I have to say I am shocked....I've been doing a lot of research lately on refined sugars and their effects on our health. There is so much correlation in studies that leads to all kinds of health problems, including one of the biggest epidemics in our country right now which is Type II Diabetes.
Refined sugar is such a menace to our bodies and I'm just shocked and sick to think that I have consumed all I have to this point in my life!
Not only because I have a sweet tooth, but because I eat use ketchup, eat soup and bread and put salad dressing on my salads!
Since all the research, I've been cutting way back on my sweets and I'm making it my goal to be refined sugar free at some point. Don't know when, but I make my choices consciously so that I continue to minimize that crap out of my life - my mantra right now is "the crap is poison". I know it's not eloquent, but it works for me.
From what I've been reading, if you break it down, there is approximately 1 teaspoon of refined white sugar in 4 grams of sugar listed on food labels.
So I looked at our ketchup label......it's even a name brand organic ketchup because I was trying to have healthy stuff in our fridge....4 grams of sugar in 1 Tblsp! So basically I just heaped a teaspoon of sugar onto my food!
I took out our BBQ sauce, which I bought from a health food store...again hoping it would be healthier...6 grams in 2 Tblsp...more sugar!
Went to the pantry....generic 8 oz can of tomato sauce -- 3 grams of sugar in 1/4 cup of sauce and there are 3.5 servings in one can! More Sugar!!
A can of organic split pea soup (ok, there can't be much sugar in split pea soup, right?) 4 grams of sugar in one cup of soup and there are 1.5 servings in the can! When I make my own soup, I don't add sugar to it....that would just feel way to weird! Gross.....more sugar...
Oh and don't let me forget the grape jam! 9 grams of sugar in 1 Tblsp!! This white crap is everywhere and it's not just a pinch!
Is it hard to imagine why we're now consuming, as a nation, 135 pounds of sugar per person per year??!! That's up from 26 pounds per person per year just 20 years ago! Prior to the turn of the century, the average consumption was only 5 pounds per person per year! And back then, cardiovascular diseases and cancer were virtually unheard of! Hmmmm, any correlation?
I mean, I know that there are many, many other factors, like fast food, processed food, low mineral content in our food, higher stress levels (which deplete our body of vital nutrients) and all those conveniences that weren't available back then...BUT....it still all has to do with our food in the most part. Yet, it's something we need, right? Food is fuel for the human body. We must get our nutrients for a healthy lifestyle....but the thing that downright ticks me off is that food manufacturers and suppliers completely neglect to tell us that what they're making (for the most part) is total crap. We're not getting any nutrients from some dried up bag of mac-n-cheese! Neither are kids! Don't even get me started on the terrible nutrition facing kids..that's another post all together!
Here's a pretty comprehensive link if you want to get some more info on sugar and what it really does to our bodies: http://www.cspinet.org/new/sugar.html
Ok.....ok.........ok...............I'm not really trying to get on a soap box, I just wanted to write a little something on sugar so hopefully it helps someone and creates some awareness which I was so grateful to have when I learned about it.
BUT......don't go sugar-free either.....it's just a terrible substitute to make us think we're making a better choice. I've been doing some research on sugar substitutes too.....another day.....
So, where are we?
Back to apples!!! :D
Peace to all....
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Where to Start: The pH Balance of the Body
If I had to pick one place to start with a post, I'm going to just go with the basic balance of our body's pH. I learned about this a couple years ago and still continue to learn interesting bits of information here and there about the way it works and the intricacies in which our bodies work.
There are lots of different facets to the pH balance in our bodies so I'll start with some of the basics I learned and will pick up on another post at some point.
One aspect of our body's chemistry is the balance of our blood's pH. In order to maintain a healthy blood pH, which supports cellular life, we need to make sure we have a good blood alkalinity level.
If you may remember from chemistry or biology classes (or not if you were one of those who could duplicate the parent's signature really well) pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. For example, water has a pH of 7.0 which is considered neutral. If something is under 7.0 it is considered acidic and over 7.0 is considered alkaline.
From what researchers have determined, our blood needs to be maintained around 7.3, which is more to the alkaline side. If we don't maintain this level of alkalinity in our blood, we become more acidic. When our blood is acidic, it is very easy for dis-ease to set in and our health can be quite compromised. If we maintain a healthy alkaline level, our bodies are actually very capable of basically disarming germs, bacteria, viruses and all those other goodies that we think make us sick.
Those germs, bacteria and viruses are in and around us all the time. Our bodies are constantly working to stomp them out as we come across new ones from the air, our foods, bodily contact, travel conditions, animals and on and on....
What I didn't realize before is that it's our body's ability to handle all these "invaders" that determines if we get sick or not. That's why one person in a family or office environment can be sick and another will not. It's not that the other person wasn't exposed, it's how their body was able to deal with the problem.
So......by keeping our blood's pH at a good level, it's one of the ways we can allow our body to maintain its optimum state. In it's optimum state, our bodies hold the cure to all dis-ease.
There are many online resources to find out more about maintaining a healthy pH as well as what foods are more alkaline and which are more acidic. In a nutshell, most alkaline foods are going to be veggies, almonds, wheatgrass and even lemons. Acid foods are many animal-derived foods that contain meat or dairy products, coffee, sodas, alcoholic drinks, refined sugars, and many processed foods. If you are interested in a more specific list, here are a couple online links I found that have some pretty good info.
http://alkalinefoodschart.com/foodchart.php?gclid=COqQ3v-7hZcCFQQrFQodg1W--w
http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html
We don't want to go crazy always checking our foods for what pH they are, but what we do want to do is acclimate ourselves to the types of foods that are alkaline and acidic so that we can make educated choices about what we eat. If we eat something acidic one meal, we just need to be conscious of it and balance it out at another meal with something alkaline. Or, one of the ways I have found to be useful is to make my meals a min of 75-80% alkaline foods. This way I know I'm getting a majority of my nutrition from alkaline sources. Then I can balance the other out with some acidic foods, but I choose those that aren't as damaging to my body. After time, you will be able to make the choices much quicker and simpler and your body will show you how grateful it is in its return of physical and mental energy and stamina!
There are lots of different facets to the pH balance in our bodies so I'll start with some of the basics I learned and will pick up on another post at some point.
One aspect of our body's chemistry is the balance of our blood's pH. In order to maintain a healthy blood pH, which supports cellular life, we need to make sure we have a good blood alkalinity level.
If you may remember from chemistry or biology classes (or not if you were one of those who could duplicate the parent's signature really well) pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. For example, water has a pH of 7.0 which is considered neutral. If something is under 7.0 it is considered acidic and over 7.0 is considered alkaline.
From what researchers have determined, our blood needs to be maintained around 7.3, which is more to the alkaline side. If we don't maintain this level of alkalinity in our blood, we become more acidic. When our blood is acidic, it is very easy for dis-ease to set in and our health can be quite compromised. If we maintain a healthy alkaline level, our bodies are actually very capable of basically disarming germs, bacteria, viruses and all those other goodies that we think make us sick.
Those germs, bacteria and viruses are in and around us all the time. Our bodies are constantly working to stomp them out as we come across new ones from the air, our foods, bodily contact, travel conditions, animals and on and on....
What I didn't realize before is that it's our body's ability to handle all these "invaders" that determines if we get sick or not. That's why one person in a family or office environment can be sick and another will not. It's not that the other person wasn't exposed, it's how their body was able to deal with the problem.
So......by keeping our blood's pH at a good level, it's one of the ways we can allow our body to maintain its optimum state. In it's optimum state, our bodies hold the cure to all dis-ease.
There are many online resources to find out more about maintaining a healthy pH as well as what foods are more alkaline and which are more acidic. In a nutshell, most alkaline foods are going to be veggies, almonds, wheatgrass and even lemons. Acid foods are many animal-derived foods that contain meat or dairy products, coffee, sodas, alcoholic drinks, refined sugars, and many processed foods. If you are interested in a more specific list, here are a couple online links I found that have some pretty good info.
http://alkalinefoodschart.com/foodchart.php?gclid=COqQ3v-7hZcCFQQrFQodg1W--w
http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html
We don't want to go crazy always checking our foods for what pH they are, but what we do want to do is acclimate ourselves to the types of foods that are alkaline and acidic so that we can make educated choices about what we eat. If we eat something acidic one meal, we just need to be conscious of it and balance it out at another meal with something alkaline. Or, one of the ways I have found to be useful is to make my meals a min of 75-80% alkaline foods. This way I know I'm getting a majority of my nutrition from alkaline sources. Then I can balance the other out with some acidic foods, but I choose those that aren't as damaging to my body. After time, you will be able to make the choices much quicker and simpler and your body will show you how grateful it is in its return of physical and mental energy and stamina!
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