Are You an Addict?

If you were a human throughout most of history, you would have had to work very hard to find, grow or kill your own food. And, getting enough calories and nutrients from one day to the next could literally have been the dividing line between life and death. We grew to desire and seek out the most nutrient and calorie dense foods that nature provides, in order to ensure our own, and our species', survival. At the same time, we needed to have a reliable way of discerning which foods might contain poisonous substances, so that we could avoid them.

According to Dr. Rober Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, "there is no food stuff on the planet that has fructose (sugar) that is poisonous to you. It is all good. So when you taste something that's sweet, it's an evolutionary Darwinian signal that this is a safe food."

So, we are pre-programmed to like sweets. Why is that a problem? Read on.

Dr. Lustig, whose video lecture, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, has received well over 5 million YouTube views, makes a compelling case for the reasons behind our modern epidemic of obesity and its related diseases. 

In a nutshell, it's this: too much sugar coupled with too little fiber. 

So, while humans have always craved sweets, it wasn't until the onset of modern food production that this craving became a health threat. Dr. Lustig's theory is that we used to get our fructose mostly in small amounts of fruit -- which came loaded with fiber that slows absorption and consumption. But, as sugar and high fructose corn syrup became cheaper to refine and produce, we started gorging on them. And, as our foods became increasingly more loaded with sugar, at the same time, they dropped dramatically in fiber content. So, while the diets of our ancient ancestors contained 100-300 grams of daily fiber, today, we average only 12 grams. You read that right.

How did this happen?

Food that retains a high fiber content has a short shelf life and takes longer to prepare. That is not a convenient state of affairs for our fast-paced, fast-food world. In nature, fructose always comes in a high fiber package. Not so in our supermarkets, convenience stores, fast-food outlets and restaurants. Pick up almost any packaged product and read the label. Most likely, you will see some form of sugar and little to no fiber.

Why is this? Why do we almost never hear about fiber outside of commercials for fiber powders we can mix with water and ingest to help keep us "regular"? Well, fiber isn't a big money maker, that's why. What fiber IS, though, is an essential nutrient.

Fiber:

• Reduces the rate of intestinal carbohydrate absorption
• Makes you feel full
• Suppresses insulin

And yet, it is almost non-existent in the modern diet.

What we DO get plenty of is fructose - to the tune of about 130 lbs for each American every year. Even if you are diligent about avoiding sweets, chances are that you're still eating quite a bit of sugar, hidden in all kinds of foods and drinks - bread, ketchup, jerky, sports drinks, salad dressings, protein bars, canned soup - the list is much longer than you might think.

This fructose overload has led to many of our modern disease epidemics - high blood pressure, type II diabetes, heart disease, obesity, liver disease, and cancer. 

But the biggest surprise here is Alzheimer's disease.

According to recent studies by Brown University neuropathologist Suzanne de la Monte, MD, Alzheimer's may very well be a metabolic disease, in which the brain's ability to use glucose and produce energy is damaged. In other words, it's like having diabetes in the brain.

How does sugar consumption contribute to the growth of cancer?

Lewis Cantley, a Harvard professor and head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says that when we eat or drink sugar, it causes a sudden spike in the hormone insulin. Nearly a third of some common cancers, including breast and colon cancers, have insulin receptors on their surface. Insulin binds to these receptors and signals the tumor to start consuming glucose. Every cell in our bodies needs glucose to survive, including a cancer cell.

So if you happen to have the tumor that has insulin receptors on it then it will get stimulated to take up the glucose that's in the bloodstream. Rather than go into fat or muscle, the glucose goes into the tumor. And the tumor uses it to grow. - Lewis Cantley

Ok, so if fructose is so bad for us, why don't we just stop eating it?

It turns out that sugar triggers the release of the same "feel good" chemicals, called opioids and dopamine, as other addictive drugs, like cocaine and alcohol. And, much like other drug addicts, sugar addicts build up a tolerance to the stuff and they need more and more of it to get the same effect. 

So, the more sugar you eat, the less you feel the reward. 

In a very real and tragic way, most of us are definitely addicts to the stuff.

And, while we can choose to do the hard work of cutting out fructose and going through withdrawals, there's a whole population of humans that doesn't have this choice.

I'm talking about the epidemic of obese newborns and infants.

When a pregnant woman eats sugar, this sugar goes into the placenta and feeds the baby. This developmental programming makes the baby a sugar addict before he or she is even born. And, it doesn't get much better after that. Have you ever read the labels of infant formulas? Many have as much sugar and high fructose corn syrup as sugary soft drinks. Think about that.

OK, so what can we do? 

Educate yourself and your family. Eat as close to nature as you can. Check labels for hidden sugars. 

And remember that it's much easier, cheaper and less painful to prevent disease than it is to treat disease.

The Scoop on Poop!

You might think it's funny or gross or not something to be discussed in polite company, but what comes out of your body is serious business and can say a lot about your overall health as well as alert you to potential signs of disease. So, let's talk about it!

The chart above is called the Bristol Stool Chart, and it was developed as a quick and handy reference tool. Its creator, Dr. Ken Heaton of the University of Bristol, believes that the form of a person's stool is a useful surrogate measure for the amount of time the stool has traveled through the colon. Types 1-3 indicate that the stool has spent too much time in the colon, and types 6 and 7 point to the stool having passed too quickly through the colon. Types 4 and 5 are considered ideal.

But, while this chart is a great visual representation of the consistency of healthy or unhealthy stool, it doesn't address the other aspects of solid waste.

And, on that count, I'm here to help.

Although there's a pretty wide range for what is considered normal, in general there are signs that you're doing A-OK in this department, and others that may be cause for concern.

If you have children, it's a good idea to share this information with them. Open up a dialogue, let them know that they should tell you if there's a problem in this area. Will they be embarrassed or think it's funny? Probably. Then, they'll get over it. I printed the Bristol Stool Chart and pinned it to the bulletin board in my kids' playroom. Hey, whatever works. I want them to have this important information. 

And that brings this blog post to an end. I hope that you and your loved ones keep a watchful eye on what you're leaving in the toilet bowl, and catch any problems as soon as they arise!

- Tamera

40 Pieces of Advice Challenge Day 16

It's that time of year again! The time when most people evaluate the last 12 months or so of their lives and decide on the changes they will make to improve their state of affairs.

It has been said, by those whose job it is to know these things, that losing weight is the most popular New Year's resolution. So the gyms will fill up at the start of January, maybe refrigerators and cupboards will be cleansed of junk foods and restocked with only the most nutritious of fare, weekend plans may be altered to avoid activities that involve calorie-dense alcoholic drinks. Some people might even go so far as to explore the option of weight loss surgery. 

With the exception of surgery, I'm all for these behavior changes. 

But, given that almost everyone who makes the resolution to lose weight will most likely be making the same resolution the following year, I'd say there's a hitch in the plan somewhere. And, I think that hitch is that we tend to have an all or nothing mentality. 

Need to lose weight? Ok, I'm going to run 5 miles every morning, eat only fruits, vegetables and lean protein, and so on, personalized to each person's take on the quickest way to shed the pounds. 

But, come on, this isn't how we humans operate. We will almost definitely fall short of the extreme limits we put on ourselves.  And, when the inevitable food "cheat" happens, or we miss a couple of days of exercise, we tend to fall prey to the idea that we've already blown it, so what's the use? 

I say, you want to lose weight? Or, more accurately, fat? Ok, that's great. But, you don't need to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. 

I suggest that you start with small steps. And a great small step to take is to follow this piece of advice: have your biggest meal early in the day, and scale downward from there so that your last meal of the day is little more than a snack.

This will serve you in many ways. By eating a substantial and nutrient-dense meal in the morning, you are giving your body and brain the fuel that they need to function optimally. A smaller meal later in the day will help keep your energy on an even keel. Then, at night, when many people find themselves relieving the stresses of the day by eating mindlessly in front of their TVs (that's another issue we'll tackle another day), instead of downing a lot of potentially empty calories, just choose to have a light snack. 

Then call it a night.

Make the kitchen off limits after this last, light meal. At first, your mind may play tricks on you. It may tell you that you are starving. But, are you actually starving? No. Just remind yourself that you will have a nice big meal in the morning. Also, you are more likely to have a deeper and more restful sleep if your body isn't working hard to digest a lot of food. 

And, with all that evening time that you won't spend eating, maybe you'll have the time and energy to tackle projects you've had on the back burner, or take up new hobbies. The opportunities are limited only by your interests and imagination.

After a week or two of eating lightly in the evening, chances are you will feel so good, you'll wonder why you ever indulged in heavy dinners. 

Take this as your start. Give it at least 60 days to make a real impact in your body, mind and life. And, if you do have a big dinner occasionally, don't worry about it. Just make sure you get back on course the next day. 

So, what do you say? Does this speak to you and your experience? Please share your stories, I'd love to follow your progress!

- Tamera