Highly addictive, sugar can disconnect us from our ability to feel satiated, encourage the growth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut and cause body-wide inflammation.
From childhood, we have all been subject to sugar and now we are swamped with processed foods all containing sugar.
Simple processed carbs, ice cream, cakes, bread rolls, breakfast cereals, doughnuts, biscuits, white bread, pasta, pizza, table sugar have become part of our lives, to celebrate and also to comfort.
The way that we treat ourselves and learning about what we put in out bodies very much determines our ongoing health and how long we will live without suffering from lifestyle ailments. Add to this the need to exercise and manage stress.
But how many of us wait for something to happen to our health before we start to make a change.
So how does sugar impact the gut and our health ?
Sugar, table sugar, honey, agave, all give us that huge glucose / fructose spike, so don't be mislead.
We are all struggling with the amount of processed foods containing sugars, juices and soft drinks, all giving a crazy spike when it comes to our blood sugar. But all sugars feed the bad bacteria and yeasts that under normal circumstances remain dormant in our guttoThe bad bacteria that feed on sugar can lead to all sorts of problems, especially increasing the acidity in our gut and bodies. This leads to inflammation and the degeneration of our gut lining (leaky gut), lowering our immune system to a host of diseases that stem from leaky gut damage. One immediate tell tale is skin condition.
Bad bacteria overgrowth can really take hold and produce, what we call dysbiosis; the balance between good and bad bacteria in our bodies.
Any pathogenic bacteria or yeasts that once lay dormant in the gut will all be stimulated and live off sugar, the more sugar we eat, the more and more these pathogens will grow and grow. The more they grow the more chemical transmitters they secrete to drive sugar craving further.
Resent research published in the PMG (Professional Medical Journal) demonstrated a new protein produced by bad bacteria that live on glucose and fructose. These restricted the growth and colonisation of good bacteria in the gut. We now know that the thousands of bacterial strains essential to our health are slowly being lost and we need these varieties together with ancient strains to provide this total body health, not just bits of health whilst we ignore the others.
We are all leaving ourselves open to so many diseases, type 2 diabetes, cancers, mental health, all stemming from this imbalance of bacteria in our gut and the diet we are now eating is having a huge impact on global health.
SO WHAT ABOUT SWEETENERS
Although the food industry is coming under pressure to reduce sugar in foods, unfortunately they are one step ahead in their use of sweeteners and seed oils, so that they can label foods as sugar free, reduced sugar or keto. Go look in the fridge and food cupboard.
These should be red flagged and we should be paying attention to eating whole
real foods as much as we can.
Sweeteners are processed and made in a laboratory, there is nothing natural about them. They are a 100 times way sweeter than sugar and probably should be sold in a pharmacists.
These are substances that are foreign to our bodies designed to trick us into thinking their sweetness is saving us calories and losing us weight.
But swapping out sugar for a sweetener is not helping our addiction to sugar.
As soon as the tongue tastes sweet ..... hey presto ! our bodies and insulin receptors think sugar is on the way, getting ready to react and manage the blood sugar level.
If we eat products with sweeteners and our bodies get prepared for the anticipated sugars, but the sweeteners have cheated us, our bodies will call more and more for sugary foods and weight gain and obesity follows,
These chemical substances are not what they are all put out there to be and our bodies need to break them down and dispose them. They are foreign to our bodies.
Studies now show that there is a greater correlation between diet soda and type 2 diabetes that normal soda.
So why are we taking out Coke from schools and replacing it with Diet Coke ?
The impact of Diet Coke sweeteners not only continues to create a further sugar craving, but keeps you eating to satisfy the craving.
It is now proven that the more chemical sweeteners in our diet the more weight we put on created by these cravings for more sugary foods.
Pushing over the hump and removing most sugar from our diet is not easy but the benefits are extraordinary to health and wellbeing. Even cold turkey for a week or two may me necessary.
Yesterday I looked at 5 brands of Kombucha and 4 brands of Water Kefir. All had artificial sweeteners and chemical flavourings, called natural flavourings, all made in a laboratory.
Tibico does not contain any artificial flavourings, infusions or sweeteners.
Tibico will help re-populate your microbiome and support the reduction in a high sugar diet.
Sometimes our customers will express the comment "but it's not sweet".
Believe me. even after a few mouthfuls the desire slowly goes away.