“HOW SWEET IT IS”
from The Hazelbrook PS Newsletter
In my last article I discussed blood sugar levels with particular reference to hypoglycaemia & asthma. Now I would like to stress the true cost on health of consuming refined sugar.
In it’s natural state in sugar cane & sugar beet sugar comes with all the elements that our bodies need to digest it. Once it is refined our bodies have to “rob” these nutrients from other parts of our bodies to enable us to use it. If you want to risk being deficient in chromium, zinc, some B group vitamins, to name a few, then eat refined sugar. But if you care about your health it would be wise to cut down dramatically on sugar consumption or find a GOOD substitute. Fruit, of course, is our body’s first preference in usable sugar. This is FRUCTOSE. The wonderful thing is that there is also now available crystallised fructose that looks & tastes pretty much like caster sugar. It is available from health food stores. THE WONDERFUL thing about fructose is that it is released slowly into the blood & enables a steady blood sugar level. You can replace sugar with it entirely. When you eat refined sugar you crave more & more of it. This is not so with fructose. Try it. You have nothing to lose but ill health.
DID YOU KNOW that the World Health Organisation recommends the daily intake of refined sugar be restricted to eight teaspoons. There is something like twelve teaspoons of sugar in a can of coke!
The best way to avoid excess sugar is to eat the most natural diet of fresh fruit & vegetables, lean protein, unrefined grains & water. Read all food labels. Sugar is a mood altering substance & comes in many guises. Anything ending in “ose” is a sugar. Fructose is the one sugar that metabolises differently. Even so, moderation is best.