How Sweet is Sugar? The Hidden Dangers

This article might seem a little clichéd due to the holidays coming up as many authors like to write about the dangers of all of the fun holidays treats.  I know I have a very intelligent and practical audience who understand the common dangers that sugar can have on our health so in this article I wanted to focus on some of the lesser known health risks associated with sugar so you can keep them to moderate levels during the year and be able to splurge a little more during special holiday occasions.

Sugar: Getting up to Speed

One of the biggest problems with the attempt to keep sugar consumption to moderate levels is that sugar can be found almost everywhere.  Even if you think you are avoiding the obvious locations like candy and soda there are many other products that have sugar as an ingredient that you might not be aware of.  Ketchup, energy bars, specialty coffee, dried fruit and even common lunch meats all have added sugar.

It’s not enough to avoid the obvious, we have to check the labels and see if the other unassuming products that we consume have unnecessary sugar in them to enhance the taste and texture.  With all of the consumption of sugar from different sources it won’t take long for our total daily sugar consumption to reach astronomical levels.

Lesser Known Health Risks

• There are some common diseases associated with over-consumption of sugar including: obesity and type II diabetes but there are several other lesser know health risks associated with excessive sugar consumption; enough of which should make anyone want to keep consumption to an absolute minimum.
• Sugar disrupts the mineral balance in the body by disrupting the pH levels in the blood.  Several different minerals like sodium, potassium, magnesium, copper and chromium are used to correct this imbalance, however when they are used for this function they are not utilized for their intended use like proper bone and muscle building and function.
• Too much sugar increases the rate of aging of the skin causing the decrease in skin elasticity.  Skin requires healthy collagen to maintain its shape and structure.  Too much sugar in the blood decreases the use of the minerals necessary to build and maintain healthy collagen in the body.
• Testosterone can decrease in the blood up to 25% with the consumption of sugar because of the high insulin levels associated with excessive amounts of sugar in the blood.
• One of the most alarming correlations is found in a recent US study where cancer cells use sugar (fructose) to fuel their division and proliferation.  With cancer being one of the most prominent diseases facing mankind and with the average American consuming about 100-120lbs. of sugar per year who knows if cutting down on sugar consumption would also decrease the risk of cancer.

Conclusion

It’s a shame that we can’t simply just trust the food that we consume to be beneficial to our health and well being.  We must take it upon ourselves to truly understand that what we eat can have either significant benefits or repercussions towards our health.  We must also dig deeper beyond the basics good and bad foods and truly know what is in the other sources we are consuming.  A healthy and balanced diet comes down to the decisions we make and the dedication we instill.

References:

Cancer Cells Slurp up Fructose

Effects of Sugar on Skin and Aging

Shocking: Sugar Content of Common Food Products

Sugar: A Sweet Invitation to Disease

Sugar Kills

Tags: health, Nutrition

Sources with High Vitamin D

I have observed that there are plenty of people interested in Vitamin D, its health benefits and best supplements to take to reach optimal levels.  As you may know by now I am an eat first supplement if necessary person, so the intent of this article is to give you the basic facts about the health benefits of Vitamin D and the best sources with the highest contents found so you can decide if you need to supplement or not.

Vitamin D has many health benefits necessary for optimal function and health including:

• Absorption and transfer of minerals across cell membranes including; magnesium, iron and zinc, as well as calcium.
• Controlling levels of calcium in the blood. Low calcium levels in the diet will draw calcium out of the bones and into the blood thus resulting in bone loss.  Vitamin D and calcium are both needed to maintain proper balance.
• Effective antioxidant properties
• Reduction of cataracts
• Maintains proper synthesis and release of insulin to control blood glucose levels which helps reduce the risk of diabetes

These are just some of the benefits of Vitamin D, and the benefits are significant enough to concern us that being deficient may bring with it several health concerns.  One of the biggest concerns with Vitamin D deficiency is the association of low vitamin D and several diseases including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and Crohn’s disease along with many cancers like skin breast, prostate and colon.

With its various functions, getting enough Vitamin D is necessary for optimal health.  However, some have stayed away from known sources of Vitamin D for fear or toxicity.  According to the Weston Price Foundation:

Vitamin programs usually omit vitamin D because of concerns about toxicity. These concerns are valid because vitamin D in all forms can be toxic in pharmacological (drug-like) doses. The dangers of toxicity have not been exaggerated, but the doses needed to result in toxicity have been ill defined with the unfortunate result that many people currently suffer from vitamin-D deficiency or insufficiency.

Even if you have fear of toxicity, supplementation may be unnecessary due to the number of ways to obtain Vitamin D and therefore toxicity from supplementation can be avoided.  I will list the five sources that are some of the best sources of Vitamin D.

Seafood

The most varietal food source containing Vitamin D is found in seafood.  Did your mother ever give you a big, hearty teaspoon of cod liver oil before you went to school?  You most likely didn’t like the taste, however she was doing you a great favor because cod liver oil ranks really high on the list of vitamin D sources.

One small serving of cod liver oil can contain anywhere around 750-900 IUs of Vitamin D.  The RDA guidelines are around 200-400IUs daily.  This range is considered low by some researches including the Weston Price Foundation who suggest that people were consuming around 3,000-6,000 IUs before the establishment of the western die; so if you follow their guidelines then you will be all set after one serving of cod liver oil.

I suggest that you get a good cod liver oil brand that is considered pure and high vitamin.  The one I take is from Radiant Life (I do not make any money off of this suggestion).

If you really enjoy your seafood and want to add a little more Vitamin D to your diet, other seafood considered to have substantial vitamin D levels are: Atlantic herring, oysters, catfish, sardines, and mackerel.

Meat

The meats with the highest levels of Vitamin D usually come in the form of different liver varieties and organ meats.  Also look for grass-fed beef and lamb as your best source for higher Vitamin D content.

Eggs

I always get a little upset that people throw away the yolks when they cooks eggs thinking they are somehow bad for them.  Hopefully this will shed some perspective on the situation.  Egg yolks contain anywhere from 24-35IUs of Vitamin D; whereas egg whites contain ZERO!   It’s true that most of the protein is found in the egg whites but the rich vitamins our bodies need are found only in the yolk.  So either keep the egg intact or mail the yolks off to me so I can eat them.

Sun Light

Us humans have the ability to produce vitamin D from cholesterol catalyzed when our skin is exposed to the sun, however it would take a large amount of sun exposure (approximately 24 hours of UV-B ray exposure) to produce the recommended daily amount of Vitamin D; you would get a massive sunburn before this even happened.

However, don’t get discouraged.   Minimal exposure to the sun a few times a week can help add some more Vitamin D towards the optimal levels.  According to the Weston Price Foundation, sun exposure of hands, face and arms for 10-20 minutes, three times a week, provides 200-400 IU of vitamin D each time or an average of 100-200 IU per day during the summer months.

Conclusion

The necessity for optimal levels of Vitamin D in our bodies is obvious for disease prevention, hormone stabilization and maintaining a strong, healthy body.  Unlike other vitamin sources Vitamin D is primarily obtained through seafood sources and organ meats.

With sun exposure contributing only minimal amounts of Vitamin D synthesis, it is important to eat a diet rich in seafood and organ meat.  Also, supplementation with high quality cod liver oil may be necessary to reach these optimal levels.

 

Resource:

Weston Price Foundation

Boston Globe: Vitamin D deficiency tied to a host of dangers

Tags: vitamin supplementation

Food Sources with High Omega-3 Fatty Acids

In one of my past articles in the Should you Supplement series, I touted the importance of Omega-3 fatty acids and the purpose they serve for optimal health.

As mentioned in the article, Omega-3 fatty acids serve many functions for optimal health, including:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Protection from Stroke and Heart Attack
• Better Brain Function
• Anti-Inflammatory Properties
• Reduction of Breast, Colon and Prostate Cancer
• Decrease in Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder and Aggression

With all of the benefits it may be necessary to supplement with some added flax or fish oil to make sure you are getting the optimal amount of Omega-3 because high levels are absent in many of the food we eat.

Even if supplementation might be a necessary step towards optimal health, eating as many foods with high Omega-3s should be the first line of attack.  There are a variety of foods out there that contain Omega-3 fatty acids and in this article I will list the five sources of food that have some of the highest levels of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Fish

The most common dietary source of Omega-3 Fatty acids can be found in the cold-water, oily fish varieties.  These fish are high in the Omega-3s (EPA and DHA) because their diet is rich in green seaweed and algae.  The fish with the highest amount of Omega-3 are herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and anchovies; containing anywhere from 1.8-2.2 grams of Omega-3 for every 4 ounce serving.

Eating any of these fish can also supply about seven times the amount of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids.  Make sure of your source because many of these fatty fish can contain higher levels of heavy metals and dioxins; fresh, wild fish is most likely your best options.

Meat

Where fish get their Omega-3 richness from the green algae and seaweed, meat can have very high ratios of Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acids if the animal source is consuming nutrient rich grass.  If meat is fed grain diets at feedlots the Omega-3 benefits drop immensely.  Look for grass-fed beef and lamb as your best Omega-3 meat sources.

Eggs

Have you ever seen those Omega-3 eggs in the store and wondered how they were different than the other eggs on the shelf and what makes them so Omega-3 enriched?  Keeping with our common theme of you are what you eat, these eggs were produced by chickens that had diets rich in greens and insects compared to ones with diets of corn and soybeans.

Nuts and Seeds

Most nuts contain only trace amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, however, walnuts are the exception.  For every 1 ounce of walnuts there are 2.6 grams of Omega-3s.  Flax seeds contain one of the highest amounts of Omega-3s in the form of ALA.  For every 1 ounce serving there are 1.8 grams of Omega-3s.

Chia seeds have grown in recent popularity and possibly for good reason.  For every two tablespoon full they contain about 5 grams of Omega-3s.

Plant Sources

When thinking about the nutritional value of plant sources we probably think of fiber, vitamins and phytonutrients before Omega-3 Fatty acids.  Most greens only contain trace amounts of Omega-3s but there are a few sources like spinach, kale, and collard greens that contain about 0.1 grams for every half-cup.  This may seem miniscule when compared to the other sources we have looked at previously, however these greens are very important for optimal health in other ways and the Omega-3s they contain are just an added bonus.

One plant source that contains the highest amounts of Omega-3s is purslane.  One hundred grams of purslane leaves contain 300 to 400mg of ALA.  I personally have never tired this weed but knowing what I know now, I may have to give it a shot.

Conclusion

There is plenty of variety when it comes to foods containing high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, just make sure to know the source of the food to get the most out of what you are eating.

 

Tags: ALA, DHA, EPA, Fish Oils