The Truth About Sugar

JANUARY 20, 2011 on DR OZ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Sugar Is Linked To High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Liver Disease And Insulin Resistance

The #1 Food Dr. Oz Wants Out Of Your House is SUGAR; Research has linked eating too much sugar with the major killers of mankind. We are eating over a pound of sugar a week, that’s more than triple the maximum amount of sugar the American Heart Association recommends. Did you know that sugar can damage your liver the same way alcohol does? Sugar is addicting.

1. Sugar Causes High Blood Pressure – According to CNN Health writer, Amanda Gardner:

“Eating too much sodium can push your blood pressure into the danger zone. Now, researchers are reporting that eating too many sweets–or drinking too much soda–may have a similar effect.

People who consume a diet high in fructose, a type of sugar and a key ingredient in high-fructose corn syrup, are more likely to have high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a new study.

Drinking 2.5 cans or more of non-diet soda per day–or consuming an equivalent amount of fructose from other foods–increases your risk of hypertension by at least 30 percent, the study found. What’s more, the increased risk appears to be independent of other dietary habits, including sodium, carbohydrate and overall calorie intake.”

2. Sugar Causes High Cholesterol –Article from WebMD – High Sugar Diet Linked to Cholesterol

“Excess sugar is known to contribute to obesity, diabetes, and other conditions linked to heart disease, and now new research links it to unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels…

People in the study who ate the most added sugar had the lowest HDL, or good cholesterol, and the highest blood triglyceride levels. People who ate the least sugar had the highest HDL and the lowest triglyceride levels. Eating large amounts of added sugar more than tripled the risk of having low HDL, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. Vos and colleagues analyzed data on 6,113 adults who participated in the large, ongoing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2006.

The lowest consumption group got less than 5% of their daily calories from added sugars, while the highest consumers got 25% or more of their daily calories from sugar. Sugar consumption appeared to be directly related to HDL and triglyceride levels. The more sugar the participants ate, the lower their HDL and higher their triglycerides. Compared to people who ate the least sugar, people who ate the most sugar were three times more likely to have low HDL levels. Our findings strongly support the AHA recommendations to limit added sugar.”

3. Sugar Causes Liver Disease: From the Dr Oz article

Dr. Vos explained that “sugar exacerbates fatty liver disease. If someone already has a liver disease, sugar can make it worse. That’s probably because sugar stimulates all the production of triglycerides in the liver then out to the blood stream. The similarities between alcohol and sugar is that they’re both carbs, they both stimulate belly fat and they both can cause liver disease. The mechanisms are similar.” A diet high in sugar is believed to exacerbate fatty liver disease. Too much sugar spikes insulin and drives fat into the liver cells, which causes inflammation and scarring, eventually causing the liver to become cirrhotic.

Dr. Greene; “Some researchers believe that Sugar is the major cause of non alcohol, fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease happens when the liver builds up with fat and the cells stretch which causes scaring. Think of it as getting stretch marks on your liver but these are serious stretch marks, which cause cirrhosis, a terrible disease. Now researchers are thinking that too much sugar is actually the leading cause of non alcoholic fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.”

4. Sugar Causes Insulin Resistance: From the Dr. Oz Article

When sugar enters the body, insulin opens the door to allow sugar into the cells. However, when there are continuous sugar spikes, insulin becomes less effective. Sugar can’t get into the cells and becomes “stuck” in the body, producing toxic effects that lead to obesity and the threat of diabetes.

Dr Greene; “Insulin is the main director of our metabolism. It rises and falls as we eat. If you eat too much added sugar, it spikes and pushes the sugars out of your bloodstream and into the cells where it belongs. The problem is, if it spikes too often then our cells began to lose their sensitivity. It’s like if you go to too many rock concerts your, ears get less sensitive. Our cells get less sensitive to insulin and the average sugar in the blood starts to go up and if it gets to high you have Diabetes. Some of the biggest complications we have with insulin resistance include Athrosclerosis the harding of the arteries.”

When purging your kitchen, be on the look out for these names:

Fructose (High Fructose Corn Syrup)
Maltose
Sorbitol
Evaporated Can Juice
Syrups
Xylotol
Sugars ending in “ol” or “ose”

*Please examine the health risks linked to artificial sweeteners before consuming them. They’re not always the healthier option. Watch this video to learn more about Aspartame (in diet drinks and sodas).

Dr. Oz Tips for sugar substitutes:

Try adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla or allspice to your coffee, cereals and baked goods.
Raw Honey – Unlike white table sugar, honey is a complex food. One teaspoon contains 25 other compounds including proteins, amino acids and trace minerals.
Agave Nectar (not syrup) – A distilled sweetener derived from the blue agave cactus, agave has a low glycemic index.
Stevia – A low-calorie sweetener that comes from a plant native to Paraguay and Brazil, stevia is 200 times sweeter than table sugar, so a little goes a long way.

Source: JANUARY 20, 2011 in DR OZ IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

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