Could We Survive Without Sugar?

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The answer is yes. We could eliminate all sugar, even the natural ones, from our diet and be perfectly healthy.

But who wants to do that? Not me. Do you know what the Bible says about sugar intake?

If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. Proverbs 25:16

It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory. Proverbs 25:27

I am trying to limit my natural sugar intake to only three times a week, and to eat it with supper. I will write another post about what natural sugars are best and where you can buy them.

For now though, let’s talk about refined sugar…

Do you know how much sugar you consume? In 2002 the average American consumed one cup of sugar DAILY! This would be okay if sugar had some nutritional value, but the fact is, it doesn’t.

Not only does it totally lack nutrients, but when you eat sugar it actually robs your body of nutrients– vitamins, minerals and even enzymes. (1)

Your body actually suffers when you eat sugar! Are you aware of the devastating effects excess sugar has on your body?

Blood sugar (glucose) is the fuel for every single cell in your body. So naturally you want your fuel supply to be constant all day long. (1)

If you eat a breakfast that is high in sugar or carbohydrates, your blood sugar will spike up and then crash. Breads, pastries, fruit juices, and cold cereals are examples of foods that cause this spike and crash in blood sugar. When your blood sugar crashes or stays too low (from skipping breakfast) you can experience many symptoms, such as, mental difficulties, trouble concentrating and processing information, forgetfulness, feeling overwhelmed, irritability, and fatigue, because the brain requires a lot of fuel to do it’s job. When you do crash, drinking coffee actually makes the problem worse:

Many are not aware that the caffeine creates further problems by weakening the adrenal glands which produce hormones that help your body deal with stress. (1)

Eating sugar throughout the day also weakens our immune system:

Studies have shown that the ingestion of 100-gram portions of carbohydrates, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, and orange juice, all significantly reduced the ability of neutrophils to engulf and destroy bacteria. (1)

How much do you think you can eat before it adds up to 100 grams of sugar? How about one soda and 4 pretzels, or 10 gum drops, or oatmeal with raisins and a banana and a glass of oj. Not very much.

Since sugar does not provide adequate fuel for the brain, it will also prevent a good nights sleep. When you sleep your body heals and repairs, but if your brain does not have enough fuel to do that, you will not be able to fall asleep no matter how exhausted you are.

Not only does a lack of sleep further weaken your immune system, but it also causes an even deeper level of fatigue, weakness, anxiety and nervousness. (1)

This is what the standard American diet (SAD) will do to our bodies, due to it’s high sugar and carbohydrate content. Over time this diet will weaken your immune system.

The Weston A. Price website lists five steps to progressively lower your sugar intake:

1. Eliminate all sugar drinks

2. Limit sugar foods to three times per week

3. Make a habit of eating at least three good meals per day

4. Replace refined sugars with natural sugars

5. Limit natural sweets to three times per week. Blood sugar imbalances occur after eating too many sweets, even the natural ones! So it’s important to limit even the natural sweets in your diet.(1)

I guarantee that you will feel better when you lower your sugar intake!

Natural and Not-So-Natural Sweeteners

References:

(1) Replacing Refined Sugars by Weston A. Price

What will you do with what you learned?