Wellness Weekly

By Sandy Considine

What is not to like about sugar? Who doesn’t like sugar?

Well actually, your body doesn’t, in excessive consumption. It can have negative effects with creating oxidative stress that can damage proteins, tissues, and organs, increases the risk of conditions such as heart disease, and some cancer, it can cause obesity, it influences food choices and appetite control, is linked to Alzheimer’s disease, disrupts cholesterol levels, can make organs fat and increases the risk of developing diabetes.

Also, diets high in sugar increase inflammation in your body. We all know wrinkles are a natural sign of skin aging. They appear eventually, regardless of your health.

However, poor food choices can worsen wrinkles and speed up the skin aging process. There is a thing called advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that are compounds formed by the reactions between SUGAR and protein in your body and they play a key role in skin aging. I don’t understand it but all I need to hear is that excess sugar and refined carbohydrates can cause WRINKLES and age prematurely …. Yikes, so ladies be informed.

A high intake of fructose has been consistently linked to an increased risk of “fatty liver”.

Fructose is a common type of sugar, with one major source being high fructose corn syrup (hfcs) used to sweeten soda, candy, baked goods, cereals, and more.

Unlike glucose and other types of sugar, which are taken up by many cells throughout the body, fructose is almost exclusively broken down by the liver.

In the liver, fructose is converted into energy or stored as glycogen.

However, the liver can only store so much glycogen before excess amounts are turned into fat.
Manufacturers have all sorts of ways to avoid slapping “sugar” on the label. Don’t be fooled! This is where reading your label comes in handy. Be informed and make a wise choice.

Evaporated cane juice. Take the juice from a sugar cane plant, then spin it around to separate the molasses from the sucrose, and what do you get? Sugar. But some manufacturers are calling it “evaporated cane juice” to avoid labeling their products as containing sugar. “Sneaky indeed”.

Agave nectar. “Nectar” sounds healthy, right? Well, agave nectar is made from a different plant, but it’s still sugar. In fact, it might be even worse than sugar, since it contains a higher percentage of fructose (as in high-fructose corn syrup).

Fruit juice concentrate. What are you left with if you remove all the fiber and water from fruit? You guessed it.
High fructose corn syrup. You probably already know about this one.

Brown rice syrup. Remove all the sugar from rice and what do you get? Syrup.

Barley malt syrup. This dark brown sweetener is derived from barley and is about 65% sugar.

Dextrose, maltose, glucose, fructose. They sound nothing like “sugar,” but these are all components that make various ingredients taste sweet.

Caramel. You’ll see this one in drinks, used to give them soda that dark brown color. What’s caramel? It’s cooked sugar.

Molasses. It sounds wholesome and old fashioned, and molasses DOES have some NUTRIENTS, but it’s still sugar.

Sucanat. This one is just a brand name for evaporated cane juice.

I won’t let you go without sugar; I just want to be informed; I want you to be healthy and enjoy your life with the taste of sugar.

Here are some better choices: Raw honey (support local), Stevia (grow your own), Coconut sugar (in place of brown sugar), Maple syrup, Organic Blackstrap Molasses is highly nutritious, rich in copper, calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, selenium and vitamin B6, real fruit jam and Monk fruit and of course real sugar in moderation.

I haven’t even touched upon artificial sweeteners,
Most artificial sweeteners (also called nonnutritive sweeteners) are created from chemicals in a lab. And that is a whole other article.

Stay informed and stay healthy!

Enjoy the recipe below.