Part II: 124 Ways Sugar Ruins Your Health

By Nancy Appleton, PhDWell here it is. The second half of the list. Once again, think about what you feed your body. Does it make you look good, feel good or function well? The majority of what ails us can be linked to what we put in our mouths.

Oh p.s. the sources of each finding are listed at the bottom again. Read on...

66. Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
67. Sugar is enemy #1 of the bowel movement.
68. Sugar can cause myopia (nearsightedness).
69. Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
70. Sugar can make the tendons more brittle.
71. Sugar can cause headaches, including migraine.
72. Sugar plays a role in pancreatic cancer in women.
73. Sugar can adversely affect school children's grades and cause learning disorders.
74. Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha, and theta brain waves.
75. Sugar can cause depression.
76. Sugar increases the risk of gastric cancer.
77. Sugar and cause dyspepsia (indigestion).
78. Sugar can increase your risk of getting gout.
79. Sugar can increase the levels of glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test over the ingestion of complex carbohydrates.
80. Sugar can increase the insulin responses in humans consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
81 High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity.
82. Sugar can cause less effective functioning of two blood proteins, albumin, and lipoproteins, which may reduce the body’s ability to handle fat and cholesterol.
83. Sugar can contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
84. Sugar can cause platelet adhesiveness.
85. Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance; some hormones become underactive and others become overactive.
86. Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones.
87. Sugar can lead to the hypothalamus to become highly sensitive to a large variety of stimuli. 88. Sugar can lead to dizziness.
89. Diets high in sugar can cause free radicals and oxidative stress.
90. High sucrose diets of subjects with peripheral vascular disease significantly increases platelet adhesion.
91. High sugar diet can lead to biliary tract cancer.
92. Sugar feeds cancer.
93. High sugar consumption of pregnant adolescents is associated with a twofold increased risk for delivering a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infant.
94. High sugar consumption can lead to substantial decrease in gestation duration among adolescents.
95. Sugar slows food's travel time through the gastrointestinal tract.
96. Sugar increases the concentration of bile acids in stools and bacterial enzymes in the colon. This can modify bile to produce cancer-causing compounds and colon cancer.
97. Sugar increases estradiol (the most potent form of naturally occurring estrogen) in men.
98. Sugar combines and destroys phosphatase, an enzyme, which makes the process of digestion more difficult.
99. Sugar can be a risk factor of gallbladder cancer.
100. Sugar is an addictive substance.
101. Sugar can be intoxicating, similar to alcohol.
102. Sugar can exacerbate PMS.
103. Sugar given to premature babies can affect the amount of carbon dioxide they produce. 104. Decrease in sugar intake can increase emotional stability.
105. The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch. 106. The rapid absorption of sugar promotes excessive food intake in obese subjects.
107. Sugar can worsen the symptoms of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
108. Sugar adversely affects urinary electrolyte composition.
109. Sugar can slow down the ability of the adrenal glands to function.
110. Sugar has the potential of inducing abnormal metabolic processes in a normal healthy individual and to promote chronic degenerative diseases.
111. I.Vs (intravenous feedings) of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain.
112. High sucrose intake could be an important risk factor in lung cancer.
113. Sugar increases the risk of polio.
114. High sugar intake can cause epileptic seizures.
115. Sugar causes high blood pressure in obese people.
116. In Intensive Care Units: Limiting sugar saves lives.
117. Sugar may induce cell death.
118. Sugar may impair the physiological homeostasis of many systems in living organisms.
119. In juvenile rehabilitation camps, when children were put on a low sugar diet, there was a 44% drop in antisocial behavior.
120. Sugar can cause gastric cancer.
121. Sugar dehydrates newborns.
122. Sugar can cause gum disease.
123. Sugar increases the estradiol in young men.
124. Sugar can cause low birth-weight babies.


SOURCES
66. Ibid. fluid retention 67. Ibid. bowel movement 68. Ibid. nearsightedness 69. Ibid. compromise the lining of the capillaries 70. Nash, J. "Health Contenders." Essence. Jan 1992; 23: 79_81. 71. Grand, E. "Food Allergies and Migraine."Lancet. 1979:1:955_959. 72. Michaud, D. "Dietary Sugar, Glycemic Load, and Pancreatic Cancer Risk in a Prospective Study." J Natl Cancer Inst. Sep 4, 2002 ;94(17):1293-300. 73. Schauss, A. Diet, Crime and Delinquency. (Berkley Ca; Parker House, 1981.) 74. Christensen, L. "The Role of Caffeine and Sugar in Depression." Nutrition Report. Mar 1991;9(3):17-24. 75. Ibid. 76. Cornee, J., et al. "A Case-control Study of Gastric Cancer and Nutritional Factors in Marseille, France," European Journal of Epidemiology. 1995;11:55-65. 77. Yudkin, J. Sweet and Dangerous.(New York:Bantam Books,1974) 129. 78. Ibid, 44 79. Reiser, S., et al. "Effects of Sugars on Indices on Glucose Tolerance in Humans." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1986:43;151-159. 80. Reiser,S., et al. "Effects of Sugars on Indices on Glucose Tolerance in Humans." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1986;43:151-159. 81. Molteni, R, et al. "A High-fat, Refined Sugar Diet Reduces Hippocampal Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor, Neuronal Plasticity, and Learning." NeuroScience. 2002;112(4):803-814. 82. Monnier, V., "Nonenzymatic Glycosylation, the Maillard Reaction and the Aging Process." Journal of Gerontology. 1990;45:105-111. 83. Frey, J. "Is There Sugar in the Alzheimer’s Disease?" Annales De Biologie Clinique. 2001; 59 (3):253-257. 84. Yudkin, J. "Metabolic Changes Induced by Sugar in Relation to Coronary Heart Disease and Diabetes." Nutrition and Health. 1987;5(1-2):5-8. 85. Ibid. 86. Blacklock, N. J., "Sucrose and Idiopathic Renal Stone." Nutrition and Health. 1987;5(1-2):9- Curhan, G., et al. "Beverage Use and Risk for Kidney Stones in Women." Annals of Internal Medicine. 1998:28:534-340. 87. Journal of Advanced Medicine. 1994;7(1):51-58. 88. Ibid 89. Ceriello, A. "Oxidative Stress and Glycemic Regulation." Metabolism. Feb 2000;49(2 Suppl 1):27-29. 90. Postgraduate Medicine.Sept 1969:45:602-07. 91. Moerman, C. J., et al. "Dietary Sugar Intake in the Etiology of Biliary Tract Cancer." International Journal of Epidemiology . Ap 1993;.2(2):207-214. 92. Quillin, Patrick, "Cancer’s Sweet Tooth," Nutrition Science News. Ap 2000. Rothkopf, M.. Nutrition. July/Aug 1990;6(4). 93. Lenders, C. M. "Gestational Age and Infant Size at Birth Are Associated with Dietary Intake among Pregnant Adolescents." Journal of Nutrition. Jun 1997;1113- 1117. 94. Ibid. 95. Bostick, R. M., et al. "Sugar, Meat.and Fat Intake and Non-dietary Risk Factors for Colon Cancer Incidence in Iowa Women." Cancer Causes & Control. 1994:5 :38-53. 96. Ibid. Kruis, W., et al. "Effects of Diets Low and High in Refined Sugars on Gut Transit, Bile Acid Metabolism and Bacterial Fermentation." Gut. 1991;32:367-370. Ludwig, D. S., et al. "High Glycemic Index Foods, Overeating, And Obesity." Pediatrics. Mar 1999;103(3):26-32. 97. Yudkin, J and Eisa, O. "Dietary Sucrose and Oestradiol Concentration in Young Men". Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. 1988:32(2):53-55. 98. Lee, A. T. and Cerami A. "The Role of Glycation in Aging." Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 1992; 663:63-70. 99. Moerman, C., et al."Dietary Sugar Intake in the Etiology of Biliary Tract Cancer." International Journal of Epidemiology. Ap 1993; 22(2):207-214. 100. "Sugar, White Flour Withdrawal Produces Chemical Response." The Addiction Letter. Jul 1992:4. Colantuoni, C., et al. "Evidence That Intermittent, Excessive Sugar Intake Causes Endogenous Opioid Dependence." Obes Res. Jun 2002 ;10(6):478-488. Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, June 17, 2001. Www.mercola,com/2001/june/30/sugar.htm 101. Ibid. 102. The Edell Health Letter. Sept 1991;7:1. 103. Sunehag, A. L., et al. "Gluconeogenesis in Very Low Birth Weight Infants Receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition" Diabetes. 1999 ;48 7991_800. 104. Christensen L., et al. "Impact of A Dietary Change on Emotional Distress." Journal of Abnormal Psychology .1985;94(4):565_79. 105. Nutrition Health Review. Fall 85. changes sugar into fat faster than fat 106. Ludwig, D. S., et al. "High Glycemic Index Foods, Overeating and Obesity." Pediatrics. March 1999;103(3):26-32. 107. Pediatrics Research. 1995;38(4):539-542. Berdonces, J. L. "Attention Deficit and Infantile Hyperactivity." Rev Enferm. Jan 2001;4(1)11-4 108. Blacklock, N. J. "Sucrose and Idiopathic Renal Stone." Nutrition Health. 1987;5(1 & 2):9-17. 109. Lechin, F., et al. "Effects of an Oral Glucose Load on Plasma Neurotransmitters in Humans." Neurophychobiology. 1992;26(1-2):4-11. 110. Fields, M. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Aug 1998;17(4):317_321. 111. Arieff, A. I. Veterans Administration Medical Center in San Francisco. San Jose Mercury; June 12/86. IVs of sugar water can cut off oxygen to the brain. 112. De Stefani, E."Dietary Sugar and Lung Cancer: a Case_control Study in Uruguay." Nutrition and Cancer. 1998;31(2):132_7. 113. Sandler, Benjamin P. Diet Prevents Polio. Milwakuee, WI,:The Lee Foundation for for Nutritional Research, 1951. 114. Murphy, Patricia. "The Role of Sugar in Epileptic Seizures." Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. May, 2001. Murphy Is Editor of Epilepsy Wellness Newsletter, 1462 West 5th Ave., Eugene, Oregon 97402 115. Stern, N. & Tuck, M. "Pathogenesis of Hypertension in Diabetes Mellitus." Diabetes Mellitus, a Fundamental and Clinical Test. 2nd Edition, (PhiladelphiA; A:Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2000)943-957. 116. Christansen, D. "Critical Care: Sugar Limit Saves Lives." Science News. June 30, 2001; 159:404. 117. Donnini, D. et al. "Glucose May Induce Cell Death through a Free Radical-mediated Mechanism."Biochem Biohhys Res Commun. Feb 15, 1996:219(2):412-417. 118. Ceriello, A. "Oxicative Stress and Glycemic Regulation." Metabolism. Feb 2000;49(Suppl I):27-29. 119. Schoenthaler, S. The Los Angeles Probation Department Diet-Behavior Program: Am Empirical Analysis of Six Institutional Settings. Int J Biosocial Res 5(2):88-89. 120. Cornee, J., et al. "A Case-control Study of Gastric Cancer and Nutritional Factors in Marseille, France." European Journal of Epidemiology 11 (1995):55-65. 121. "Gluconeogenesis in Very Low Birth Weight Infants Receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition. Diabetes. 1999 Apr;48(4):791-800. 122. Glinsmann, W., et al. "Evaluation of Health Aspects of Sugar Contained in Carbohydrate Sweeteners." FDA Report of Sugars Task Force (1986) 39. 123. Yudkin, J. and Eisa, O. "Dietary Sucrose and Oestradiol Concentration in Young Men. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. 1988;32(2):53-5. 124. Lenders, C. M. "Gestational Age and Infant Size at Birth Are Associated with Dietary Intake Among Pregnant Adolescents." Journal of Nutrition 128.1998:1807-1810


For more related information go to her website

http://www.nancyappleton.com/

How To Get Sick

1. Stay out of the sun- In addition to the benefits of Vitamin D production, we also tend to be happier or less depressed.
2. Go to bed after midnight- 1 hour of sleep before midnight = 4 hours after midnight according to Elmer Josephson. It has also been proven that we can die from lack of sleep before lack of water or food.
3. Never let them see you sweat- Could talk forever about this but I’ll sum it up with benefits of exercise and detoxification.
4. Take Mega Vitamins- the angle here is the cheap synthetic vitamins and excessive quantities. Think quality not quantity.
5. Use fluoride toothpaste and mouthwash and drink fluoridated water. Do a web search on fluoride or type in fluoride on mercola.com, the history of how fluoride and human consumption is disturbing.
6. Use artificial sweeteners and avoid sugars - Backing off on sugars is a good idea but there is a reason why we need to consume carbohydrates (sugars). Another blog on artificial sugars is the works. One tidbit would be that artificial sugars are classified as neurotoxins. Ah I don’t know if I want to knowingly and willingly put neurotoxins in my body.
7. Shower every day, but don’t take a bath - Depletes hair oils, alters body pH and the shower head aerates the chlorine in tap water causing inhalation of chlorine in small frequent doses.
8. Swim in chlorinated pools.
9. Don’t breastfeed your baby.
10. Get tattoos.
11. Get all of your immunization shots - The preservatives they contain have been linked to autism and Crohn’s disease.
12. Travel in airplane often - The cabins recirculation of air also recirculates all those little cold and flu bugs as well as disturb inner ear pressure regulation.
13. Expose yourself to electromagnetic energy. Power lines, large generators, frequent talking on cell phone directly to ear have all been shown to increase free radicals (the stuff antioxidants clean up).
14. Use a lot of skin care products, cosmetics, hair care products, nail care products, shampoos, soaps, perfumes, shaving cream, suntan lotion, and antibacterial soaps

• Brown and black hair products increase: hodgkins lymphoma (20% of all cases), mult. myeloma -Tea tree and DEA are carcinogenic.
  
• Toluene is associated with asthma which is found in every fragrance since 1991.
  
• Shampoos break down to formaldehyde.
  
• Antibacterial products have triclosan - absorbed through skin and pose a liver threat.

15. Take lots of medications - antibiotics, oral contraceptives and corticosteroids may cause major problems with GI tract, damage the immune system, cause liver problems and alter enzyme function.
16. Get your cavities filled with mercury (silver amalgam, silver fillings, amalgam fillings) - vapor releases continuously and is linked to neurological and psychiatric problems.
17. Do excessive aerobic exercise - lower immune system, creates more oxidation stress, chronic ligament and joint problems with repetitive motion. Dr. Al Sears has an interesting perspective on how we should exercise.
18. Wear contact lenses and receive implants of other foreign objects - risk to immune system.
19. Live in a toxic home - toxic paint, new carpet, mold, paraffin candles, etc.
20. Wear synthetic fabrics
21. Breathe with shallow breaths - infants are instinctively belly breathers. You can actually increase your metabolism just by breathing in more air by belly breathing.
22. Swallow your food without chewing well (or at all)

• Chewing produces saliva
  
• Saliva breaks down carbohydrates
  
• Chewing action stimulates parotid gland behind the ears which signals thymus gland to produce T cells in case food contains toxins or pathogens.
  
• Best to deliver food to stomach in a near liquid state.
  
• Optimally chew food 35-50 times.
  
• Proposed that simply chewing your food can prevent Crohn’s disease and Addison’s.

From Lab to Lunch: Chemicals They Call Food

I just had to dig this one up out of my files.
Beware it’s disturbing!
- Monty Moran

By: Brie Cadman (View Profile)

Updated August 2, 2008

The other day I was snacking on some bright orange “nacho” flavored tortilla chips when I decided to do something very stupid. I flipped the bag over and read the ingredient list. Given the color, I wasn’t expecting to find nature, distilled, but the double-digit list of ingredients, many of which I hadn’t seen since working in a lab, was still disconcerting. In fact, some of the chemicals were the same ones that drove me out of the lab. (You can only read “extreme neurotoxin” and “mutagenic” so many times before pondering a career change.) What were they doing in my chips?

A tortilla chip seems so simple (corn, oil, salt) but the intersection of synthetic chemistry and food manufacturing has taken us far away from simple and much closer to complex. Instead of nacho cheese, we eat synthesized substances meant to approximate the flavor or texture of cheese, no milk products involved. Preservation, emulsification, hydrogenation, distillation, and esterification has resulted in some good things (like reduced spoilage and food borne diseases), but has also resulted in some questionable food additives like the compounds below.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not—Diacetyl!
Diacetyl is the chemical that gives microwave popcorn that delicious buttery flavor without the use of any butter. Unfortunately, extensive exposure to diacetyl can lead to a serious, irreversible, and rare condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans. First seen in workers at a microwave popcorn packaging plant, the condition is commonly known as “popcorn lung.” One consumer (who, somewhat freakishly, ate around four bags of microwaved popcorn a day) has developed the disease, and researchers recently discovered that small amounts of diacetyl can cause lung and airway damage in mice.

• The Alternative? OSHA didn’t do crap to protect workers, but lawsuits and negative publicity scared some manufacturers into removing the compound from their packaged kernels. However, diacetyl abounds in packaged foods with fake butter flavor, often under the guise of “natural and artificial flavoring.” As for popcorn, pop your own and use the real golden stuff. Butter=good; popcorn lung=bad.

Would You Like Diet or Regular Benzene?
Benzene is an industrial solvent and a known carcinogen, so food companies generally try to keep it out of their products. However, two chemicals found in soda, sodium benzoate (a preservative) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), can react to form benzene, especially in the presence of heat or light. In 2007, Coca-Cola and Pepsi agreed to settle lawsuits brought against them after benzene was detected in their products. The suit alleged that Pepsi’s Diet Wild Cherry drink had benzene levels nearly four times the maximum level set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. Oopsy. Both companies agreed to reformulate; however, thousands of soft drinks containing benzoate and citric acids are still on the market.

• The Alternative? Probably most Coke and Pepsi products are “safe” (who knows what’ll turn up next!), but it’s a good idea to check the label.

Gone Fishin’—For Silly Puddy
The sticky texture of Silly Puddy is due, in part, to a widely used silicone-based polymer called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In addition to Silly Puddy, it is also found in caulks, adhesives, cosmetics, silicone grease, knuckle replacements, silicone breast implants, and … in McDonald’s Fish Filet Patties. They add it as an “antifoaming agent.” I had to look this one up (why is the fish foaming?) and as it turns out, foam, produced when vats of liquids are mixed or agitated, is a big problem for large scale food manufacturers. Lots of foam means frying vats can’t be filled to capacity, meaning fast food restaurants can’t fry as many fish (potatoes, apple crisps, whatever) as mechanically possible. Hence the need for silicone oils like PDMS.

• The Alternative? The FDA allows up to ten parts per million of anti-foaming agents to be used in food products; they’re found in many processed foods. Though not harmful at these levels, their use does increase the amount of acrylamide (a naturally occurring but nasty chemical) that is formed during frying.

Ahhh, Olestra
Only in America would an indigestible molecule that inhibits the absorption of vitamins and minerals, causes abdominal cramping, loose stools, and gas take in over $400 million in its first year. Only in America would a chemical most closely associated with two words—anal leakage—still have a chance in the food market. (Saw it yesterday in a can of Pringles Light, giving new meaning to the “once you pop, you can’t stop” slogan.) Interestingly, Olestra was first filed with the FDA as a drug, not a food product. What a tangled web we weave…

• The Alternative? Lick some raw chicken to get your anal leakage fix.

Too Sweet to Be True
Artificial sweeteners are generally considered safe (save for saccharin, which has that pesky “has been shown to cause cancer in lab rats” warning). However, two studies indicate they may not exactly be as guilt-free as once imagined.

The first study showed that, compared with those who drank no soda, people who consumed one or more sodas a day—diet or regular—had a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors characterized by excessive abdominal fat, high blood pressure, and high glucose. Soda companies balked—how can diet beverages cause these things when they contain no calories? Logic would side with them, except for study number two, done in rats. It showed that rats fed with foods containing artificial sweeteners were more likely to overeat compared with those rats fed food containing real sugar. Reason? Sugar triggers our innate system to recognize sweet calories and restrict further food consumption; fake chemicals don’t trigger the “eat less” mechanism.

• The Alternative? Calorie free sodas don’t add on weight, excess food does. However, if you’re drinking lots of diet soda and still loosening up the belt, you may want to rethink the diet approach. (Also, see benzene above.)

Hydrogenation Station
Oils are liquid at room temperature, while fats, like butter and lard, are solid. One way to make vegetable oil into a semi-solid compound, perfect for use in long-lifed packaged foods, is to hydrogenate it. Partial hydrogenation gets rid of some of the good unsaturated fats and also creates trans fats, the black sheep of the fat world, thought to be more deleterious to the old ticker than lard.

• The Alternative? Bad press and labeling requirements have caused many food companies to remove trans fats from their products; check labels. (Kraft Fat Free Singles, for instance, contain no saturated fat, but do contain partially hydrogenated oils.) Regular, unsaturated vegetable oil is the perfect alternative for frying, yet restaurants can still use the partially hydrogenated stuff, unless the FDA, which still labels the oil as “generally recognized as safe,” steps up and bans it.

Butylated Hydroxyanisol (BHA)
BHA is an antioxidant that prevents fats and oils from spoiling. BHA is added to packaged foods, baked goods, some cereals, and meats as a preservative. It has been found to cause cancer in laboratory rodents; however, it causes cancer in an organ that humans don’t have, so it’s hard to translate the research into human populations. The National Toxicology Program states that BHA is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals.” Funny, it’s still in our food chain.

• The Alternative? Check labels and (if this hasn’t already become clear) avoid packaged foods that have a shelf life lasting longer than the average tenure of a Supreme Court Justice.

As with most chemicals, dose makes the poison; small amounts of the above chemicals ain’t going to kill you (at least according to the FDA). But neither would eating a piece of real cheese.