Sugar Rage

As you may be aware, a "new year" recently began. With this event, many people decided to take a look in the mirror with extra critical eyes and decide that there was simply too much of them. To put it frankly- that they are too fat.

Of course, if you were to stop and ask most women if they think they are too fat, aside from slapping and scratching you, even the thinnest will say something like "well, I could stand to loose a few inches here or there". However, this is just a thing- and it isn't until they step on the bathroom scale one day or go in for a physical and realize that they have reached numbers they hoped didn't even exist that something really serious kicks in.

I often make fun of people who make new years resolutions. Why do people feel this need to continue their bad habits, or put of forming good ones until a certain set date? You know it's wrong/right, just stop/start doing it right now! However, the diet thing I can understand. I mean what better time to try to alter a lifetime of poor eating habits than the season of bountiful deliciousness! That is just a set-up for failure if there ever was one. Instead, have one last hurrah, and five more days to eat up the leftover 7-layer brownies before the cut-off date.

Of course, it can still be done and you would feel so much stronger for getting through it. I started my abstinence a day or two after Christmas (it was just an organic decision, it didn't even occur to me to wait until New Years). I packed up all the left-over sweets (there were A LOT) and stashed them in the fridge so I could send them to work with Gordon when he went back.

Anyways, I seem to be long-winded today. I haven't even gotten to the subject of this post. When I logged into facebook this morning, I saw several posts about weight loss goals, new diets, and even some "before" pictures of people's butts. I always love a good fat butt picture with my morning joe. But I digress. I read a comment made by a friend of mine who said he/she had been following the South Beach diet and it was working for him/her. I've not paid much attention to the South beach diet because it has always been labeled a fad diet, but he/she mentioned that it was developed by a diabetic. I was intrigued by this and went to research.

I landed on the official website and began reading the foods allowed and not. It all looked pretty good, until I got to the part about sweets. I wanted to reach through my computer and punch the website. But I restrained, since that only would have hurt me. It allows sweets, but only if they contain one of a long list of fake sugars, or "sugar substitutes" if you will. Then, at the end of the list, it mentioned stevia- but with a note about it not being approved by the FDA!

Anyone with a television has seen the recent wave of commercials regarding recalled pharmaceuticals, drugs with adverse side effects that were not fully tested, etc etc. Any one of those should be enough to convince you to not trust the FDA about the safety of a product. They are driven by money and nothing more. Whoever has the highest bid, their product receives the stamp of approval. And as long as they can keep the money coming in (ie, keep people addicted), they can afford to hide or discredit any negative information about their own product and terrorize the competition.

Non-nutritive sweeteners are.... well just read this website.
Fake Sugar

It's short, sweet and to the point. (Haha- sweet.) Normally, I wouldn't believe all information on a site that claims: "We've done all the work for you and have put together an easy, informative guide to all the artificial sweeteners on the market." But after all the research I've done, this is right on the money about everything. Please read it if you value your health.

I only have one real-life example of demon sugar at work. Several years ago, my grandmother started consuming diet sodas and generally eating things labeled "sugar-free". In time, we began to notice that she had trouble finishing sentences. Her word recall was suffering greatly. There were other effects, but that was the most noticeable. She was advised to stop consuming these artificial sweeteners. She did, and her word recall was restored, but it never was quite back to normal.

The part about Sweet'n'Low alone should be enough to get you thinking. It was nearly banned, but the public wanted their sweet without the fat. Then read the list of documented effects of aspartame and decide if that is really something you want to start eating regularly.

On down to Stevia- "NO ADVERSE REACTIONS have been described...the FDA has been unwilling to approve the use of Stevia as a sweetener in the United States."
And lastly down to xylitol- "received official endorsements from six national dental associations and certain studies show xylitol helpful in the prevention of childhood ear infections." It doesn't contribute to cavities and is recommended for diabetics. The only con is it may cause gas. What a terrible affliction- I, for one, would much rather have bladder cancer.

My advice, research every nitty-gritty, hard-to-pronounce, unnatural or otherwise ingredient or food that you put in your mouth because the government may not be out to get you, but they certainly aren't out to protect you.

One last note- if you are really concerned about your health/weight regarding sugar, how about just have a peach or banana, you can even drizzle it with tupelo honey if you must. Maintaining your body is about self-control and hard-work. If it seems too easy, then it is. Fake sugar is not the way to improve yourself. You don't need sweets every day! You can do it!