Western medicine has long-believed the body runs on glucose, a form of sugar. Natural medicine however believes the body’s nervous system runs on electrical energy or electrons. Natural medicine practitioners have long since viewed that all forms of sugar strain the body. Most people don’t realise sugar has not been around forever in our food supply. It became popular in the 1900s and was made more accessible by trade, and even wars were fought over it.
It is mainly extracted from sugar cane, or sugar beet, a root vegetable related to beetroot. These contain higher levels of sugar than the average fruit or vegetable.
Sugar is classified into many forms yet all are synthesised to glucose in the liver. Many sugars end with ‘ose’. Some sugars are glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose and maltose which is extracted from barley. Fructose is commonly found in fruit. Dextrose is similar to glucose, and is often called glucose on packaging. Brown sugar is treated with molasses. Most carbohydrates are broken down to sugar in the body although they are less sweet than glucose.
The average consumption of sugar has more than tripled in the last 200 years in humans and has been linked to a rise in weight loss as well as many deadly illnesses.
It has been considered one of the great poisons to the human body by natural therapists. In his classic book Diet, Crime and Delinquency, Alexander Strauss outlines the difference in criminal behaviour in juvenile delinquents when diets with high sugar were switched for their low sugar counterparts.
Australia has one of the highest per capita intakes of sugar in the world. Sugar is hidden in many foods so you need to read food labels carefully. It has been linked to over-acid conditions in the body and it feeds micro forms such as candida albicans which is the most common type of yeast which can give people a “punch drunk” feeling in the body. Sugar has been linked to every known illness from heart disease, to obesity to attention difficulties and has long been called the “silent killer” due to its sinister nature of being in a high number of foods that human beings eat.
Many things people think are healthy sugar may not be – agave syrup may actually be up to 95% fructose.
When coming off sugar, take sea salt instead and monitor your blood pressure to ensure it is stable. Use it as a tool to change the rest of your diet, being cautious not to go too high on protein either. Trade sugar for healthy raw plant fats such as avocado, coconut and eat a diet high in green leafy vegies. Vegetable juicing is useful, but ensure not to use too high sugar fruits. Avocados, lemons, limes, tomatoes and grapefruits are all relatively low in sugar.
Carrot and beetroot are both quite high in sugar for vegetables, but can be used in juices to help offset the taste of their lower sugar counterparts. Low sugar plants such as vegetables, low sugar fruits, herbs and spices make for the basis of a balanced diet, in conjunction with a diet high in water, and always check with your GP if unsure of anything.
Have you quit sugar recently? What benefits have you experienced? Tell us why you quit sugar in the comments below.
