's motd Friday May 14, 2010

[Guest guest]

SUGAR, SUGAR!

Friday, 14 May 2010

I've been eating sugar for as long as I can remember. My parents probably gave me sugar long before I even knew what it was. There was always a two-tier box of chocolates on the living room table at our house. We loved Russel Stover Chocolates and, after dinner, it was just natural for us to go into the living room and enjoy that box of chocolates while watching TV. I can still taste them, so sweet...so enjoyable!

In the kitchen, my parents kept a bowl filled with sugar cubes. Sometimes, I would place a cube of sugar in the middle of my tongue and roll it around until the warmth of my mouth began to melt it like a too-warm ice rink. I used to close my eyes enjoying the sweet sensation of that melting sugar. I'd even keep a few sugar cubes in my pocket for my walks to school! So I guess you could say that I've been on a sugar high ever since I was a kid.Oh yes, I was raised with bags of cookies, pastries, candy bars and cakes. When we went grocery shopping, my folks would always pick up a big 10-pound bag of sugar. We never ran out!

So, is this how you were raised, too? Hey, I believe we were all raised to become "sugar addicts." Because once you've been eating sugar for a long time, it's very difficult to break that sweets habit.Back when I was younger, we didn't know that sugar was so detrimental to our health. But today we do! Check out this news: The average American consumes 2-3 pounds of sugar every week. And all of that sugar is not obvious to us as we eat it. See, there are so many foods out there that contain sugar and we may not even be aware of it. In the 70s, there was book called Sugar Blues by Duffy. His book listed thousands of foods we keep in our kitchens that are loaded with sugar. I bought the book and after I read it, I was in shock.

Oh, there's sugar in everything from rice wine vinegar to ketchup to mayonnaise. You'll find sugar in many of those microwavable dinners and lots of canned goods. I'm telling you, if you got rid of all of the foods in your kitchen that contain sugar, well, your cupboards and fridge would end up being mighty bare.Your body doesn't like too much sugar. For starters, too much sugar can weaken your immune system, making it more difficult to fight off disease and illness. Sugar increases the risk of heart disease. (Who knew something so sweet could be so damaging to the main muscle in our bodies?) If you're eating 2-3 pounds of sugar per week, (or more), you will gain weight. And one of the worse problems with eating too much sugar is that it increases the risk of your becoming diabetic. And that's especially true if diabetes runs in your family.

I receive so many E-mails from men and women who have to take oral medication or insulin shots for the rest of their lives to control diabetes. Several times a day, they have to stick themselves with a little needle to check their blood-glucose levels. And often, it's all because we just have to get to the bottom of that box of chocolate chip cookies.You eat desert everyday. You nibble on cookies while talking on the phone. You keep candy bars in your desk drawer at work. You stop at Krispy Kreme in the morning for donuts. You roam the bakery looking for their newest specialty cupcake. Look, I'm not asking you to give up sugar altogether. But you need to be disciplined with the amount of sugar you're consuming every day. Oh sure, I would love to have dessert every day of the week myself but...I don't. I allow myself to have dessert, maybe on Saturday night...that's once-a-week. And yes, it's a real dessert, none of that "diet" stuff. I may have a slice of coconut cake or a slice of pecan pie. And I roll that piece of pie or cake around in my mouth...just like I used to do with those sugar cubes when I was a kid. Oh, joy! But you wanna know the truth? I truly enjoy it more by having just that one dessert once-a-week, rather than indulging my own sweet tooth, every day of the week. Now this week, and always, I want you to be very careful with how much sugar you're putting into your body.Love,

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 14 May 2010 04:28:00 -0500, Sue in NJ <sue_in_nj@...> wrote:

SUGAR, SUGAR!

Friday, 14 May 2010

Oh yes, I was raised with bags of cookies, pastries, candy bars and cakes.  When we went grocery shopping, my folks would always pick up a big 10-pound bag of sugar.  We never ran out!

So, is this how you were raised, too?  Hey, I believe we were all raised to become "sugar addicts."  Because once you've been eating sugar for a long time, it's very difficult to break that sweets habit.It's funny how we each perceive what food is and give it evil names if we are convinced we cannot control it.  I am becoming very aware of this phenomenon.  My husband loves sweets.  If there are sweets around, he'll devour them....except he can't stand how sweet American foods are (weirdness).  He gagged the first time he tasted BBQ sauce on meat.  He could not comprehend sweet tasting meat.  He winces on some of the candy bars, the sweet intensity hurts his mouth.  In Europe, corn syrup is banned.  So they are not raised on the intensity of sweetness that this syrup brings to food here in America.    Nowadays, I won't buy foods with corn syrup and SEEK the evil sugar as a better alternative, if I can.  But the irony is sweet (lol).  He complains about the very thing he feels he cannot control as though it were a conspiracy against him.I am not a sweet freak.  I like it, but it doesn't call my name.  But I agree, it is disgusting how much sugar and salt are in prepared foods these days.  And don't get me started on the chemicals and dyes.  It's a shame that my husband and I have to rely more on these foods in the truck (storage issues).  I try to find the best alternatives that I can.  We have wasa crispbread instead of flavoured crackers, dry salami instead of lunch meats, etc.  Still, he succumbs to the sweets.  Yesterday, we had the day form Hell and by the time it was all over, we both wanted a treat.  He got his usual pork rinds and chocolates, I decided on a Lindt Intensely Orange dark Chocolate bar.  I counted the calories for two squares, entering into the software and balancing it with my meals so I stayed on target.  By the time I was ready to enjoy those two squares, my husband had devoured all his treats and was complaining how he wished he had not eaten so much.  He looked at me and my two squares and shook his head, he said he could not understand how I could be so disciplined.  I always tell him the same thing, if it were a bottle of french brandy, I would agree, but as much as the chocolate is mighty fine, it doesn't flip my boat like brandy does.  Each to his own.  Sugar is not evil in my book, but I have to agree, when I see how much sugar my grandsons consume, I get downright angry!-- Ann H.My blogs are on my profile: elisaannh