2. REFINED SUGARS

2. Refined sugar

This is basically the stuff found in the following:
– Carbonated drinks (see previous image)
– Concentrated fruit drinks
– Packaged desserts

WHY IS IT BAD? – Currently, the world’s relationship with food is … quite terrible to be honest. I read a really sad statistic the other day claiming that, in America, kids are not expected to outlive their parents because obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease in young people is so prevalent.

In the UK today, obesity affects 1 in every 4 adults and 1 in every 5 children between the ages of 10 and 11. We’re not talking “a little overweight” … this is clinical obesity. A problem that leads to coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke and mental illnesses such as depression and low self-esteem.

But sugar has been around forever? Why only now is it making us sick? High levels of REFINED SUGAR and FRUCTOSE consumption (via carbonated drinks and various processed/fake food).

Fructose is basically the sweet part of the sugar. An ingredient labelled as “high fructose corn syrup” (aka sugars cheaper, more deadly sibling) is another thing to totally avoid. Fructose does SO much damage to the body. It affects the:

– BRAIN: the hormone LEPTIN is what tells our brain when we are no longer hungry. But sugar comes and blocks the hormone, not allowing it to fulfil its job. So when we eat soft drinks and processed/fake foods, our brain does not immediately recognise that we are full which means we OVER EAT.

-PANCREAS: In turn this affects the pancreas. The pancreas produces INSULIN which regulates the blood sugar. The more sugar in your blood, the harder the pancreas has to work. An over worked pancreas can then lead to DIABETES, OBESITY, HEART DISEASE & LIVER DISEASE to name just a few.

SOLUTION – Cut down on the sugary sweets, right? Wrong. High fructose corn syrup is literally added to EVERYTHING! Bread, ketchup, cereal,
salad dressings and the list goes on! If it has a long shelf life and is a processed food, the chances are it has fructose added to it.

WHAT CAN WE DO? – Be an EDUCATED CONSUMER! Make better choices with the food/drink you buy. Purchase and eat more fruit/whole foods. Be good to your body and READ YOUR INGREDIENTS! Make sure you recognise every ingredient you are putting into your body. If you don’t recognise something, a quick google search should give you all the info you need 🙂

Namaste X