Sugar, a carbohydrate, a complex substance made of two simpler substances, fructose and glucose.
Nature has made it a part of many essential foods like fruit and milk.
The market nutrition labels are full of words such as glucose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, starch, corn syrup, fruit juice, raw sugar and honey. Sugar invidiously slips into almost seventy-four percent of packaged foods—even flavoured water; and soon unwittingly the consumer is hooked! Dependent, just like on nicotine, drugs, alcohol or sex thus leading to sugar binging!
Natural sugars like, agave and coconut sugar, in small quantities, may not be harmful; but are as bad as refined table sugar if taken in large quantities or in processed foods and syrups. These natural sugars are not for ‘limitless consumption’.
Sugar, perhaps the most delicious of foods and also the most addictive is fast becoming the ‘forbidden fruit’ of our times. It is the enemy that causes diabetes, anxiety, depression and is now said to affect dementia and even Alzheimer’s; and yet, sugar (glucose) is the only food the brain lives on.
Studies have discovered disturbing facts that links BOTH hyper and hypo glycaemia, a precursor to Diabetes, with many forms of dementia including Alzheimer’s. Therefore, both diabetes and Alzheimer’s need controlling of the glycemic index.
Though There is no direct link established which proves that treating hypo-glycaemia would prevent the onset of dementia, research has found mechanism that links high blood sugar with Alzheimer’s disease (May 2015). Also regular exercise and weight control is tied to keeping both, diabetes and Alzheimer at bay.
This link between blood sugar levels and increased risk of dementia especially in older people becomes a fact of concern because, many suffer from the inter-related and inter- linked health problems of diabetes, obesity or high blood sugar levels; and imbalance of blood sugar brings with it an increased risk of brain problems including Alzheimer’s .
Worse still, sugar is addictive.
E168/169 – Sugar is Bad – www.diabetic .today