Eliminate Sugar, Soft Drinks, Aspartame, Sucralose, and Artificial Sweeteners

Sugar is a huge problem in the American diet

Sugar is probably the number one dietary problem in the United States today. It's incredible that young children are being diagnosed with adult onset Type 2 diabetes. The largest single culprit is the gallons of sugar drinks and soft drinks that are consumed every month by the average person. Not only do these drinks cause havoc with your blood sugar, they also significantly add to the acidity of your entire body, and some researchers believe that acidity is a factor in cancer. Cola drinks seem to be the worst offenders, but none of them are good for you.

 

There is no such thing as good highly concentrated sugars in any form

It's important to understand that sugars themselves are not the problem. As simple carbohydrates the glucose they contain is a major source of energy in the body and is actually required for metabolism. The real problem is constantly elevated blood sugar levels brought about by the over consumption of sugar. This over consumption is the result of both over refining and over processing foods and the excessive addition of sugars into the processed foods that we eat. For example, instead of eating a simple apple for breakfast, we drink apple juice. Nobody would eat five to ten apples for breakfast, but the glass of apple juice is made from those five to ten apples. That means the fructose that is consumed is five to ten times the amount that would be consumed by just eating a single apple. If sugar or corn fructose is added to the apple juice in the manufacturing process, then you may get the equivalent sugar of thirty apples. The concentrations of sugar are even more intense for products like pasteries and soft drinks. In our modern society we have refined and concentrated sugars like at no other time in history and, as a result, we have become accustomed to having an exscessively sweet taste in our diets. As a constrast, consider that oriental cooking considers carrots as a "sweet" food.

The simple fact is that there is not one single book on diet and nutrition that claims refined sugars and good for you. If you can find one, comment to this post because it will be a rare find. Excessive sugar is linked to a wide variety of diseases and is a major factor in obesity. Sugar is directly or indirectly responsible for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, yeast infections, elevated insulin levels, elevated stress hormone levels, fatigue, pain, depleted immune systems, calcium depletion, periodontal disease, gastrointestinal problems, ADHD, and many other illnesses. In Chinese Medicine sugar is linked to excess phlegm in the body. Phlegm outwardly manifests as mucous, but internally propagates throughout the body as a sticky goo that blocks the flow of energy. You must eliminate refined sugars in your diet of you want to be healthy. Sugar includes all of the following variations and more.

  • White sugar
  • Brown sugar
  • Organic sugar
  • Powdered sugar
  • Sucrose
  • Evaporated cane juice
  • Fructose
  • Syrup
  • Corn syrup
  • Glucose
Be particularly careful about high fructose corn syrup. This is being widely used in processed foods because it is a very cheap ingredient. However, it also have very many harmful effects including making you fat.

Sugars aren't the only problem

The problem doesn't really stop with just sugar products. You need to also reduce or eliminate products that elevate your blood sugar quickly in the same manner as sugar. This includes all refined white flour products and potatoes. That list includes the following items.
  • White bread
  • Pastries
  • Bagels
  • Pasta (white flour pasta)
  • Cakes
  • Cookies
  • White potatoes
Read the labels on food products carefully. Manufacturers are becoming very clever at disguising sugar in their products. If it tastes sweet, then it probably has sugar in some form, but even products that don't taste sweet may have sugar.

Don't replace sugar with aspartame, sucralose and other artificial sweeteners

Don't think that you can replace sugar in your diet with artificial sweeteners. Many people focus only on the calories in sugar and believe that since artificial sweeteners have few calories they must be healthier than sugar. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most artificial sweetners are as bad or worse for you that sugar itself. If something was invented in a chemistry lab it probably isn't very good for you. The most popular artificial sweetner is aspartame. This drug consists of three main components — phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and wood alcohol. The first two components are amino acids, but they do not seem to behave the same in aspartame as when normally consumed in foods. They cause a significant rise in concentration in the blood stream which can cause brain damage in some people and high levels of toxicity in other people. Wood alcohol, also called methanol, is known to be poisonous even in small amounts and can cause blindness, brain problems, and problems in several organs. There is no clear knowledge about what prolonged exposure to aspartame does to the body. Virtually all of the research done on aspartame that was not funded or performed by the manufacturer has found it to be dangerous.
The history of saccharine is similar to aspartame. Originally thought to be safe, it is now highly suspected to be cancer producing. These two artificial sweeteners should raise a big flag for sucralose, the new kid on the artificial sweetener block. Independent research indicates that this new "safe" sugar substitute may have very negative effects on the thymus liver, and kidneys.

Positive steps you can take to eliminate sugars

The best practice to satisfy your sweet tooth is by the natural sweetness in lower sugar fruits and vegetables. When you use a sweetner then use Lo-Han or Stevia which are both natural sweeteners without the problems associated with refined sugars. The manufacturer KAL make a terrific product that combines both Lo-Han and Stevia. Another option to consider is xylitol, another natural substance. With only a minor adjustment you will find that these alternative taste as good as sugar. But keep in mind that what you are really shooting for is the elimination of your sweet tooth. So, don't go overboard, even on natural sugar substitutes.
If you eat potatoes, then avoid the all white potatoes completely and switch to sweet potatoes or red potatoes. Be sure to eat the skin. That will help. And anytime you eat sugars be sure to eat them in small quantities and with other types of food.
Don't expect to eliminate sugar and refined flour overnight… that is unless you have a will of iron. Many people were given sugar treats as a reward when they were children and the psychological connections with sugar run pretty deep. Set simple goals for yourself and then achieve them before moving on to the next goal. Eliminate all soft drinks first, then eliminate other sugar drinks and diet drinks. Next move to pies, cakes, candy, and cookies. One by one eliminate other things like white bread, white pasta, and things containing fructose and corn syrup as additives. Remember that as you move forward be firm but gentle with yourself. What matters is what you do 90-95% of the time. If you are eating sugar and white bread every day and drinking sodas three times a day, then you will make a giant step forward if you can just eat sugar twice a week and cut back sodas to two or three per week. Be persistent and you will see results.

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