Oh Sweet Sugar....

Glazed doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies, pecan pie, creamy puddings, cakes, candies...oh the joy of sweetness! We all love to indulge in a sweet treat, but a treat no longer it is! We eat sugar waaaaay to often. In the old days, sweets were truly a treat and were few and far between. Generally, these treats were sweetened with raw honey, or real maple syrup...the good stuff! Nowadays, our sugar fix comes from highly refined sugar. This highly processed sugar is virtually in every packaged food in the grocery store and probably lurking in all of your cupboards! It also goes under the alias- high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltodextrin, maltose...just to name a few. Consuming just 4 tablespoons of sugar a day has been linked to numerous diseases and imbalances in the body. Here are just a few:

- Lowers ability of enzymes to function
- Impairs structure of DNA
- Raises adrenaline levels in children
- SIX tablespoons paralyzes phagocytes, which suppresses the immune system by almost 90%
- Causes hormonal imbalance
- Contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection
- Causes free radical formation in the blood stream
- Increases fasting levels of glucose in the blood
- Candidiasis (yeast infections)
- Overstresses the pancreas, causing damage

These are just 10, of the 124 known diseases and imbalances caused by sugar! Not only do you need to worry about processed sugar, but you also need to be watchful of artificial sweeteners! Aspartame, sucralose, cyclamate, acesulfame potassium...these are definite NO NO'S!!! The fact that they are called ARTIFICIAL says it all!! Do we really need to consume something unnatural, something foreign to the body, something ARTIFICIALLY made??!! NO WAY! These artificial substances are known neuro toxins. What this means is that they can actually alter brain chemistry and specifically act on nerve cells...not a good thing! You must avoid these at all costs. Even though we may be consuming small amounts of these artificial substances at a given time, consuming them on a daily basis, day after day, adds up to quite a bit over the years!

Lately, I've been using stevia or xylitol, more plant based natural sweeteners. But above all, my favorite is agave nectar! This sweet treat comes from the cactus plant, and I like to add it to my tea or even my baking. The dark agave tastes similar to maple syrup and it is yummy!

The best sweet fix of all is FRUIT! Fruit is nature's candy. Aside from being sweet, fruit is loaded fiber, vitamins, antioxidants and lots of supportive nutrients. So ditch the sugar, and eat more fruit to fix your sweet tooth!