Do you have dietary and lifestyle changes you’re struggling to make?
What is holding you back?
Is it perfectionism (there’s only one right choice), fear of failure, being stuck in your comfort zone, procrastination, or overwhelm?
I get it. I too struggle in making changes for those same reasons.
So, in my blogs I explain why you need to change.
And how to overcome the obstacles preventing you from doing so.
Transformation doesn’t occur overnight. So, aim for progress, not perfection.
In my blogs The Nutritional Super Powers of Homemade Broth and One Easy Step Toward a Better Diet, I focus on how to transition toward a more traditional diet…
Here I explain why.
What is pure, white and deadly?
Yes, you got it! Sugar.
Refined sugar emerged about 400 years ago. At the time only the elite could afford it.
It did not take long though for it to become cheap and pervasive. It is NOW found in almost every packaged food product.
So, what is the problem with sugar?
According to Robert H. Lustig, M.D., M.S.L. (author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Disease), sugar contributes to the following:
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Lipid Problems
- Polycystic Ovarian Disease
- Non-Alcoholic Liver Disease (20% of children and 45% of adults today suffer from non-alcoholic liver disease)
- Cancer
- Dementia
- Aging (because it is the cause of wrinkles, cataract, and cardiovascular disease)
- Negatively alters our immune system
- Increased intestinal permeability (aka: leaky gut)
- Drives endotoxin production in the bloodstream
And it is addictive. Although sugar may not be officially classified as an addictive drug, there are many claims that it is just as addictive as alcohol and hardcore drugs.
The food industry knows it is addictive, so they add it to everything to keep us coming back. Often, we think the problem is we simply have no will power.
But it is that sweet taste and the lack of nourishment found in packaged foods that drive us to eat more.
Not all calories are the same. Without nourishment, we are still hungry. So, we continue to eat, longing to be satiated.
And the food industry has many tricks up its sleeve when it comes to labeling, more than anyone can think or imagine.
One of them is to list sugar in as many ways as possible so that sugar does not appear as Ingredient Number 1 in the ingredient list. Instead, it is listed as Ingredient Numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9.
BUT if you were to add them all up into one classification of sugar, sugar would be Ingredient Number 1.
Am I making a good case for WHY we should ditch packaged foods and eat REAL foods?
Next week, I will share even more reasons WHY. What other critical information do we need to know about our modern day processing of foods?
For now, though, remember what I said at the outset. Transformation takes time. It is about progress, not perfection.
I do not expect you to stop buying packaged foods today. However, you can follow this doable step.
Adopt the “5 & 5 Rule” when buying something with a label.
- 5 ingredients or less
- 5 grams of sugar or less
- And no added sugar (see list of 257 Names of Sugar)
- No vegetable oils (canola, cotton seed, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower)
- No artificial or natural flavors
Are you interested in cutting back on sugar and packaged foods? But the implication that you have to prepare all you own food stop you in your tracks?
Book your FREE 30-minute Discovery Call today! Let us discuss how I can help guide you, in a way that fits your individual needs and lifestyle.
Peace and grace,
Karen
2 thoughts on “What Is Pure, White, and Deadly?”
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the encouragement about choosing wisely by reading the ingredients and looking for “hidden” sugar. I am also always amazed at the serving size per package – if there is more than one serving, you have to increase the amount and percentages! Keep giving us good info, especially during this sweet time of year.
Patrick
Yes, Patrick. You are so right. That is another tactic of the food industry. To change the serving size to some miniscule amount, so we do not realize how much sugar or trans fats we are consuming. Thank you for pointing this out.