SUGAR BLUES

Sugar is a sweet, crystalline carbohydrate typically extracted from sugar cane and sugar beets. It is a non-nutritive empty calorie that robs the body of vitamins and minerals. Refined sugars have many different names, such as granulated (table) sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, raw sugar, turbinado sugar, and malt. Even much commercial fructose is really pure refined sugar.
Many people believe that sugar is only bad for you when ingested in enormous amounts, when actually "normal" amounts are damaging to the body.
Sugar is addicting. The more you get, the more you want! Some would say it is more addicting than heroin. It used to be only the rich could afford the luxury of sugar, but by 1840 the sugar pushers were handing out free samples. Now, the sugar industries have the largest advertising in the world. Less than 10 years ago the average American consumed something like 153 pounds of sugar a year, with a whopping 24% of their calories coming from sugar. No doubt today the figures would be even more astounding. Many wonderful people are hooked on the stuff, and those who attempt to quit the sugar habit find they have quite a struggle on their hands. Going off sugar, like quitting most drugs, invites withdrawal symptoms. The most common are headaches, chills, and body aches. Sugar, like alcohol, is intoxicating. It creates an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain. Mental and emotional disorders are often linked to sugar in the diet.
Only one third of a person’s sugar consumption is purchased as packaged sugar. The rest is consumed in manufactured foods. Almost everything on store shelves has sugar in it, even salt and cigarettes. Some foods are even required to have sugar in them by the FDA. For instance, catsup cannot be called catsup if it does not contain sugar.
When sugar is eliminated from the diet, all foods start to taste better. Taste buds become more sensitive to the natural sweetness of foods. Soon, sugar cravings begin to dwindle and control over ones eating becomes easier and easier. Bodies start feeling better, calmer, and sleep improves.