Are You Using Sugar to Control Sugar?

image

Metabolic Syndrome affects 50 million Americans, and insulin resistance, one of the components of metabolic syndrome, affects up to 105 million Americans.  That’s 35% of the population.(1)

Insulin is a hormone, just like testosterone, and cortisone.  Insulin is secreted into your bloodstream by the pancreas to regulate the amount of glucose (your body’s main source of energy) in your blood.  People with insulin resistance have a diminished ability to respond to insulin.(1)

Both metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance are linked to  heart disease and diabetes, two of the leading causes of death in the U.S.

 

A lifestyle of convenience.

Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome is the body’s way of responding to inflammation.  Inflammation can be caused by a poor diet of convenient processed  foods that we have grown accustomed to, along with an abundance of stress.

Those eating less plant-based foods were found to have higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in their bodies.  Dietary toxins which includes “the many faces of sugar” and well as endocrine disruptors (sugar and more) leads to oxidative stress which than in turn damages the mitochondria.  It’s easy to eat sugar daily, without realizing  how much we actually eat.  Sugar causes fat, weight gain and metabolic syndrome.  “Oxidative stress and inflammation are processes associated with the onset of weight gain, aging, and hormonal changes.  The spiral effect being cells are depleted of energy.” quote by Mark Hyman

 

Undo the harm with better understanding.

Lifestyle is the leading cause of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.  Diets have become heavier in sugar and less active in exercise, which causes changes in blood lipid profiles.(7)

Lets look at Metabolic Syndrome and how many refined carbohydrates we are consuming.

Lacking the understanding of why we eat and abundance of bread is alarming.  I have been witness to people saying things like and I quote-“I haven’t had a “sugar bowl” on my table in 40 years” -“I don’t eat sugar.”  Yet in the same moment – she is eating a jelly sandwich.  And then proceeds to say “if it wasn’t for my prescription medications, I’d be dead when I was 45.  I have Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease!”

Learning how to eat, when to eat and what to eat controls blood sugar.  This means leaving out the foods that created the inflammation in the first place.  The duration between breakfast and lunch could be a shaky one.  In that mid-morning low, you may reach for a soda.  This causes more damage and a faster rise in blood sugar levels.  You can choose to eat 10 raw nuts instead.

It’s important to have the right amounts of good proteins and good fats in place to create a more stable blood sugar environment.  If we address breakfast-it’s never wise to think that a bagel, lox and cream cheese or an egg and toast is a balanced meal.  These can promote those highs and lows in our blood sugar levels.

How about that candy bar you’re carrying around, just in case you get that sugar crash?  If we remember one thing it’s  “Sugar NEVER balances sugar.”  This myth has caused more harm to organs and tissues, to over half our population.

Are you trying to balance your insulin injections to cover your pizza intake?  Bad idea.  This is a myth that may be promoted by the chemical industries.   Pizza is far from a health food.  It’s a processed food.  Yet we grew up with it.  It’s a comfort food.  Pizza keeps us sick, tired and fat, but comfortable.  Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day or about 350 slices per second.(6)  Pizzerias represent 17 & of all restaurants and it is $30 billion per year industry.

 

True Lies

The problem lies within our sugary, chemical world.  If we were to talk truth, it’s a problem of mis-information promoted from the chemical industries.  They say things like high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup or corn sugar- is a natural product made in nature.  A world of natural whole wheat breads, imitation eggs, processed cheese slices and low-fat lunch meats, GMO gluten free products and soda’s are now promoted as health foods! (2)   How did we move so far away from the truth?

 

Our cells lose the ability to respond.

Our energy levels are depleted by sugar.  When we eat too many refined carbs, the pancreas secretes insulin to move excess glucose from the blood into the cells where glucose is used to produce energy.  Over time, the cells lose the ability to respond to insulin.  It’s as if insulin is knocking on the door, but the cells can’t hear it.  The pancreas responds by pumping out even more insulin (knocking louder) in an effort to get glucose into the cells, and this eventually causes insulin resistance.(1)

Insulin resistance can also cause low blood sugar.  This condition occurs when the body secretes excess insulin in response to a high carbohydrate meal – causing blood sugar levels to drop below normal.(1)

 

Restoring hormones to their normal natural levels is key.  For example “sugar” depletes our testosterone levels.  Spike your blood sugar several times a day-and you can be killing your adrenal function.(4)  Without serotonin, the body can’t regulate blood sugar, which plays a causative roll in diabetes.  If our body lacks certain nutrients there can be serotonin deficiency, which in turn can lead to weight gain and obesity.  Having an acid pH from toxic sugary foods can disrupt our hormones and cholesterol balance.(3)  Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome plays a causative roll in diabetes and heart disease which in turn has a direct link to periodontal disease.(5)  Having excellent oral health means we can chew the healthiest foods possible for the rest of our lives!

 

Connie Rogers is a Certified Nutritional Holistic Health Coach and believes coaching changes lives.  She teaches toxins can disrupt our Metabolic, Endocrine & Skin Health.

www.bitesizepieces.net and weightlossforlifechange.com

 

footnotes

1- http://chriskresser.com/thyroid-blood-sugar-metabolic-syndrome
2-http://mashable.com/2015/03/16/coke-is-a-healthy-snack/
see also http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/kraft-singles-kids-eat-right_n_6879658.html
3- http://eepurl.com/bfETmf
4-http://wp.me/p1otL6-qG
5-http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/9/1/88
6-http://pizza.com/fun-facts
7-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10994902

 

Connie Rogers
Connie Rogers is a Certified Integrative Nutritional Holistic Health Coach, Published Author, Certified Skin Health Educator for 40 years, Expert in non-pharmaceutical applications to chronic illnesses for endocrine, metabolic, and skin health.

Connie believes health and wellness are established with proper nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness. Connie takes a natural and holistic, common sense approach to rebuilding well-being from the ground up. As she works with each client, together they open a door that empowers them to rewrite their life, one bite size step at a time!