SUGAR - MASTER OR FRIEND?

               

               Mary Poppins coined the phrase, “A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down,” and right she may be.  Before giving all the negatives on sugar I would like to point out a positive or two.  Sugar in moderation is not necessarily harmful.  In fact, using a little sugar with some foods may actually be beneficial.  Just a little sugar in a bowl of oatmeal, for example, may encourage a child to eat a healthy food that otherwise they would reject. 

                One of the basic tastes babies acquire is a liking for sugar which draws them to breast milk for nutrition.   Milk contains lactose, or milk sugar.  Fruits contain fructose which is also sugar.  Many foods actually contain a type of sugar, even when you get as basic and natural as possible.

                If truth be told, we actually need some sugar.  Sugar provides ready energy for our muscles and assists in keeping our brains active.  So there are benefits to limited amounts of sugar.  The key is to use it as a positive tool rather than abuse it.

                And that is where the problem lies.  Unfortunately, because sugar is so appealing to the tongue, it has too often been abused.  So many processed foods contain a lot of sugar.  Check out labels and you will be surprised at how many foods have sugar as one of the main ingredients.   

                No longer is a treat a treat.  Because of the easy access to sugar in our society today, that brownie after dinner is just not a dessert any more.  We have acquired such a taste for sugar that we require more all the time.

                When sugar is over used, our bodies begin to have problems.   Commonly known sugar related health problems include diabetes, obesity, hyperactivity, and tooth decay.  Those are all serious enough concerns whose red flashing warning lights should cause us to halt our attraction to them.  Somehow though sugar, in all its glory, usually wins that battle and lures us in.

                So, let’s look at a few other side effects of sugar.

               Dr. Julie L. Wei, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida indicates that many of the colds, coughs, and allergies in children may be linked to the consumption of too much sugar.  Allergy medications are prescribed by doctors and so many parents are frustrated that those medications appear to be ineffective.  Sugar can cause recurrent episodes of coughing that resemble croup and cause breathing troubles.  In many cases, with cough, cold, and allergy concerns, remove the sugar, or at least dramatically reduce it, and symptoms may very well subside. 

                Acid Reflux is another problem that is copycatted by too much sugar consumption.  More and more children seem to have stomach issues and in reality, it is just that the sugar intake by children today is about 10 times what it used to be.  Children are given medications to reduce acid in the stomach when actually that is not the problem.  These medications then reduce the acid, which then effects the digestion of foods.  It becomes a vicious cycle which leads to many more stomach and health problems.

                Sugar will also weaken the immune system.  Sugar can alter the balance between good and bad bacteria in the digestive track.  A weakened immune system exposes the body to illness and disease. 

                When children become accustomed to so much sugar in their diets, they will begin to reject healthy foods.  I believe that, with sugar as an exception, children will eat the foods their bodies need because they will crave the nutrients they require.  Sugar however, will alter that natural craving for healthy food and replace it with a craving for sugar.  A poor appetite is the result.

                One other negative effect, which is rarely considered and widely disavowed, is yeast.  Yeast is fed by sugar.  Any person who makes homemade bread will attest that in order to get the yeast to work in their bread, they add sugar.  And what does the sugar do to the yeast?  It feeds it.  The yeast expands or grows exponentially when it is given sugar.  The same thing happens in our bodies.  In this article, I will not go into great detail about this problem.  It is an article all on its own.  Yet, sugar is a contributor to many issues that are yeast based. 

                In conclusion, sugar can be our friend as long as we use it in moderation.  Because of the prevalence of sugar available today, it unfortunately rules many of us.  We all want to be in control of our own lives, yet we are all too often slaves to a simple thing called sugar.