Resist All Sugar and Be Well

If you want a fast, proven short-cut towards optimizing your health and if you want to make your body much more alkaline immediately then it is highly advisable to stop eating sugar immediately.

Sugar is not in and of itself a bad thing. Basically, sugar is the body's primary source of fuel. In the proper amounts and from a natural, unrefined source, glucose is beneficial and necessary for health, and even life.

here are a number of terms that refer to health problems that are sugar-based. Insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, type2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome: all are conditions that are telling us that the body's basic energy processing systems are in danger of breaking down.

Some people who are addicted to sugar feel physically unwell most of the time. They may not even realize that they feel bad until they kick sugar and suddenly feel well.

How Much Sugar is Safe?

Most people on the Healthy and Active Program discover through the blood profiling and also through their change in diet that eliminating all sugar possible from their diet is the way to health.

White Sugar Crystals

The World Health Organization released dietary guidelines in 2003 that stated that not more than ten percent of your total overall diet should come from sugar. The average energy requirement is two thousand calories per day, so that means that no more than two hundred calories, or about 50 grams of sugar should be in your daily diet.  This is the most that you should be consuming at any time but preferably you should consume much, much less if you can. This recommendation is an older one and it has not been revised. The bottom line is that sugar is a simple carbohydrate that is converted very quickly into glucose which is a challenge for your body to store as glycogen. It ends up in your blood stream and stored as fat.

Tracking Sugar Intake Can Be Confusing

Many people think they are cutting sugar and then are aghast to find out that they still have high blood sugar, high glycerides in their blood or diabetes problems. That is because there are so many hidden sources of sugar in our diet.

Here is an example of how confusing tracking your use of sugar can get. The typical serving of seemingly healthy low-fat yogurt contains about 32 grams of sugar, which is the equivalent of eight teaspoons. That means that in one fairly small portion of a "healthy" food you've consumed about 64 percent of the total daily-recommended sugar intake. You can see how easy it is to go beyond that when you consume cola drinks, cookies, sauces, syrups and other sweet foods.

Sources of Hidden Sugar

It’s not easy to quit sugar. Though it's not considered a drug like nicotine or opium, it can be very addictive and sabotage all weight loss efforts.

It is best to avoid -

• Soda
• Sports Drinks
• Vitamin Water (Made by Coca-Cola containing as much as 40 grams of sugar)
• Store-bought cookies, cakes, or pastries
• Fruit juice (even though juice sounds natural, it contains high concentrations of naturally occurring sugar, and should be generally avoided)
• Candy
• Condiments that contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Chinese food
• Breaded foods (even something like a Japanese Tempura can be loaded with sugar
• High-glycemic fruits, such as watermelon, mango, or pineapple (
• Maple syrup, honey, sugar, chemical sugar substitutes (such as Splenda, Equal, Sweet'n Low)
• Ice cream or frozen yogurt
• Muffins
• Gourmet Coffees
• Gourmet Tea Blends (an example is Oprah Chai tea that is packed with sugar)

Another hidden source of sugar is cigarettes.  A sugar is comprised of approximately twenty percent sugar that the tobacco has been sprayed with to improve it's taste!

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41) 440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Michael Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.