• Brown Rice Syrup
• Date sugar
• Honey
• Maple Syrup and Sugar
• Molasses
• Saccharin
• Sorghum
• Stevia
• Sucanat

The “grey area” sweeteners are those that are natural, yet are either slightly altered in laboratory processing or naturally tend to spike blood sugar:

• Fructose
• Fruit Juice Concentrate
• Sugar Alcohols
• Turbinado Sugar
• Tagatose

       

New natural sweeteners:

• Lo Han
• Tastes Like Sugar
• Trehalose

A quick explanation of these natural sweeteners:


Barley Malt

Barley malt is a thick, dark, slow-digesting sweetener made from sprouted, roasted barley grain with a sweet nutty, malt-like flavor. Barley malt can be bought in granular form or as syrup. It is called “malt” because maltose is the sugar that occurs when starch in the barley sprouts. Barley malt is used in brewing beer, and some say barley malt is to beer as grapes are to wine. It is ideally suited to brewing for many reasons:

1. Malted barley has a high balance of enzymes for converting its starch into simple sugars
2. It also contains protein, which is needed for yeast nutrition

Barley malt extract is used medicinally as a bulking agent to promote bowel regularity. Because the malt comes from sprouted barley, the malt can be concentrated into a soluble fiber, so it has laxative qualities similar to psyllium, oats, and the pectin in fruits. Beneficial bacteria in the colon use barley fiber for food. Barley malt is helpful in chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, hiatal hernia, and diabetes. Soluble fiber can even lower cholesterol ten to fifteen percent. Because barley malt is an actual food sugar, it should be refrigerated for extended storage.

Detoxing with New Leaf Detox allows for you to get the very best care while getting the best, personalized results.