Sugar Under Attack in Mainstream Medicine, Finally!

The American Heart Association (AHA) has finally taken the strongest mainstream American stand on sugar to date and issued consumption guidelines: news release.

I recommend reading the whole news release, but here are the highlights:

Added Sugars Statement highlights

• An upper limit for added sugars should be no more than half your discretionary calories.
• Most American women should consume no more than 100 calories of added sugars per day; most men, no more than 150 calories. That’s about 6 teaspoons of added sugars a day for women and 9 for men. The 2001-2004 NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) database showed the average intake of added sugars for all Americans was 22.2 teaspoons per day or about 355 calories.
• Added sugars and solid fats in food, as well as alcoholic beverages are categorized as “discretionary calories” and should be eaten sparingly.
• Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet. A 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 130 calories and 8 teaspoons of sugar.

I don’t agree with all of the AHA’s dietary guidelines. As you will read below, they should just flat out tell people that processed sugar kills and there is no safe level.

Another area of disagreement involves the recommended limitation on fat consumption, because our bodies need fat in order to absorb nutrition. Good fats, such as animal fat, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. are what we need. Hydrogenated fats, on the other hand, absolutely should be banished from our diets. I blog about fats and have some great links for more information here: Fats – How to Use Them. In relation to heart disease and fat in particular, this article was helpful for my family: Rise of Coronary Heart Disease in the 20th Century.

Why are People Sugar Addicted?

Many people are addicted to sugar. What they don’t understand is that their bodies have been hijacked by yeast that lives in their guts. This yeast DEMANDS that it be fed, so Americans eat more sugar, feed more yeast and become unhealthier. It isn’t a willpower issue, it is biological demand.

The AHA’s recommendations are an improvement, but they are not a solution for freeing people from their addiction. If you follow the AHA guidelines, the yeast will continue to be fed 6 teaspoons of sugar per day if you are a woman and 9 teaspoons if per day you are a man, and they will continue to scream for more.

Can the Addiction be Broken?

Absolutely. My family did it. We followed Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride’s Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Diet. The Diet starves and ultimately kills the yeast, freeing people from ALL unhealthy cravings. People who strictly follow the diet will be FREE for life. And the food you prepare is decadent. Food will have never tasted so good because all of the processed junk will be eliminated from the diet and the taste buds come back to life.

What Added Sugar Do We Eat and How Much?

We eat raw, untreated honey. Yeast doesn’t like honey. We use it in our smoothies, in some sauces, and we bake with it. Our total consumption per person is 3 to 4 teaspoons a day.

How Healthy Are We?

Crazy, super healthy! Our health highlights are all over this blog. My family’s journey has been so fun, surprising and unexpected. Every day we talk about how great we feel and how we wish other people would learn that they can feel great too. It is really cool that we don’t fear our health and the health insurance debacle facing this country because we have taken responsibility and are healing and strengthening ourselves with food.

How about You?

As long as you are alive, there is always time to start. It takes a long time to wreck a body, but the body wants to heal and it will do so surprisingly quickly if you give it the chance.

Comments

[Sambodhi Prem]

Great post Laura!

We're writing a small book on health, here's a quote:

"From the point of man's evolution, an excessive amount of sugar has been in our diet for only a split second.
Yes, we ate honey and we might have chewed on a sugar cane or eaten sugar beets and fruits, but only since the industrial revolution has the human race had an increasing amount of sugar in its diet.
A big jump in sugar consumption from pre-industrial revolution to post industrial revolution.

I believe it to be true that our bodies live in symbiosis with our bacteria - from a long-term perspective 'we and our bugs' have not been exposed to so much sugar.

The mechanism of perceiving sweetness that helps horses to seek out the sweetest grasses and that has helped us to seek out the complex sugars and minerals that are in close proximity in natural foods, has been hijacked by the industrial revolution through its ability to produce sugar in large quantities.

We have to reduce sugar and install the good bacteria in our guts, I don't think Mother Nature can adapt our bodies to the changed environment of the sugar onslaught in time for us to survive."

best regards

Sambodhi
Titirangi, New Zealand
The Porridge Book
http://bit.ly/ygpvY