The Sugar Trap

Sugar, (defined as all sweet carbohydrates (a carbohydrate is the body’s main source of energy, chemically your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose or blood sugar.) This is the main source of energy for your body’s cells, tissues and organs.

So where is the problem with consuming large amounts of sugary foods? Our bodies are designed and work better when we consume complex carbs and proteins and good fats. Simple carbs such as fruits, milk, milk products, processed foods and refined sugars such as candy, table sugar, syrups, soft drinks and all pastries, pasta, French fries have too much simple sugars in them and get absorbed too quickly into the bloodstream and cause too many problems for the body. Most processed foods have sugar in them too, and what happens is when these simple carbs enter your body they are immediately broken down by the body and used as blood sugar or stored in the liver and your muscles.

A diet high in simple sugars contributes to the loss of nutrients such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium which help regulate relaxation and contraction of muscles in the body. And as you may be sitting all day at work whether at home or in the office, there is already considerable strain on your back muscles and your glutes, hamstrings (at the back of your thighs). The urge to reach for that quick pastry and coffee or processed food will only add to your body’s problems.

Let’s face one fact, we are all, most of us, me included addicted to sugar in many different forms. Why was it that 30 years ago most of us had breakfast and didn’t even think of food until very close to lunchtime, and after lunch, we kept going until dinnertime that evening? The introduction of simple sugars into most of our foods has become an addiction which we find very difficult to deal with, confront or handle.

Yours in Health,
John Keane Spinologist