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The parallels between sugar consumption and the ‘western’ lifestyle diseases such as metabolic syndrome and obesity are too obvious to ignore. Disease has reached epidemic proportions in both developed and developing countries and sugar is a major player. It’s the long term health consequences that are quite alarming…so the informed choices you make now will benefit your health longevity in the future.
Some alarming facts…
The average per capita sugar intake in the 1700’s was 1.8 kg/ year
The average per capita sugar intake in the 1800’s was 8.1 kg/ year
The average per capita sugar intake in the 1950’s was 45 kg/ year
The average per capita sugar intake in 2007 was 67.7 kg….and I bet it has increased even further since then!
Sugar comes in numerous hidden forms and common foods that you may be surprised of since they don’t typically taste sweet. It’s everywhere within the processed and packaged foods that laden the shelves within the supermarket chains. Even artificial sweeteners are dangerous and toxic, with evidence suggesting they stimulate our over-consumption of food in general, and therefore contribute to systemic inflammation, poor health and the type 2 diabetes epidemic.
Sugar is addictive, and it is cleverly placed in common food items so that you will buy more!
Coupled with poor eating habits such as low intake of vegetables, protein and vitamin and mineral rich food, our body becomes geared to topping up with short term solutions such as sugar and all of its glorious forms. The truth is, topping up with the wrong fuel exacerbates poor health with energy fluctuations, sluggishness, fogginess and systemic inflammation. Our blood gets sticky and our arteries become inflamed, pretty much giving us a poor bill of health for the long road leading to conditions such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome or syndrome X, hypertension or high blood pressure, fatigue, weight gain, depression, gut dysbiosis leading to digestive issues.
How much sugar is in common foods that you may be eating every single day?
How much is too much and what are the hidden forms?
Is there a happy medium or a healthy sugar?
What are the long term health consequences of eating too much sugar? (and it’s not just about weight gain).
Hear naturopath Megan Taslaman answers these questions (and more) at a free talk “The hidden truth about sugar” on Wednesday April 6 (7.30pm – 8.30pm).
Megan Taslaman
B.Hlth.Sc. (Naturopathy)
T 0421 181 934