Sugar: An American Staple

Sugar has become a staple in American diet. Not only is added sugar one of the main contributing factors to the obesity epidemic, but it is also responsible for the spike we are seeing in Type 2 Diabetes and people with Insulin Resistance. There is so much sugar included in food that you cannot pick up any prepackaged foods without seeing variations of this sweet ingredient on the label. BEWARE: it comes in many guises including: High Fructose Corn Syrup, corn syrup, sugar, fructose, dextrose, sucrose etc. Be ever diligent in reading labels if you are trying to cut down on your sugar intake. Pretty much anything ending in -ose is a sugar or sugar derivative. Sugar consumed in the form of whole fruits acts differently on the body than simple sugars and is NOT what I am referring to here. With that being said, I wanted to share with you this very interesting FREE video seminar on sugar consumption taught by our very own Cynthia Lair. Cynthia is responsible for single handedly pulling me into the world of nutrition and making me aware of everything I put into my mouth. She is part of the faculty at Bastyr University where she teaches many classes including my favorite class, Whole Foods Production. In this class, I not only learned how to cook with whole foods, but I also learned about GMO's (genetically modified food), and the many ways in which processed foods are created. FYI: processed foods are taken apart using many chemicals and high heat, which depletes their nutritional value rendering many of the foods we eat nutritionally deficient. This is why you see on the ingredients labels the word "Enriched". This is the way corporations put vitamins back into food after they have been destroyed through processing. Unfortunately, the vitamins added back into the food are TRADITIONALLY synthetic and do not include naturally occurring enzymes or phytonutrients. Synthetic vitamins do not act in the same way or have the same benefits of eating the whole food itself (ex. whole grain, whole wheat vs enriched white flour). I hope you take the time to watch this video and enjoy this seminar. I hope all of you learn allot that inspires you to minimize your simple sugar intake if you have not already done so.