How good does this look? It’s not unheard of to be a sugar addict and an awful lot of us are. But is it worth the consequences?

Sugar is classified into a few forms such as:

Sucrose – found in sugar cane and maple syrup

Dextrose, Fructose or Levulose – found in fruits and honey

Lactose – found in milk

Glucose – found from the action of sulphuric acid on starch

Sugar that is found naturally such as in milk, has a higher nutritional value to the body than something like white processed sugar. It is a balanced type of food and has vitamins and minerals attached to it, whereas processed sugar doesn’t and is very harmful to the body.

Brown sugar and crystal sugar are also processed and harmful to the body, there isn’t really any difference between brown sugar and white sugar, it definitely isn’t anymore natural. It is best to add some maple syrup or honey to anything that requires a bit of sweetness.  Maple syrup is really the best option as it is a natural sugar and contains a large variety of minerals and vitamins so is received by the body and accepted.  Remember that your body is a highly complex machine that requires certain nutrients to work efficiently, we need to be aware of what is going to cause it (you) long term problems.  It’s time we gave our health system a break by looking at what we can do to prevent illness instead of looking for them to fix us when we are ill.  And sugar is one of the key components to reduce when you are thinking about long term health.

There are sugar substitutes, one is stevia which is derived from a natural source and can be used.  However substitutes such as saccharin, aspartame, equal, contains coal tar which is carcinogenic to the body.

SWEETS AND SWEET DRINKS

Nothing nutritious here just artificial sweetner, chemicals and additives.  When the body has these foods regularly it goes into a kind of shock, the pancreas and spleen are overworked and can stop working effectively, the supporting organs need to take over like the kidneys and the nervous system overloads.  This means that the brain is being overloaded with chemicals and can cause adverse reactions, mood disorders, odd behaviours, bad behaviours in kids and in adults, stress behaviours and breakdowns. Sugar also causes chronic inflammation which can contribute to arthritic conditions.  All from processed sugars and chemicals.

So pick up a piece of fruit before you pick up that chocolate or muffin and remember sugar can be hidden in foods you wouldn’t think it might be.