Sugar, Addiction & Disease

Pretty bold title for a blog post right. Well yes, and no ... not if it got your attention.

As a qualified nutritionist, I really enjoyed the recent podcast with Steven Bartlett and Jessie I. on sugar and it’s link to many illnesses and diseases including:

• Obesity

• Endometriosis

• Inflammatory bowel disease

• Asthma

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Achne

• Type 2 diabetes

• Alzhiemers

And many more....

DIET is not just about what we weigh or how we look. it is how we care for our body. And how we care for our body will result on how it functions and our overall health.

The modern day diet is full of sugar. Sugar was meant to live in a plant, but now it has been derived and included in many modern-day foods. Fruits have even been bred to contain more sugar and less fibre, because that is what humans like.

• And why do we like sugar so much? Because it releases dopamine, most notably involved in helping us to feel pleasure.

• And why is it an issue? Because it causes our blood sugars to spike

• What's wrong with that? When you have a blood sugar spike, it soon follows by a blood sugar drop. This leads to us craving more and more.

Whats wrong with this?

• Weight gain > Obesity > Diabetes - Eating more carbohydrates than the body can process can result in high blood glucose levels. This is because the body breaks down carbohydrates into simple sugars. If the cells do not effectively remove glucose from the blood, the body stores the glucose in tissues as fat. This can cause weight gain which can lead to obesity, having obesity makes you more likely to develop diabetes.

• Inflammation - when too much glucose circulates in the blood, it triggers an immune response to rush in to repair any damage caused to your body's systems. Chronically high blood sugar keeps the body on offense, which creates inflammation.

• Neurological affects - blood sugar imbalance can affect our neuron’s ability to respond to insulin which is needed for basic tasks including memory and learning. As it stands, 1 in 3 of us will develop Dementia, and the most common cause of Dementia is Alzhiemers. “Poorly controlled blood sugar may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. This relationship is so strong that some have called Alzheimer’s “diabetes of the brain” or “type 3 diabetes”

This does not mean carbohydrates are bad. It means we must understand how to eat in balance). The key is education and you have the control to educate yourself to ensure your health is a priority. Don't wait for a traumatic event or health scare to prioritise your health.

Listen to the podcast: https://lnkd.in/dJ_zTAzA

National Library of Medicine research: https://lnkd.in/drjKhywj.

If you would like support with your diet ask me about diet coaching - it is health focused and can support you with fat loss and body composition. We don't just want you to look good, we want to help you live a long and healthy life...

Because there are way more important things than looking good. x