A must watch!
I am regularly perplexed by the casualness with which people consume sugar. We give it to our children at extremely young ages and from there on it becomes part of our daily lives and we can never seem to kick the sugar cravings.
I remember as a kid, sugary foods were for one-off, special occasions only, to be enjoyed in that instance in moderation. Whether because of my parents' insistence or their own lifestyle choices, I never grew a fondness for sugary foods. Even now as an adult, I rarely eat processed sugar and I consciously look at labels on food to ensure I am buying the item with the least amount of sugar or ideally none at all.
It really is a conscious choice to not make sugar part of your everyday life. Watching this video reminds us that sugar is in practically everything, in foods you would least expect.
Toxic Sugar, reminds me of a segment of a feature documentary I watched last year, I believe it was Hungry for Change, but I cannot find the exact excerpt I am referring to. The documentary had a chart of addictive compounds, drugs, alcohol, sugars, fats, salt, tobacco, etc. and bar none sugar had the highest addictive properties and the most degenerative effect long term on all parts of the body and is also the most highly consumed compound on the chart. The chart and video segment were eye opening for me in that it took my already conscious approach to being hyperconscious of my sugar consumption.
Toxic Sugar is equally as memorable and well worth the watch. Dr. Robert Lustig really probes at the misconception that obesity is not habit or biochemistry, but is in fact, the fault of the food industry. The amount of sugar in everything we consume, even when we think it is "healthy" is actually killing us.
The suggestion Dr. Lustig proposes that sugar should be regulated like other addictive things such as drugs, tobacco and alcohol, I feel is not far fetched, because clearly the food industry is feeding us a substance that is knowingly addictive, that's why they use it; it sells food. But sugar consumption is having catastrophic results on our health, our organs, our weight management, our health care system, our brain function, the list goes on and on, watch the 18 minute video and Google more about sugar to learn more.
So the take away for me, for you, for all of us attempting to be aware, and be conscious of what we put in our bodies and how we treat our bodies - eat real, whole foods that you handle, prepare and cook yourself. And if you do buy something in a package, be very, very aware and read the label. Sugar can be hidden under a number of names:
Sucrose, Maltose, Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Galactose, Lactose, High fructose corn syrup, Glucose solids, Cane juice, Dehydrated cane juice, Cane juice solids, Cane juice crystals, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Dextran, Barley malt, Beet sugar, Corn syrup, Corn syrup solids, Caramel, Buttered syrup, Carob syrup, Brown sugar, Date sugar, Malt syrup, Diatase, Diatastic malt, Fruit juice, Fruit juice concentrate, Dehydrated fruit juice, Fruit juice crystals, Golden syrup, Turbinado, Sorghum syrup, Refiner's syrup, Ethyl maltol, Maple syrup, Yellow sugar, Aspartame, which is now being called AminoSweet -Hungry for Change
Take on the responsibility to live your best life and be extremely aware of what you chose to eat because the food industry certainly is not trying to make it any easier for you and the choices you make. Learn more, become educated about good foods and take a stand to ensure you know what you are feeding yourself and your well-being.
