NO SUGAR CHALLENGE: Sugar on the Brain, Part 1

SUGAR ON THE BRAIN.  

This topic hits home for me.  
It's one of the reasons I am so passionate about sharing 
this information with you and why I started this challenge.

"Sugar on the brain."

That's what my husband and I used to say our kids had
when they'd eat too much sugar during a holiday
or birthday party, at school, etc.

My kids will tell you that sugar treats
didn't make an appearance at our house very often.
We never drank anything but water with meals
(Ok, maybe lemon water)
and we never had dessert after dinner.
(Mean mommy?  Health nut?  I've been called worse.)

One thing that I love about my kids is that they would 
happily choose an apple as a snack and went crazy over a veggie tray. 
All of their 'goodies' were homemade, so I could control the contents.
They never ate anything that came from a box mix. 
They also knew that mom would read the label 
if they ever asked for anything at the grocery store. 
And more times than not, it would go back on the shelf.

But, boy you could tell when they had sugar. No doubt about that.

Yeah, I know you could find studies which will dispute that statement, 
but I'm fairly confident those studies 
were funded by the sugar industry.
Those studies are also seriously flawed. 
When researchers wanted to see if sugar causes hyperactivity, 
their idea of a double-blind study was to give half of the kids sugar 
and the other half an artificial sugar substitute.

They found no difference in the behaviors of these two groups 
and concluded that sugar does not cause hyperactivity. 

Duh! 

That's because the brain can not tell the difference!

Sugar is a deadly addiction. 
It is connected to more diseases than anything else in our diet.  
It's hold on us has been compared to cocaine, and with good reason. 

I must tell you, I'm a nutrition research junkie.  

I devour information about how the body responds to nutrients. 
I love how the body is programmed to repair and rebuild 
when given the proper ammunition.

I am also a healthy lifestyle advocate and often counsel people 
about a natural approach to a health issue they may have. 
That's my passion.

I always suspected that children who crave sugar have a greater tendency 
to become alcoholics as adults. 

When I asked about the health histories of people with addictions
each one recognized that they craved sugar as a child 
and they almost always had some family history of alcoholism. 
Almost every single time.

I believe their family history, (or genetic disposition), 
could possibly result in an inability to properly metabolize sugar 
which manifested as cravings.

After all, what is alcohol but the most concentrated form of sugar?

A study in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs supports that theory:

"Craving, tolerance, withdrawal and sensitization have been documented in both human and animal studies. In addition, there appears to be cross sensitization between sugar addiction and narcotic dependence in some individuals. It has also been observed that the biological children of alcoholic parents, particularly alcoholic fathers, are at greater risk to have a strong sweet preference. and this may manifest in some with an eating disorder."

Just one more reason to make tomorrow a sugar-free day and take this challenge beyond 10 days. 

And now your healthy recipe for the day:

Be well, my friends.
~Anne