Dying for sugar

Remember the book, “The Shangri La Diet”, which came out a couple of years ago and created quite a bit of buzz in the health and fitness community? I bought a copy. In the book, the author espoused drinking a 16 oz glass of water, several times per day with a teaspoon of Light Olive Oil in it, or a teaspoon of sugar.

According to the author, this was supposed to make us less hungry and therefore lose weight. The book sold millions of copies. I doubt seriously anyone still follows this plan.

The correct answer to the following question will shock you.

Would you survive longer on a diet of just water OR on a diet of water and refined sugar?

The answer: You would survive longer on just water.

“Steve, you’ve lost it boy! You’re just crazy!”

Really? Let’s look at five sailors who were ship wrecked in 1793.

The ship was filled with refined sugar and therefore allowed the marooned five a diet of sugar and water. Nine days after being marooned, they were finally rescued and were found to be in a wasted condition due to starvation.

The French physiologist Francois Magendie heard the story of the five sailors, grew intrigued by it and began to conduct a series of experiments in which he fed dogs a diet of sugar. All of the dogs died.

With this study Magendie proved that as a steady diet, refined sugar is worse than nothing.

“Wait a minute, bro…how can sugar be worse than nothing?”

Apparently and quite obviously based on this research, refined sugar is an anti-nutrient.

What starts life as sugar cane, goes through an extensive refining process that destroys all of the enzymes, fiber, vitamins and minerals. What we're left with are empty, naked and deadly calories.

Here’s the kicker: our bodies require the enzymes, fiber, vitamins and minerals that were taken out in the refining process in order to metabolize sugar and use it as energy. Since refining doesn’t leave any, those nutrients are taken from your own body to complete the process.

(This would make a great horror story: “The Thing that Leaches the Body Dry!”)

Think about it…while you are enjoying that chocolate bar, sugar is sucking vital nutrients from your body. Kind of like a sugar tick. Yumm!

And it doesn't end there…

• Sugar produces false hunger which makes you overeat. This is a result of the insulin rush and then ensuing plummet in your blood sugar levels. What happens then is a constant struggle with your weight where you never seem to achieve your ideal size.
• Sugar advances aging. This is caused by advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, that occur when insulin levels are consistently elevated as a result of eating too much sugar. Sugar, by some, is called “the negative fountain of youth.”
• Sugar weakens your bones. This makes you vulnerable to osteoporosis, and weakens your teeth, which increases the likelihood of cavities, both due to the calcium being pulled from your bones and teeth in order for your body to process sugar.
• Sugar in excess is stored as fat. In my humble opinion, all sugar is excess…but that’s me, the rebel. You see, after your liver has no more room to store it, sugar is converted to fat and deposited on your belly, thighs, hips and the backs of your arms. Wheee!
• Sugar can inhibit and impair brain functioning. This is a result of depleted B-vitamin production.

Still need more reasons to avoid the sugar? O.K….

Here are some more maladies tied to sugar and overconsumption: varicose veins, constipation, hormonal imbalances, ADD and ADHD, increased emotional instability, depressed immune system, increased risk of cancer and degenerative diseases.

On average, people consume 46 teaspoons of sugar every day. That equals something like 175 pounds of sugar each year. 175 POUNDS!

Why doesn’t this surprise me? Look at all of the ads for sugary drinks and sodas! It’s big business. These companies sneak sugar into any product that they can.

Right now, go through the foods in your home and you'll see that sugar has been added to everything from ketchup and spaghetti sauce to crackers, oatmeal, peanut butter and even ‘healthy' items like weight loss bars.

“So, where does this leave me, Uncle Steve?”

Well my friend, you may be in unchartered waters for the first time in your life. It’s what we call “a unique position.” As one of my favorite authors, Dr. Edwin Louis Cole, wrote years ago in his wonderful book, “Treasure”, “We each have the power to choose, but once the choice is made we become a servant to that choice. To what are you willing to become a servant?”

Your personal judgment and preference will determine the foods that you eat and the foods that you avoid. It is my sincere wish that you now see sugar with “fresh” eyes.

It is true that all other foods offer you caloric energy as well as some nutritional benefit. Sugar does not. It has, for all intents and purposes, no redeeming qualities. Sugar is simply caloric energy with a sweet habit forming taste, and a hoard of health risks. In the book “Ortho-Molecular Nutrition” the authors demonstrate, rather convincingly, that sugar is more addictive than cocaine. Studies have shown that babies, when given a choice of a variety of foods, will eat from various foods to obtain all the nutrition they need. But when a sugary food is introduced, they no longer choose from the other sources and eat the sugary choice exclusively.

I beg you, use your discernment wisely and eliminate, or strictly limit your sugar consumption, both for yourself and your children. You’ll do yourself and them a huge favor in low sugar living.

And one more thing, should you ever find yourself ship wrecked with nothing more than sugar and water for consumption…go for the water and throw the sugar overboard.

Various Names for Sugar

Next time you’re at the store shopping and want to make sure you purchase the best for your family, remember these names and then put the item back should you see it in the ingredient list:

• Sucrose
• High fructose corn syrup
• Fructose
• Lactose
• Organic sugar
• Maltose
• Dextrose
• Glucose

If your goal is overall health and/or fat loss the absolute BEST thing you can do is eliminate, or at least severely restrict, the amount of sugar in your diet.

Steve

Your Prograde Pro

Why won't they listen?

Sometimes I swear I want to scream until I'm hoarse. Sometimes I, like radio and T.V. talk show host Glenn Beck, need a roll of duct tape to wrap around my head in order to keep it from exploding.

Why?

Aerobic exercise.

I was at the gym a few days ago and overheard a trainer tell one of his clients, "Well, in order to get really lean you've got to do more aerobic training." This female client of his has not lost an inch since she started with him over a year ago. In fact she's gained size and weight. How do I know?

I was eavesdropping. . . remember?

No big surprise to me, but then again . . . I don't SUCK as a trainer.

Here are some numbers for you:

In January of 2007 a SIX MONTH clinical trial concluded wherein two (count 'em, 2) different groups were tested.

Group "A” followed a strict diet.

Group "B" followed the same diet AND added 50 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 times per week.

50 minutes . . . 5 times per week!

You know what happened?

NO DIFFERENCE!

Nada. Nix. Nill. Bupkis!

Each group lost an equal amount of fat and the addition of the aerobic activity made no difference in fat loss.

Now personally, if I'd been a member of this study and had just spent 250 minutes a week (that's over 4 hours) for 26 weeks doing aerobic activity for effectively no additional gain, I think I'd need to be held back from ripping someone’s arm off.

Same goes if I was the client of this other trainer.

So what works?

1) Increased meal frequency of whole, real foods followed to 90 percent compliance.

2) A reduced carbohydrate diet. I suggest a low Glycemic Index diet to reduce insulin.

3) Interval training.

4) Resistance training.

5) Supplement with fish oil, CLA and possibly casein.

Oh, and don't hire trainers who stink at what they claim to be able to do for you.

Steve

What came first the big butt or the scooter?

So I’m at the mall for the first time in years and I’m blown away by A) the number of truly obese individuals, and B) the number of these same people riding around in little motorized scooters.

Humans by nature are inherently lazy. We are drawn to the path of least resistance. Hence the saying, "Never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down. Never run when you can walk; never walk when you can ride."

In my opinion, the majority of people I see who use these motorized devices are those who are not themselves incapacitated from some deleterious cause or genetic defect, rather they have succumbed to the "American" way of life. I do not say that lightly, or with the slightest hint of disdain for my country. They are a product of their environment. They have, in other words, done it to themselves; either by neglect, slovenliness or some other means of self destruction.

As for our way of life, here is what I mean: Because we as a nation have been so blessed, we have lost sight of our responsibility to maintain the first line of defense: our very health. We have become a country of "convenience" seekers. A remote control for the over-abundance of television channels has eliminated the need to walk across the room to switch the station.

Keyless entry systems for our vehicles have allowed us to eliminate having to struggle to find the keyhole and, heaven forbid, exert ourselves and turn a key. Speed dial for the phone so we don't have to work so hard to dial Pizza Hut. We've even found a way to remove mental stress and strain by watching, on average, seven hours of television a day, thereby eliminating the need think for ourselves. Rather than read a book, thanks to IPod we can have someone else tell us what to think, or simply watch others working out on the tube.

Improvements in sanitation, nutrition, and medical science have been responsible for steady increases in longevity throughout modern history. This has been the case for virtually every country on earth, and it's a trend that's likely to continue - except in the United States. According to a University of Illinois study published in the New England Journal of Medicine the average American's lifespan could decrease by as much as five years in the coming decades. In the words of the author of the study, S. Jay Olshansky, "This is not based on speculation ... or unforeseen events, it is based on the future of American health that we can observe today among the very people who will express the health and life expectancy of the future: today's children."

But, how could this be? After all, the U.S. leads the world in the development of "wonder" drugs, high-tech surgeries, and technology for the early detection of disease.

It's because we're too fat.

More than 60% of adults and 30% of children are overweight or obese, putting themselves at a higher risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and a variety of other illnesses. And it is having an impact on folk’s mobility, so rather than train hard and eat right, just get a little motorized cart. That way you don't have to change your life, you can cruise your way, in comfort, ease and style, to an early, morbidly obese death.

Overcoming this phenomenon is not likely to happen. People, like I said before, are inherently lazy. Working out, eating right and maintaining your health takes effort, consistency, determination and discipline. Sadly, most of those qualities are far from inherent in the bulk of the population.

And children today, fortunately and yet sadly, do still learn what they see.

Steve