aarli1952@clearwire.net
Have you ever wondered why you can’t eat just one bite of a Hershey’s candy bar - sugar is addictive! Let’s study the tongue and we’ll better understand the relationship between food and brain. Taste buds for all four taste groups can be found throughout the mouth, but specific kinds of buds are clustered together in certain areas. Taste buds for sweetness are grouped on the tip of our tongue. The buds for sour tastes are on the sides of the tongue and salty on the front. Bitter taste buds on the back of the tongue can make people gag, a natural defense mechanism to help prevent poisoning. (1)
An Interesting TidBit: Gregory Grosbard of Miami, Florida received a U.S. patent on a process to improve the strength of plastic by using sugar. Each time plastic goes through a heat cycle, it loses strength because oxygen in the atmosphere goes into the material and creates oxygen "holes." Mr. Grosbard found that, by mixing a small amount of sugar into the plastic material during the heat cycle, the sugar grabbed the oxygen first, preventing the oxygen holes and making the plastic stronger. Did you know that?
Some Serious Research on Sugar:
> Processed sugar blocks the absorption of calcium.
> Processed sugar produces a low oxygen environment.
> Too much processed sugar is the death of the immune system. It interrupts the Kreb's energy cycle which in turn suppresses your immune system's manufacture of killer cells and antibodies.
> Processed sugar depletes B vitamins which is needed by the liver to detoxify it. The liver is the most important organ when it comes to healing the body.
> Sugar is addictive; the more you eat the more you crave.
> Sugar is a simple carbohydrate; simple carbohydrates are empty calories, excess empty calories turn to fat
> Sugar spikes your energy levels - especially dangerous for diabetics
> Cancer has become the number one "killer disease in children" in the past few years. Sugar consumption is robbing the oxygen out of their little bodies and making their cells extremely acidic while shutting off their immune systems. Statistics indicate sugar averages for children are around 36 teaspoons a day.
> When sugar rises to about 20% of calories, there are elevations in blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol as well as the bad cholesterol LDL, uric acid, glucose and insulin response.
A FEW NOT SO SWEET SUGAR FACTS:
> Did you know how many grams of sugar in 20 oz bottled pop? 18.75 teaspoons
> Did you know how to convert grams into teaspoons? 4 grams equals 1 teaspoon
> Did you know that 100 grams of sugar (the equivalent of a can of soda and a 5 oz chocolate bar) can suppress your immune system for up to 6 hours?
> Did you know a high sugar intake will cause much inflammation in our body which is leading to many diseases including cancer and heart disease?
> In 2001 the average consumption was 147 pounds per year. In 2005 children consumed up to 5 pounds of sugar a week (260 pounds per year). (USDA, Weekly Statistical Sugar Trade Journal)
How much sugar refined sugar do we need?
Actually – none. Make it a habit to satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit, which contains natural sugar and is high in vitamins, and minerals.
HOW ABOUT ASPARTAME? Avoid Aspartame......
This is known as the artificial sweetener Equal or NutraSweet and is made up of three chemicals and a genetically engineered enzyme. It has been implicated in many diseases. Aspartame breaks down into formaldehyde in the body. What is Genetic engineering? An artificial manipulations of genes. Think of it this way: DNA of a female mouse is inserted into a female rat. The outcome is neither rat nor mouse, and no one knows where the continuum ends..
Aspartame Complaints include headaches, dizziness, mood changes, numbness, vomiting, nausea, muscle cramps and spasms, abdominal pain, vision problems, skin lesions, memory loss and seizures.
How About Splenda?
Splenda's advertising claim that their product is made from sugar has come back to haunt them. While the product begins with sugar, significance molecular changes take place before it is ready to consume. Health officials warn that the long term effects of Splenda consumption are unknown, and consumers should take caution. (2)
"Splenda is not sugar — and to piggyback it on to the reputation of the centuries’ old profile of sugar is more than misleading, it could come back to haunt us, perhaps sooner than we think," says Restuccia, a nutritionist at the Center for Obesity Surgery at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. (3)
You are the only one who can change the circumstances that are slowly destroying you and your children. Although we can give you information, ultimately you are responsible for your health. (Unknown)
(1) http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/61/Taste.html
(2) http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56589
(3) http://www.patienthealthinternational.com/article/501584.aspx
Visit my personal website at: http://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/pages/Home.soa?site=lh02076
Copyright 2008 by Lillian Hines
