I grew up watching my single mother struggle to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. Back in the early 80’s, as she worked two jobs, she would give me $5 each day from her tips to go to the grocery store and purchase dinner for my sister who is 5 years younger than me. The  Piggly Wiggly was just around the corner from our one bedroom garage apt.  I learned the value of money at an early age and the value of what to buy to keep us full until the next day when we would eat our free lunch at school. My mouth watered as I passed the junk food isle.  Anything with sugar in it was a treat that I rarely had the chance to consume. Fast Forward ten years later, without realizing it, until recently,  I had become a food addict. Food felt good to me and made me forget about all those years listening to the sounds of my rumbling stomach. The daily struggle to eat as a child had developed a hidden childhood trauma inside of me. Once a person realizes they have a destructive-addictive behavior they can either do 1 of 2 things. Take control back or allow it to control you.

This is just my story but as your reading this perhaps you can think back to a time where if you do have a food addiction, just exactly where yours might of started.

According to a Parent company survey with over 1500 participants one of the greatest fears as a parent is for their child to become addicted to drugs and alcohol but without even realizing it , many parents are raising addicts. Sugar addicts. Addiction can manifest in many forms therefore writing about sugar addiction has had its many challenges.

Sugar is nothing but empty calories and is hidden in everything that we eat that is processed or pre-packaged by mankind. Sugar is addictive like most modern day drugs and it activates the same brain system as drugs such as nicotine and cocaine.  It is responsible for a large number of health conditions that plague humans in the 21st century.

Refined sugar doesn’t contain any nutritional value . You wont find any fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants , water, fats or proteins but what  you will find is inflammation, malnutrition, bad carbohydrates, metabolic syndrome,   blood sugar spikes, leptin resistance AND obesity.

Did you know? According to the American Heart Association ( AHA), the maximum amount of sugar you should eat in a day is as follows:

Men: 150 calories per day ( 37.9 grams or 9 teaspoons)

Women: 100 calories per day ( 25 grams or 6 teaspoons)

Children 2-18 years old: 100 calories ( 25 grams or 6 teaspoons)

According to the National Cancer Institute and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, children as young as 1 to 3 years already exceed the daily recommendations and typically consume around 12 teaspoons of added sugar a day. By the time a child is 4 to 8 years old, his sugar intake soars to an average of 21 teaspoons a day.

The National Cancer Institute also found that 14- to 18-year-old children consume the most added sugar on a daily basis, averaging about 34.3 teaspoons. In general, the average American consumes about 355 calories of added sugar a day, or the equivalent of 22.2 teaspoons. That is about triple the recommended amount!

Let’s look at the label of a standard can of soda.

There are 39grams of sugar in this one can of soda. So how much exactly is a gram of sugar? One teaspoon of granulated sugar equals 4 grams of sugar. To put it another way, 16 grams of sugar in a product is equal to about 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar.

This one can of soda 35g of sugar amounts to about 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Here’s how to calulate from calories to grams to teaspoons. Use the “divide by 4” rule of simple sugar math. Take the calories and divide by 4 to get the grams of added sugar. For example 200 calories, this is 50 grams.

DelMonte diced pears or mandarin oranges in light syrup: 1 small serving cup = 17 grams sugar, 70 calories ( that’s 5 teaspoons of sugar)

Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Strawberries & Cream or Peaches & Cream: 1 envelope = 12 grams sugar, 130 calories ( That’s 2.75 teaspoons of sugar)

Prego Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce: 1/2 cup = 11 grams sugar, 90 calories ( that’s 2.75 teaspoons of sugar)

Snapple Iced  Peach Tea:  16 ounces = 39 grams sugar, 200 calories ( that’s 9.75 teaspoons of sugar)

Starbucks Carmel Frappuccino:  64 grams ( that’s 16 teaspoons of sugar)

Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, a published  article in August 2009  connected the  increased sugar consumption with a variety of health problems like  inflammation, including obesity and high blood pressure.

A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation states that an excess of sugar on our liver is making our bodies  insulin resistance. and is the beginning stages of non alcoholic fatty liver disease. 

The excess of  sugar fools our metabolism into turning off our bodies appetite-control system.  When this happens the body doesn’t stimulate insulin, which in turn fails to suppress ghrelin, or “the hunger hormone,” which then fails to stimulate leptin or “the satiety hormone.” This is what sets us up for insulin resistance, metabolic dysfunction, weight gain, abdominal obesity, decreased HDL and increased LDL, elevated blood sugar, elevated triglycerides,  high blood pressure and more uric acid which place us in the risk factor for heart and kidney disease. All these things from the over consumption of sugar that is in processed foods. 

Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology in the University of California and a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism, says that your body can safely metabolize at least six teaspoons of added sugar per day. Only 6 teaspoons but the average American is eating three times that amount.

I hope you can clearly see and have no misconceptions on why childhood obesity has become an epidemic in America. The World Health Organization estimate that there are 43 million overweight children who are under the age of 5. By 2020, more than 60 percent of diseases worldwide will be directly associated with obesity.  According to research published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, “childhood obesity can greatly affect a child’s mental and  physical health,  along with their social,  emotional and self esteem well-being. The over-consumption of sugar also creates a viscous cycle of intense cravings and wrecks havoc on our brain.

Did you know that the pharmaceutical market for diabetes drugs is more than 30 billion per year? This is a disease that was pretty rare a century ago. A new report by Visiongain predicts the world market for diabetes medications will reach $55.3bn in 2017. The anti-diabetic medicines industry generated $35.6bn in 2012, and its revenues will show strong growth to 2023. That sales forecast and others appear in Diabetes Treatments: World Drug Market 2013-2023, published in April 2013. Visiongain is a business information provider based in London, UK.

Everything we’ve been told about food and healthy eating by our governments and many paid off “scientists” has been wrong.

A diet rich in healthy fats like like avocados, grass-fed butter, wild-caught salmon and coconut oil is associated with a lower risk of developing obesity.     

Developing an awareness of the foods you eat and learning how to  read labels will help you make lifelong changes.

Naturally-occurring sugars, such as those in an apple or a pear, are not included in the less-than-10-percent-a-day recommendation because they are considered  whole food.  These affect your body completely different because they are packed with fiber and other nutrients.  You also dont have to watch your  food intake with these sugars – except as part of your overall calories. If you are following a Keto lifestyle the best Low Gi fruits are berries (such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries) in small amounts can allow you to stay in ketosis while still getting your fruit fix. Here are the carb and fiber counts for berries (per 1 cup serving): Blackberries: 14g of total carbs, 7g of sugar, 8g of fiber and 6g of net carbs.

You also have to watch out for added sugars – This is the sugar that you add to your food or beverage. Added sugars come in many different forms such as: Raw sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, sucrose, glucose, fructose, malt, maltose, corn syrup, lactose, sorbitol, mannitol, honey, molasses, evaporated cane juice, and barley malt extract.

The “war on fat,” is now coming to an end. If you take the current food pyramid and turn it upside-down that is what our food pyramid should look like. There’s a lot of money to be made selling obesity foods, and you can’t move America in a healthier direction without confronting the salty, sugary, finger-licking, just-one-more-chip financial firepower of the food industrial complex.  “Good advice about nutrition conflicts with the interests of many big industries,” Michael Jacobson, co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has said, “each of which has more lobbying power than all the public-interest groups combined.” But the real problem is that manufacturers of unhealthy food are so powerful that those interests groups are always the pushing snack foods rather than fruit.

The Keto Autoimmune Protocol Healing Book for Women: Strengthen Your Immunity, Fight Inflammation and Love Your Incredible Body

Audrey Childers is a 10x published author, blogger and investigative journalist with over a decade of experience in research and editorial writing. She has the natural skills for digging deeply into arguments and making compelling statements for the world to read. Along with being the creator and founder of the website the hypothyroidismchick.com. Where you can find great tips on everyday living with hypothyroidism. She enjoys raising her children and being a voice for optimal human health and wellness. You can also Click on these links and  find some of her published works : A survivors cookbook guide to kicking hypothyroidism booty, Reset your Thyroid, The Ultimate guide to healing hypothyroidism and  A survivors cookbook guide to kicking hypothyroidism booty: the slow cooker way. You can find all these books on Amazon.  This blog may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.

Disclaimer

The information and recipes contained in blog is based upon the research and the personal experiences of the author. It’s for entertainment purposes only. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate, up to date and reliable information. No warranties of any kind are expressed or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaging in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. By reading this blog, the reader agrees that under no circumstance the author is not responsible for any loss, direct or indirect, which are incurred by using this information contained within this blog. Including but not limited to errors, omissions or inaccuracies. This blog is not intended as replacements from what your health care provider has suggested.  The author is not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions, preparations or procedures discussed in this blog. All matters pertaining to your health should be supervised by a health care professional. I am not a doctor, or a medical professional. This blog is designed for as an educational and entertainment tool only. Please always check with your health practitioner before taking any vitamins, supplements, or herbs, as they may have side-effects, especially when combined with medications, alcohol, or other vitamins or supplements.  Knowledge is power, educate yourself and find the answer to your health care needs. Wisdom is a wonderful thing to seek.  I hope this blog will teach and encourage you to take leaps in your life to educate yourself for a happier & healthier life. You have to take ownership of your health.

Food is thy medicine, right? Actually it can work one of two ways. Food can be thy medicine or food can be thy death. This book is a guide that will inform you from the perspective of a women. You will also be able to determine what areas in your life that may need a little bit of work and the skills needed to improve those issues along with some fabulous recipes to help get you started on how to eat KETO AIP. I will also help you understand how to fix your gut, strengthen your immunity and fight inflammation with an autoimmune approach. The Keto AIP removes all the common inflammatory food triggers that stimulate a possible autoimmune reaction in the body. We’re going to start resetting those adrenals, boosting that energy and doing a little booty kicking to those hormones that have decided to act like a wild college student and pull an all-nighter the day before final exams.

The Keto Autoimmune Protocol Healing Book for Women: Strengthen Your Immunity, Fight Inflammation and Love Your Incredible Body