Today I want to finish talking about Sugar and its role in our diet.  We started our conversation just little less than two weeks ago {Part 1}.  Today we finish the subject by covering more topics:

• How important is Glycemic Index?
• Stress and Sugar
• Why do Sweets make us feel good?
• What else can influence blood Sugar and increase Cortisol level?
• What about Sweeteners?
• Where do I get my Sugar?

Ready?

[images that are not taken by me link back to their source]

Truth About Sugar {Part 2}

How important is Glycemic Index?

Glycemic index, also known as GI is another buzz word.

Carbohydrates behave quite differently one from another in our bodies. The GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels.

I am sure that you might have heard that choosing low GI carbs—the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels—is the secret to long-term health and weight loss. However, it is only a partial truth!

Unfortunately GI, as many other things, became nothing more than another marketing tool and a tactic to sell products that are not good for consumption.

Look at some of the ingredients on processed foods like sodas, cereals, even energy bars and ice creams. Some have lower GI than naturally occurring plant foods (fruit). But it does not mean that they are good for your consumption! Processed foods that are low in GI can lead to various health issues: cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and many others.

Stress and Sugar

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Physical exercise and physical stress can change our blood sugar levels. To cope with stress, be it emotional or physical, our bodies start secreting hormones like cortisol. Cortisol increases blood sugar level.

In a stressful situations our brain and muscles use sugar to deal with stress, making us more alert and giving us a boost of energy (fight or flight mode).

An increase in blood sugar level long-term will have a weakening effect on the adrenal glands, which produce the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated levels of cortisol have a negative physical effect. Given time, it can lead to osteoporosis, menstrual problems, fatigue, irritability, high blood pressure, depression, obesity, suppressed thyroid function and other problems. This was the very reason I personally developed hormone imbalance and hypothyroid.

Why do Sweets make us feel good?

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Sugar helps our body to manufacture serotonin in the brain, which makes us feel good and relaxed. It is a natural antidepressant in a sense, so we become addicted to it. Unfortunately when the blood sugar goes down after we eat refined sugars, we end up more depressed than we did before eating them. So, we eat more sugar, get another spike, and get down again. It becomes an addiction, same as drugs. Because of these ups and downs the vicious cycle of addiction gets worse and worse.

Emotional and physical stress, and eventually sugar addiction, will cause a lot of sugar cravings in order to reduce negative emotions, by increasing the serotonin output.

Increased blood sugar decreases DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) levels. [DHEA is a hormone that protects us from stress, cancer, aging, obesity, Alzheimer's disease, from weakening immune system, hypothyroidism, and is a precursor to healthy sex hormones and other hormones.]

Sugar spikes also affect our insulin metabolism. When cortisol levels go up insulin does not work, so not only do we increase the sugar in the blood, but we reduce the utilization of sugar in the tissues, as a result the tissues cannot regenerate. Because of this we release more fatty acids from the tissues, and reduce the synthesis [creation and absorption] of proteins. Our bodies go into a stage of breaking down instead of building our tissues up.

What else can influence blood Sugar and increase Cortisol level?

Emotional stress and refined sugars are not the only culprits. So, what else causes cortisol levels to increase? Surprise! One thing that nobody wants talk about is animal protein. Whenever we increase animal protein in diet, we start increasing cortisol secretion. This in turn will decrease our testosterone level (ladies, you might be thinking that you don’t have to worry about this subject, but we all: male and female, need a certain level of testosterone in our body, so don’t dismiss this issue). Animal proteins can also cause extra estrogen production that can become detrimental to males and females alike.

Most issues that I have previously mentioned: osteoporosis, menstrual problems, fatigue, cancer and other diseases, are associated with high sugar and high cortisol correlation that will occur with excessive animal protein intake. (You can find more on the topic in the book [The China Study])

Increase in blood sugar causes continuous elevation in our insulin. When insulin is elevated for a long period of time the body might create insulin resistance. The insulin cell receptors lose their functionality, which creates the beginning of pre-diabetes, also known as metabolic syndrome.

With increased insulin level in the blood we also have increased fats in the blood, increased triglycerides, and sometimes increased blood pressure. With that also comes increase in fat, especially around the belly. The problem in many cases, even before full-fledged diabetes which increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, can cause a heart attack.

There are other things that might cause blood sugar elevation. I was surprised to learn that electromagnetic radiation, especially radio frequencies that people are exposed to in their homes (computers, stereo systems, fluorescent lamps, dimmer switches, and other electronics) can be another culprit.

What about Sweeteners?

First, let differentiate. There are artificial sweeteners and there are natural sweeteners.

The natural sweeteners are derived from certain fruits, certain vegetables, and certain tubers. However, because they are derived from a natural product trough chemical processes they can cause some problems.

There are also artificial sweeteners that are absolutely dangerous for your health (you will find a lot of them are used by diabetics and “health conscious” population of our society). These sweeteners were invented in a chemical lab—not found in nature, so steer clear from them.

Where do I get my Sugar?

First of all let’s establish that it is never a good idea to abuse even natural sugars.

There are many wonderful sources of God-given sugar. The best, of course, is raw vegetables and fruits. They will provide your body with complex sugars while preventing sugar spikes.

There are also sweeteners like honey, brown rice syrup and stevia. If you use these, use them in moderation. Whenever possible, if additional sweetness is desired, use dates and raisins in your smoothies and desserts.

If you decide to add dried fruits to your diet, the best way to do so is by dehydrating them yourself. Most commercially dried fruits have chemical additives to give them shelf life. If you cannot dehydrate your own fruit carefully examine labels of the fruit you are buying to make sure you are not buying sulfate, pesticides and herbicides along with the fruit.

In Conclusion

Remember that the most natural, raw sources are your best friends and artificial and processed sugars are you enemies.

Related posts:

1. Sugar, Sugar Everywhere {Truth About Sugar and Health, Part 1}
2. Let’s talk about FAT! [Vegan Health and Living]–Part 1
3. Let’s talk about FAT! [Vegan Health and Living]–Part 2
4. Where do You get Protein? {Vegan} [Part I]
5. Where do You get Protein? {Vegan} [Part II]