The Sticky Truth on Refined Sugar
Eating processed-free foods has many benefits for our bodies; toxic and denatured ingredients are avoided and eating whole foods means you are getting the complete package.
What do we mean by a complete package? Just like with the whole grains vs. refined flours story, nature presents us with a little gift in whole foods. For example, there are over 100 vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals PLUS oils, fibers, and enzymes in a whole wheat kernel that work together to break down and digest wheat, all while delivering the nutrients to our body.
~~The same can be said for sugars~~
It’s time for a sugar match up! DING DING DING!!!!!
In this corner……Raw Sugar Cane. (“RSC” is wearing the brown trunks)
Coming to the ring with antioxidants, fibers, enzymes, and phytonutrients, RSC has a full crew to help out! Check out the mineral crew behind him – calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, and zinc. Also supporting him is the vitamin crew: A, C, B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6!!
Raw Sugar Cane’s powerful posse is called Polyphenols. This gang has numerous health benefits and works with the vitamin and mineral crew to slow down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, which lowers the damaging sugar spike!
And in the other corner…..Refined Processed Sugar. (“RPS” is wearing the white trunks)
This guy comes to the ring in a sneaky fashion – RPS is concentrated into a small body and all his supporting crew have left him. He only has the option of hanging out with his other empty sugar hoodlum friends. I heard that he and 11 others showed up to the event in soda cans, leaving behind a trail of candy wrappers. He has a rap sheet a mile long and has been busted stealing calcium from the bones, tissues, and teeth of GOOD PEOPLE just so he could get into their bloodstream. He also distracts the white blood cells for 5 hours at a time and keeps them from being able to do their jobs and keep bodies healthy. He even feeds cancer cells while continuing to steal nutrients from healthy cells!
In all seriousness, processed sugar doesn’t stand a chance when matched up against raw sugar cane. It truly does suppress your immune system for 5 hours at a time – even though it is a main ingredient in many over the counter cough syrups, cough drops, and flu remedies. Ironic, right? Refined sugar is directly connected to degenerative illnesses like diabetes, hypoglycemia, heart disease, gallstones, mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis, arthritis, cancer, and more.
It is no wonder that since the typical American consumes 32 teaspoons of refined sugar per day that these diseases are on the rise. Due to its chemical, refined, and addictive nature, it can technically be classified as a pharmaceutical drug. It is slipped into things like bread and even processed meats and bacon – who knew lunch meat needed sugar?
Sugar can be a sweet treat – in moderation. While raw sugar cane is a healthier choice, it is also not something a body requires a lot of. In fact, the two teaspoons of glucose that our bodies need at any one time can be obtained from digesting healthy complex carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains. When buying sugar, check for the words whole cane on the labels. (You could use Rapadura or Sucanat cup for cup in place of white sugar) It should be a darker color than the refined white sugar we are used to seeing.
COMING SOON: more information on the sugary subject! We will discuss refined, processed sugar’s evil cousin High Fructose Corn Syrup and research some healthy alternatives!
