Get Off Sugar, Feel Like New

Eat the right carbohydrates and watch your health improve!

Are you one of the many who believe that fat and cholesterol are the most threatening of dietary indulgences? The truth is, you may have far more to fear from sugar.

Recent studies have shown that Americans are eating less fat - which is exactly what you have been advised to do in order to drop excess pounds and decrease your risk of chronic ill health from arthritis, heart disease, and cancer.

However, in 1998 a national health survey revealed that 59.4% of men and 50.7% of women are overweight - an increase of 22.5% in the number of overweight adults since the 1980's.

Clearly, low-fat diets have not created the desired weight loss, nor have they changed the fact that heart attack is still the leading cause of death in Americans; that adult-onset diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death; or that unprecedented numbers of people are taking drugs tontreat high cholesterol and high blood pressure - all conditions the low-fat diet has been prescribed to help treat.

15 millio
Americans have adult-onset diabetes, and more than one-third of those don't know it. The latest figures show that one in four adults has "insulin resistance", a pre-diabetic condition.

CONCLUSION: It doesn't look like the low-fat diet guidelines are doing much to improve our nation's health.

THE PROBLEM? THE WRONG LOW-FAT DIETnA low-fat diet made up of whole foods - vegetables, fruits, grains, and beans (these are all "complex" carbohydrates), free-range meats and eggs,fish, and healthy oils is your best insurance against all kinds of disease.

But the average American who shifts to a low-fat diet does NOT shift to a whole-foods diet. They eliminate foods that naturally contain fat but replace them with packaged, processed fat-free substitutes that consist mostly of white flour and sugar - "simple or refined" carbohydrates.
Fat-free desserts and snacks are usually mostly sugar.

What are the simple or refined carbohydrates?
Anything made from white flour (including bread, pasta, and chips),white rice, table sugar (sucrose), powdered or liquid fruit sugar (fructose),corn syrup, xylitol, maltodextrin, sorbitol, honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, and dehydrated cane juice.

WHITE FLOUR IS THE CULPRIT
Refined white flour is finely milled wheat stripped of its husk, germ and oils - the parts of the whole grain which are rich in vitami
E, B vitamins and fiber.

White flour affects your body in essentially the same way that sugar does.

When you replace high-fat foods with simple carbohydrates, you get on a sugar roller coaster leaving you feeling fatigued, irritable, and constantly hungry.

Many experts are convinced that refined carbohydrates - not fat and cholesterol - are to blame for the rising number of cases of heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol in Western nations. Others suggest we add adult-onset diabetes to that list.

HOW SUGAR AFFECTS YOUR BODY?
When simple carbohydrates enter your body, they are rapidly broken down by enzymes and stomach acids into a sugar called glucose. Glucose is absorbed through the walls of your intestines into the bloodstream, raising your blood sugar levels.

This rising blood sugar sends a message to the pancreas to make insulin - the hormone which moves glucose out of the bloodstream and into your cells. When insulin has done its job and your blood sugar drops, you become hungry for more sugar/carbohydrates.

This same process occurs after a meal that contains carbohydrates but more slowly. Fruits and starchy vegetables contain sugar but also fiber. Fiber causes them to be digested more slowly and so the blood sugar levels rise and fall gradually. Proteins and fats also slow carbohydrate digestion.

If your meal contains mostly refined carbohydrates ,you get a rapid increase in blood sugar levels resulting in a short burst of energy you feel as your cells are flooded with glucose.

Your "sugar high" is then followed by a crash back into the famished state of low blood sugar.

INSULIN: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING
Insulin's job is to store energy. Once the cells have the glucose they need, insulin stores the leftover carbohydrates in liver and muscle cells. And if there is still more, it is transformed into fat.

For those eating a diet high in simple carbohydrates (that means pasta, bread, potatoes, sugar), much of the carbohydrates you eat are being stored as fat.

DIABETES: There are two types
Insulin-dependent (Type I) - the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas have been destroyed. Without insulin injections, Type I diabetics cannot survive. Only 10% diabetics are Type I.

Adult-onset (Type II) - also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes, there is actually too much insulin in the body. Something has caused the cells to lose their sensitivity to insulin, so it can't do its job of moving glucose out of the bloodstream. The pancreas responds by making more insulin, and for a while, blood sugar levels are kept under control.

This condition is called insulin-resistance or hyperinsulinemia - you will have normal blood sugar levels but very high insulin levels. 50% of those with insulin-resistance will develop full-blown diabetes.

Diabetes sets in when the pancreas loses its ability to overcome the insulin resistance of the cells, and chronically high blood sugar and insulin levels result. Most Type II diabetics don't know they need to see a doctor until they exhibit symptoms of extreme fatigue, unquenchable thirst, and frequent urination.

WHAT CAUSES YOU TO DEVELOP HYPERINSULINEMIAnAND TYPE II DIABETES?
About 90% of Type II diabetics are obese. Reaching a desirable weight almost always improves their insulin sensitivity - and often will cure the problem completely.

Refined carbohydrates play a role too. A diet high in refined carbohydrates increases insulin levels, and eventually causes the pancreas cells to grow in size to match the increased demand for this hormone. If this diet causes or maintains obesity, the person will probably get diabetes.

People with insulin resistance and Type II diabetes have an extremely high risk of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and atherosclerosis.

WHY?
1) When insulin levels are high, so are "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. If you are placed on a "cholesterol-lowering" diet and you eat a diet high in refined carbohydrates, chances are your cholesterol count will go up.

2) Insulin also causes the kidneys to retain water and salt - raising your blood pressure.

3) Insulin stimulates the growth of plaque in the blood vessels and promotes the oxidation of LDL, both of which predispose you to heart attacks and strokes.

4) High insulin levels can cause eicosanoid imbalances.
Eicosanoids are hormone-like that control blood pressure, blood clotting,ninflammation and pain sensations. High insulin levels promote thenformation of "bad" eicosanoids.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
The healthiest possible diet is one that keeps insulin levels where they should be. The best way for you to do this is to avoidnrefined carbohydrates.nn* When you buy bread or crackers, check to see if they are madenfrom whole, sprouted grains.
* When you want a healthy snack, try a soy bar or soy shake. Eatnfresh fruit rather than candy.
* Don't drink sugary soft drinks or juice cocktails - try pure wate
* Alcohol is high in simple carbohydrates.

This doesn't mean you can no longer enjoy that piece of cake now and then. The important thing is to get out of the habit of having sweets and refined flour every day.

You'll be amazed at how quickly and dramatically you feel better, have more energy, and easily and gradually lose weight.