Sugar
Yes, it's hard to admit, or even think about it.
But it is true that sugar is unhealthy, and even harmful to our body.
Studies have shown that excess sugar intake increase the risk of
obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart/coronary disease, liver failure,
kidney failure and even some cancers.
So what we can do with this ever so tempting stuff??
White Sugar is chemical (scientific product), not food!
First, let's see what we are really taking into our body.
A bit of a science class here.
How is white sugar produced?
Refining process.
First, sugar cane is compressed to squeeze out the syrup.
Remove impurities by adding lime, sulfurous acid, sulfurous acid gas,
carbonic acid.
Then to make it clear , add lead metabolite and chlorine.
And remove other vitamins and minerals since those make the sugar
sticky.
Then finally, add mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid to make it
white.
Now this is the refined white sugar , which is (C6H12O5)2.
It’s not food, but chemical!! yuk!
What does white sugar do to us?
When you take white sugar into your body, the blood sugar level
spikes up immediately.
And the pancreas releases insulin to lower the blood sugar level at an
extremely high speed to catch up with this drastic change, which then
lowers blood sugar level to a dangerous point.
This explains why you feel temporarily “high” or “energized” when you
eat sugary food, then feel tired and groggy afterward, and crave more
sugar.
And this "seesawing" is,undoubtedly, very upsetting to the pancreas.
If you keep taking white sugar constantly, first comes hypoglycemia
(chronic low blood level).
And overtime, the pancreas stops functioning properly (insulin
resistance) and cannot balance blood sugar level anymore.
Yes, this is how you become diabetes.
(more about diabetes, click here)
Consequences of high sugar consumption
1 Chronic low blood sugar level
--- overeating,obesity, diabetes
As mentioned above, too much and constant intake of sugar—
especially refined one-- causes chronic low blood sugar level.
And this makes you crave more food, both sugary, salty and fatty,
causing overeating since the blood sugar level never gets balanced.
First, it starts to be accumulated as fat in the liver, and overtime,
surpasses liver's storage capacity, then comes out into the blood
stream, turns to fatty acid and stored in some parts of the body, ---
such as belly, thigh, buttocks, shoulder, back--- leads to over weight
and obesity.
Also, since the blood sugar level becomes chronically low
(hypoglycemia), you crave more food, especially sugar in attempting
to increase blood glucose level.
And overtime, pancreatic function becomes damaged, loses the ability
to regulate and lower the blood sugar level, leads to diabetes.
2 Vitamins/mineral deficiency
--- teeth decay, osteoporosis, chronic fatigue, headache, migraines
Sugar depletes some vital nutrition of our body in the process of
metabolism.
When you take in simple sugar, the sugar (glucose) immediately
overloads the cells, leading incomplete burning because of the lack of
oxygen.
This makes the body fluids overly acidic.
To compensate this, the blood buffer system uses stored minerals and
vitamins such as calcium and vitamin B1 to maintain slightly alkaline
state (pH 7.4).
Constant and regular consumption of sugar causes, thus, mineral,
vitamin deficiency.
Below is some common symptoms caused by depletion of vitamin B1
and calcium.
Dental problems, bone problems—osteoporosis, etc,
Chronic fatigue, sleepiness, headache, migraine.
3 Intestinal damage
---digestive discomfort / problems
Sugar also damages and inflames the wall of stomach and intestines,
causing all sorts of digestive problems.
Gas, constipation, diarrhea, ulcer, colitis, Crohn's disease, etc, and
inability of absorbing nutrition into your body.
So eating sugary breakfast is the worst thing you can do since the
stomach is empty and digestive system is not fully awake, so stomach
and intestine can be more delicate and damaged!
* Stomach releases 2 kinds of strong acids(pH 1.5) upon arrival of
food.
To protect the wall of stomach from the acid, a kind of alkaline mucus
is released. But sugar(strong acid) damage this protected wall of
stomach, and it takes at least one day to be healed. That's how the
digestive problems occur.
One temporary cure for this is eat umeboshi plum ("king of alkaline").
But consuming sugar everyday is a big no-no!
4 Skin problems ---discharge of excess fat
When sugar gets (turns into fatty acid) overloaded in the liver, they
start to come out into the blood stream, some stored as fat in some
muscles(mentioned above) , and some out through skin layers.
(remember, the skin is one of the important excretory organs)
Ends up as pimples, and other skin problems.
Also skin is directly related to the large intestine.
Skin problems are the signs of damaged intestines, too.
* It’s interesting to notice that when you see people on the street or
subway , with lots of red pimples on their skin, they are almost always
drinking soda, or a big cup of ice moca cappuccino or ice cream on
hand!
5 Weaken immune system --- susceptibility to illnesses
According to some studies, sugar intake reduces immune function by
80%.
And it takes longer for injury or diseases to be healed.
*Researches have shown that it takes only 100g of carbohydrates
from glucose, sucrose, honey, orange juice to suddenly de-activate
the "toxin-eating" ability of white blood cells.
They become temporarily paralyzed when a large amount of simple
sugar enters the system so the immune system is compromised when
these cells cannot protect you!
Another problem is that too much sugar intake builds a body that
attracts all sorts of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens.
And this type of body(acidic blood/body) creates a perfect
environment for those pathogens to breed.
Frequently catching colds or flu? Takes long to recover?
Maybe too much soda, ice cream or chocolate!
6 Brain damage
---cognitive disorder, mental disorder, mood swing and tendency to
violence
Sugar also affects brain function, too,
Lack of vitamin Bs makes the body unable to utilize glucose, and when
the glucose level is low, the brain does not receive enough energy to
function properly.
Remember the science class at school, where you see electricity does
not travel in sugared water?
Sugar prevents signals(electromagnetic) from traveling in the brain
and nerves.(non-electrolyte solution).
Forgetfulness, poor concentration, misjudgement, lack of will power, ...
all related to sugar intake.
In fact, recent studies have also suggested the link between sugar
intake and Alzheimer's disease.
Fluctuation of blood sugar level causes other mental problems, too.
Such as anxiety, irritability, confusion, hyperactivity in children etc.
Another worrisome fact about sugar is when the blood sugar level is
chronically low (hypoglycemia), adrenalin(aggressive hormone) is
overly released to raise blood sugar level.
* Some researches on violent criminals have shown that their blood
sugar level is extremely low, and their diet consists too much refined
sugar, especially soda!
On the other hand, in some prisons and juvenile facilities experiments,
when sugar was reduced (in some cases, completely eliminated) from
their meal and snacks, the rate of violence was significantly dropped.
Being less patient recently? Maybe you are taking too much sugar!
7 Liver, Heart and Kidneys
Once inside the body, the liver convert the sugar into fat.
And overtime, it will accumulate in the liver, swells up the liver,
increase the risk of liver damage.
Also this fat, saturated fatty acid, can cause heart disease, by raising
LDL(bad cholesterol).
As mentioned earlier, sugar makes the body overly acidic and the
kidneys have to work harder to maintain the body's alkaline state, and
overtime get exhausted.
Yes, sugar can affect all three major organs!
8 Others extreme yin
Sugar is considered extremely yin, according to Eastern Philosophy,
and makes you yin condition.
Excess yin has expansive, loosening, and weakening effects on
cellular level.
Puffiness, swell, fatigue, weakness are all considered yin conditions.
Frequent infections, allergies, difficulty of healing from illness or injury
are also caused by this yin energy.
At least, it' s a good idea to stop consuming sugar completely
(including honey, fruits, juice, alcohol) when you are in the healing
process.
more about yin and yang, click here
What we can do?
It may be natural for us to crave sweetness--yin.(animals, human
being are yang. Opposite attract)
And living in a culture where there are so many temptations, how can
we stop eating sweets completely?
I, myself, enjoy some chocolate, ice cream, pastry occasionally ---mind
you, it must be organic and natural, or at least freshly made : )---.
But we still can make conscious choices, or even when we indulge
ourselves with sugar, we can balance it out by eating certain foods.
Good Quality, small amount, only for special occasions
If you like to eat some sweets, choose good / high quality (organic,
freshly made), with small amount.
And not every single day but save it only for special occasions.
Mid you, just because it's "organic" sugar, it does NOT mean any
healthier. Sugar is sugar. The effect on the body is the same.
Alternatives
Better yet, eat sweets using not refined sugar but natural alternatives
such as...
Grain malts syrups(brown rice, barley)
Amazake (Amasake)
Maple syrup
and sugar-free fruit spread instead of jam
Even though they are still simple sugar, they have some minerals,
vitamins, and your body digest them more slowly (lower GI)
Nurture and strengthen your pancreas
If you have sweet tooth, or crave sweets constantly, it's most likely that
your pancreas is weakened.
To strengthen and nurture the pancreas, eat naturally sweet food,
such as whole grains(brown rice, millet, corn, oat meal etc),and sweet
vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, onion,cabbage), etc etc…
(well cooked)
And chewing well makes it even sweeter : )
Try chewing brown rice 100 times per mouth full.
You will be surprised how sweet it tastes!
Food/drink to balance out after eating sugary food
As I mentioned, sugar is extremely yin, makes your blood very acidic,
damages most of the organs (ok, enough!)
So eating yang quality, alkaline forming food (must be high quality)
can help to balance it out, temporarily.
Umesho-bancha tea.
This is the best drink you can have after eating too much dessert or
alcoholic drink.
(recipe click here)
Miso soup with vegetables and sea vegetables
another good choice to cleanse the blood.
(recipe click here)
Sweet vegetable Drink
This special soup calms your crave for sweets, and nurture the
pancreas.(good for diabetes, hypoglycemia)
(recipe click here)
My suggestion to people with sweet tooth (like me), is...
1 Do not have sugary food/drink everyday, and save it for weekend
treat or special occasions.---with no guilty : )
And you have any, choose high quality one and small portion.
2 Try alternative sweeteners(above).
Overtime, you will find your taste bud has changed, and refined white
sugar "too sweet!"--that's what's happened to me.
Macrobiotic way of eating / living is not about "giving up" or
"deprivation".
It's about understanding how things, such as foods, affect us, so we
can make a more conscious choices in life.
Even if you go "out of balance" from time to time---like indulging
yourself with warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream-- , you will know
what to do to go back to balance : )
Macrobiotic way of living gives you the knowledge and skills to
maintain your health and wellness, and enjoy your life to the fullest.
Yes, it's hard to admit, or even think about it.
But it is true that sugar is unhealthy, and even harmful to our body.
Studies have shown that excess sugar intake increase the risk of
obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart/coronary disease, liver failure,
kidney failure and even some cancers.
So what we can do with this ever so tempting stuff??
White Sugar is chemical (scientific product), not food!
First, let's see what we are really taking into our body.
A bit of a science class here.
How is white sugar produced?
Refining process.
First, sugar cane is compressed to squeeze out the syrup.
Remove impurities by adding lime, sulfurous acid, sulfurous acid gas,
carbonic acid.
Then to make it clear , add lead metabolite and chlorine.
And remove other vitamins and minerals since those make the sugar
sticky.
Then finally, add mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid to make it
white.
Now this is the refined white sugar , which is (C6H12O5)2.
It’s not food, but chemical!! yuk!
What does white sugar do to us?
When you take white sugar into your body, the blood sugar level
spikes up immediately.
And the pancreas releases insulin to lower the blood sugar level at an
extremely high speed to catch up with this drastic change, which then
lowers blood sugar level to a dangerous point.
This explains why you feel temporarily “high” or “energized” when you
eat sugary food, then feel tired and groggy afterward, and crave more
sugar.
And this "seesawing" is,undoubtedly, very upsetting to the pancreas.
If you keep taking white sugar constantly, first comes hypoglycemia
(chronic low blood level).
And overtime, the pancreas stops functioning properly (insulin
resistance) and cannot balance blood sugar level anymore.
Yes, this is how you become diabetes.
(more about diabetes, click here)
Consequences of high sugar consumption
1 Chronic low blood sugar level
--- overeating,obesity, diabetes
As mentioned above, too much and constant intake of sugar—
especially refined one-- causes chronic low blood sugar level.
And this makes you crave more food, both sugary, salty and fatty,
causing overeating since the blood sugar level never gets balanced.
First, it starts to be accumulated as fat in the liver, and overtime,
surpasses liver's storage capacity, then comes out into the blood
stream, turns to fatty acid and stored in some parts of the body, ---
such as belly, thigh, buttocks, shoulder, back--- leads to over weight
and obesity.
Also, since the blood sugar level becomes chronically low
(hypoglycemia), you crave more food, especially sugar in attempting
to increase blood glucose level.
And overtime, pancreatic function becomes damaged, loses the ability
to regulate and lower the blood sugar level, leads to diabetes.
2 Vitamins/mineral deficiency
--- teeth decay, osteoporosis, chronic fatigue, headache, migraines
Sugar depletes some vital nutrition of our body in the process of
metabolism.
When you take in simple sugar, the sugar (glucose) immediately
overloads the cells, leading incomplete burning because of the lack of
oxygen.
This makes the body fluids overly acidic.
To compensate this, the blood buffer system uses stored minerals and
vitamins such as calcium and vitamin B1 to maintain slightly alkaline
state (pH 7.4).
Constant and regular consumption of sugar causes, thus, mineral,
vitamin deficiency.
Below is some common symptoms caused by depletion of vitamin B1
and calcium.
Dental problems, bone problems—osteoporosis, etc,
Chronic fatigue, sleepiness, headache, migraine.
3 Intestinal damage
---digestive discomfort / problems
Sugar also damages and inflames the wall of stomach and intestines,
causing all sorts of digestive problems.
Gas, constipation, diarrhea, ulcer, colitis, Crohn's disease, etc, and
inability of absorbing nutrition into your body.
So eating sugary breakfast is the worst thing you can do since the
stomach is empty and digestive system is not fully awake, so stomach
and intestine can be more delicate and damaged!
* Stomach releases 2 kinds of strong acids(pH 1.5) upon arrival of
food.
To protect the wall of stomach from the acid, a kind of alkaline mucus
is released. But sugar(strong acid) damage this protected wall of
stomach, and it takes at least one day to be healed. That's how the
digestive problems occur.
One temporary cure for this is eat umeboshi plum ("king of alkaline").
But consuming sugar everyday is a big no-no!
4 Skin problems ---discharge of excess fat
When sugar gets (turns into fatty acid) overloaded in the liver, they
start to come out into the blood stream, some stored as fat in some
muscles(mentioned above) , and some out through skin layers.
(remember, the skin is one of the important excretory organs)
Ends up as pimples, and other skin problems.
Also skin is directly related to the large intestine.
Skin problems are the signs of damaged intestines, too.
* It’s interesting to notice that when you see people on the street or
subway , with lots of red pimples on their skin, they are almost always
drinking soda, or a big cup of ice moca cappuccino or ice cream on
hand!
5 Weaken immune system --- susceptibility to illnesses
According to some studies, sugar intake reduces immune function by
80%.
And it takes longer for injury or diseases to be healed.
*Researches have shown that it takes only 100g of carbohydrates
from glucose, sucrose, honey, orange juice to suddenly de-activate
the "toxin-eating" ability of white blood cells.
They become temporarily paralyzed when a large amount of simple
sugar enters the system so the immune system is compromised when
these cells cannot protect you!
Another problem is that too much sugar intake builds a body that
attracts all sorts of viruses, bacteria and other pathogens.
And this type of body(acidic blood/body) creates a perfect
environment for those pathogens to breed.
Frequently catching colds or flu? Takes long to recover?
Maybe too much soda, ice cream or chocolate!
6 Brain damage
---cognitive disorder, mental disorder, mood swing and tendency to
violence
Sugar also affects brain function, too,
Lack of vitamin Bs makes the body unable to utilize glucose, and when
the glucose level is low, the brain does not receive enough energy to
function properly.
Remember the science class at school, where you see electricity does
not travel in sugared water?
Sugar prevents signals(electromagnetic) from traveling in the brain
and nerves.(non-electrolyte solution).
Forgetfulness, poor concentration, misjudgement, lack of will power, ...
all related to sugar intake.
In fact, recent studies have also suggested the link between sugar
intake and Alzheimer's disease.
Fluctuation of blood sugar level causes other mental problems, too.
Such as anxiety, irritability, confusion, hyperactivity in children etc.
Another worrisome fact about sugar is when the blood sugar level is
chronically low (hypoglycemia), adrenalin(aggressive hormone) is
overly released to raise blood sugar level.
* Some researches on violent criminals have shown that their blood
sugar level is extremely low, and their diet consists too much refined
sugar, especially soda!
On the other hand, in some prisons and juvenile facilities experiments,
when sugar was reduced (in some cases, completely eliminated) from
their meal and snacks, the rate of violence was significantly dropped.
Being less patient recently? Maybe you are taking too much sugar!
7 Liver, Heart and Kidneys
Once inside the body, the liver convert the sugar into fat.
And overtime, it will accumulate in the liver, swells up the liver,
increase the risk of liver damage.
Also this fat, saturated fatty acid, can cause heart disease, by raising
LDL(bad cholesterol).
As mentioned earlier, sugar makes the body overly acidic and the
kidneys have to work harder to maintain the body's alkaline state, and
overtime get exhausted.
Yes, sugar can affect all three major organs!
8 Others extreme yin
Sugar is considered extremely yin, according to Eastern Philosophy,
and makes you yin condition.
Excess yin has expansive, loosening, and weakening effects on
cellular level.
Puffiness, swell, fatigue, weakness are all considered yin conditions.
Frequent infections, allergies, difficulty of healing from illness or injury
are also caused by this yin energy.
At least, it' s a good idea to stop consuming sugar completely
(including honey, fruits, juice, alcohol) when you are in the healing
process.
more about yin and yang, click here
What we can do?
It may be natural for us to crave sweetness--yin.(animals, human
being are yang. Opposite attract)
And living in a culture where there are so many temptations, how can
we stop eating sweets completely?
I, myself, enjoy some chocolate, ice cream, pastry occasionally ---mind
you, it must be organic and natural, or at least freshly made : )---.
But we still can make conscious choices, or even when we indulge
ourselves with sugar, we can balance it out by eating certain foods.
Good Quality, small amount, only for special occasions
If you like to eat some sweets, choose good / high quality (organic,
freshly made), with small amount.
And not every single day but save it only for special occasions.
Mid you, just because it's "organic" sugar, it does NOT mean any
healthier. Sugar is sugar. The effect on the body is the same.
Alternatives
Better yet, eat sweets using not refined sugar but natural alternatives
such as...
Grain malts syrups(brown rice, barley)
Amazake (Amasake)
Maple syrup
and sugar-free fruit spread instead of jam
Even though they are still simple sugar, they have some minerals,
vitamins, and your body digest them more slowly (lower GI)
Nurture and strengthen your pancreas
If you have sweet tooth, or crave sweets constantly, it's most likely that
your pancreas is weakened.
To strengthen and nurture the pancreas, eat naturally sweet food,
such as whole grains(brown rice, millet, corn, oat meal etc),and sweet
vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, onion,cabbage), etc etc…
(well cooked)
And chewing well makes it even sweeter : )
Try chewing brown rice 100 times per mouth full.
You will be surprised how sweet it tastes!
Food/drink to balance out after eating sugary food
As I mentioned, sugar is extremely yin, makes your blood very acidic,
damages most of the organs (ok, enough!)
So eating yang quality, alkaline forming food (must be high quality)
can help to balance it out, temporarily.
Umesho-bancha tea.
This is the best drink you can have after eating too much dessert or
alcoholic drink.
(recipe click here)
Miso soup with vegetables and sea vegetables
another good choice to cleanse the blood.
(recipe click here)
Sweet vegetable Drink
This special soup calms your crave for sweets, and nurture the
pancreas.(good for diabetes, hypoglycemia)
(recipe click here)
My suggestion to people with sweet tooth (like me), is...
1 Do not have sugary food/drink everyday, and save it for weekend
treat or special occasions.---with no guilty : )
And you have any, choose high quality one and small portion.
2 Try alternative sweeteners(above).
Overtime, you will find your taste bud has changed, and refined white
sugar "too sweet!"--that's what's happened to me.
Macrobiotic way of eating / living is not about "giving up" or
"deprivation".
It's about understanding how things, such as foods, affect us, so we
can make a more conscious choices in life.
Even if you go "out of balance" from time to time---like indulging
yourself with warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream-- , you will know
what to do to go back to balance : )
Macrobiotic way of living gives you the knowledge and skills to
maintain your health and wellness, and enjoy your life to the fullest.
Whole Life with Jin