How Sweet it is...

Too much of anything is not good for us -- right? Well, especially when it comes to sugar. Most of you reading my blog are probably not like most Americans (other parts of the world are plagued by this dilemma as well-see Infographic below), but just in case you have some sweet tooth tendencies, as I myself do, here it goes.

According to Laura Schimdt of UCSF, School of Medicine, "The average American is consuming 22 teaspoons a day." That's about 400 calories. Many of those sugar calories are hidden in foods that we wouldn't think contain sugar like tomato sauce, yogurt, crackers, peanut butter, etc. Many of them are also disguised by other names sucrose, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, just to name a few.

The American Heart Association recommends that we not have more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day, which is approximately 24 grams. My son was drinking an "all natural" pre-sweetened tea that contained 3 servings.  Each serving contained 23 grams of sugar, which meant that he was consuming 69 grams or 17 teaspoons of sugar by drinking the entire can. YIKES! I won't be buying that again.

Is sugar addictive? According to many scientists around the globe, animals' brains, including humans, will choose sugar over fat and protein given the chance. Research also tells us that we'd be better off with only water than sugar water. Something to ponder.

For more on the dangers of sugar, The One "Crazy" Thing All Nutritionists Agree Is a Good Idea, by Corrie Pikul

infographic courtesy of www.hcs.harvard.edu

 Refined sugar consumption has been linked to:

• weight gain
• tooth decay
• skin issues
• sleep disturbance
• ADD/HDD
• diabetes
• high cholesterol
• heart disease
• malnutrition 
• the list goes on  

I've known for some time the pull that sugar has had on me. More recently though after completing one of my month-long cleanses, I realized that I couldn't ignore the changes that took place in my body and mind without sugar. Of course during the cleanse, I was eliminating more than just sugar. I felt more energetic, slept better, lost a little weight and a lot of bloating, and I just felt great. More importantly, I noticed the chaos sugar created in my body when I decided to take it back. I became irritable, felt bloated and got a pretty intense headache. It was easy to know the culprit because I didn't add anything other new food substance in.

Eve Schaub recently published a book, Year of No Sugar, about her family's experience. As reported by the Huffington Post, 'Year Of No Sugar': The Schaub Family Went Sugar Free For An Entire Year by Sarah Klein. Inspired by research and writings by prolific food-industry researchers like professor Robert Lustig, M.D., and journalist Michael Moss, Eve Schaub decided to try an experiment. She, along with her husband and daughters Greta and Ilsa, spent all of 2011 eating no added sugar.  Read more.

So what can we do?

• Read labels; if you don't know the words look them up or only buy things that you know what the words are.
• Drink fewer pre-sweetened drinks.
• Enjoy a small sweetened treat on special occasions.
• Consume unsweetened fresh or dried fruit for your sweet fix.
• If you give in, don't beat yourself up. 
• Make your own sweets using sweeteners closer to their natural source like maple syrup 
• Dates are one of my favorite sweet treat--you might try my date-nut balls 

Feel free to share any stories or recipes. Enjoy! We can still have an amazingly wonderful, sweet life without refined sugar.

Drink Tea and Be Healthy

Photo courtesy of www.teavana.com

Though I still occasionally enjoy a cup of coffee, my heart belongs to tea. I love it's versatility and flavor. Recently having led a group cleanse I decided to research tea's affects to see if it was truly necessary to avoid any tea besides herbal tea. 

I have been drinking black tea since I can remember. I was never aware of the benefits except that it made be feel warm and good all over. Recently there have been numerous studies done on the benefits of drinking various forms of tea. I'm not going to discuss herbals today because they are in a class of there own.
Tea Facts
Tea has been consumed for nearly 5,000 years and certainly played a major role in America's history. American's drink 79 billion servings of tea per year, 84% of it is black tea and 85% of it is iced tea. Compared to our 100 million daily coffee drinkers, there are158 million daily tea drinkers.

Tea is naturally resistant to most insects, a sustainable and an environmentally-friendly product. Tea is natural and does not need much processing. Tea generally has no sodium, fat, calories, sugar or additives.

Does tea make us healthier?
Green and black tea have been shown to reduce stress and increase positive feelings. These teas have been helpful in decreasing cancer formation, increasing weight loss and maintenance, decreasing LDL cholesterol, and increasing bone density while decreasing osteoporosis. Green and black tea have also been shown to decrease Parkinson's and Alzheimer's symptoms and onset.

How? 
Green and Black Teas contain:

• Phytochemicals- naturally occurring plant compounds that are thought to play a role in decreasing the risk of cancer and heart disease and may boost the immune system.
• Polyphenols (antioxidants)- help prevent oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen and nitrogen
• Flavonoids (antioxidants) that help elevate metabolism, increase fat oxidation and improve insulin activity
• Theanine- (an amino acid) lowers the chances of age-related mental decline;
  may reduce mental stress, and produce feelings of relaxation by increasing levels of serotonin, dopamine, and alpha wave activity
• Catechins - (antioxidants) provide modest shifts in metabolism that may improve weight loss
• Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)- (the chief catechin, antioxidant) shown to reduce formation of lung, skin and esophageal tumors
• Caffeine - a stimulant, makes you more alert (8 oz. cup: 25 mg in green tea, 40 mg in black tea, 95 mg in coffee), a little is good, a lot is not

Many of the recent studies on the effects of tea on the brain are discussed in Dr. Jeremy Dean's PSYBlog post, Tea: 6 Brilliant Effects on the Brain.

After completing my research, I think it's good to look at any substance we use repeatedly and see what life is like without it. As far as negative affects go, I'm not concerned about drinking tea. Moderation in most every thing is good. So drink up! My favorites are home-brewed chai's, yet I still love a nice strong black tea and a gen mai cha for my green favorite.
How about you?