Dr Bob the Health Builder

Refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, fructose) were absent in the diet of most people ( 100 years ago the average person consumed 6 pounds of sugar per year - today the figure is 175 pounds of sugar per year). Today over consumption of diets rich in sugars contributes together with other factors to drive the current obesity epidemic. Over consumption of sugar-dense foods or beverages is initially motivated by the pleasure of sweet taste and is often compared to drug addiction.

Our (the study) findings clearly demonstrate that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, even in drug-sensitized and -addicted individuals. We speculate that the addictive potential of intense sweetness results from an inborn hypersensitivity to sweet tastants. In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars and are thus not adapted to high concentrations of sweet tastants. The supranormal stimulation of these receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.

This is an interesting project but what is the point?

Ninety five percent of the processed food consumed today has sugar, MSG, and unhealthy salt. Ninety percent of the money spent on food is processed food.

Our ancestors consumed nothing but whole foods found in nature - which is what our bodies are programmed to eat.

One hundred years ago there were virtually no heart attacks, type II diabetes (was unheard of), or cancer (less than 3 % of the death rate). Just considering sugar and grain carbohydrates we are now looking at one in three people are diabetic or pre-diabetic, one in three is obese, and one in three is over weight. The cause of this is not considering the effects of excitotoxins - aspartame (equal), MSG, or hydrolyzed vegetable protein.

It is hard to over come addictions (and I am not recommending a life with cocaine) but it is clear that we need to eliminate unhealthy carbohydrates if we are going to make a dent in the obesity epidemic of this nation.

My suggestion to over come obesity and type II diabetes is to read labels and stop eating sugars (carbohydrates), unhealthy grain carbohydrates (like corn and corn products like high fructose corn syrup - that is also Genetically Engineered) and excitotoxins. This may seem difficult but the solution is fairly simple - stop eating processed foods.

Also stop eating any food products advertised on television or other media because whole foods do not have enough profit bases to make a profit and be promoted to the masses.

I know I am making this sound simple and after the introduction that sugar is addictive how can we get off the marry-go-round?

The first order is to recognize the problem that sugar and unhealthy carbohydrates are the problem.

The second order is breaking the addiction. You have to first want to improve your health and then begin the process of eliminating sugar (yes, eliminate bad carbohydrates). This will not happen over night but the goal should be to get back to 1906 levels of sugar consumption of about 6 pounds of sugar per year.

This means that we need to stop eating out, or if we do, we must try and eliminate breads (loaded with carbs that you grandmother or great-grand mother never thought about), condiments, sugars, vegetables (grown under ground), and desserts. We need to stop buying processed foods at the grocery store and prepare most of our foods. We also need to buy local in season foods rather than imported foods. (The farther the food is shipped the worse it tastes and the poorer the nutrition)

The last thing to do is to begin a detoxification program by supplementing our diets with macro and trace minerals (there are no trace minerals in the food we eat) along with Humates (more on this in future newsletters and at the website).

After all is said and done all the above is NOT easy. Don't start this with the idea of 100 % compliance in the first week. Start by eliminating one thing at a time. The first thing I would do is eliminate all soft drinks (regular soft drinks are bad because of all the high fructose corn syrup and diet soft drinks are worse because of the excitotoxin - aspartame). If you get this solved and out of your system you can build on this foundation.

Keep trying to eliminate vegetable oils and grains - chicken is a perfect example. Fast food stores use white flower (bad carb), MSG, and vegetable oils. Some time we can't avoid eating out because of work or traveling. If chicken is what you want then buy one piece (no more than two pieces) without the yeast roll or biscuit and remove the skin (absorbs grease) and flour covering and just eat the meat. Also buy a non-grain vegetable (even though it probably has MSG) like pinto or green beans.

Breaking the addiction will be an on going process. Don't do the diet thing because they only work 3 % of the time (long term). This may take a good deal of time but the results of breaking the sugar addiction and eating healthier will pay off in feeling better with the prospect of few if any expensive drugs to cover up the symptoms of type II diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

To you good health !

Dr Bob

www.drbobthehealthbuilder.com

www.drbobpodcast.com coming soon

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