Sugar is Sweet but You Are Not!

This week I'm sharing a number of thoughts on dietary matters which I hope you'll find helpful. 

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In my book I wrote some information that was not as useful as I thought it was. Let's face it, I was wrong! There, in black and white, I'd asserted, on what I thought was good authority, that cancer took in seven times more sugar than normal cells. I apologise. However, we should nevertheless cut back on sugar, especially refined or 'free sugars', which are absorbed more quickly than natural sugars such as fruits. In fact, it's astonishing how little we need to fuel our bodies - less than a teaspoon full, it seems 'Free sugars' are such as biscuits, chocolate, flavoured yoghurts, breakfast cereals and fizzy drinks, where either manufacturers, chefs or home bakers top up the sweetness to make a 'special treat'. (Some ice creams and cakes can have 30 to 45% of sugar!)

Here's the link to the Cancer Research UK site

When we take in more sugar than we need - and in our world of highly processed foods that is almost inevitable - our bodies convert the excess sugar into fat. In ancient times that was no problem. For millions of years we scavenged, gathered and hunted for food and a good meal, sometimes any meal, was not always available. Therefore when an opportunity arose to gorge on animal fat or honey, we took it without hesitation. In these situations it wouldn't be long before the excess fuel was burnt off. Nowadays we can gorge ourselves on sweet and fatty food throughout the day and obesity is one of the greatest causes of illness in the Western world.

So, whereas we know that sugar doesn't cause cancer, and neither does sugar itself make cancer worse, being fat does. Most importantly an addictive sweet tooth reduces our ability to maintain our fitness levels and therefore reduces our immune system's efficiency.

An alternative to sugar might be sweeteners, but this isn't altogether safe. Some sweeteners known as polyols (such as sorbitol, xylitol and erythritol) can have a laxative effect if consumed in large amounts and some of their E numbers, whilst approved for human consumption, are not the most natural food stuff to be consuming.

Sweeteners approved for use in the UK include:

• acesulfame K (E950)

• aspartame (E951)

• erythritol (E968)

• saccharin (E954)

• sorbitol (E420)

• steviol glycosides (E960)

• sucralose (E955)

• xylitol (E967)

Combinations of some colour additives have been linked to negative effects on children’s behaviour, in particular hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Used in soft drinks, sweets and ice creams, they include:

• Sunset yellow (E110)

• Quinoline yellow (E104)

• Carmoisine (E122)

• Allura red (E129)

• Tartrazine (E102)

• Ponceau 4R (E124)

Maybe the main problem with sweeteners is that they stimulate our desire for sweetness and therefore may leave us with a craving for sugary things like chocolate. When, on my MEDS regimen, I cut back on sugar it wasn't long before my sweet tooth became less of a craving. When Liz served up a delicious pudding at a dinner party I thought I'd make the exception and tucked in with gusto. I was pleased to find I couldn't eat more than a couple of spoonfuls. But I do like a digestive biscuit now and then so I got some sugar free ones. Feeling able to indulge more freely I soon found myself wanting more sweet things so I cut back on sweeteners too.

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Supplements

For some time I've been taking quite a lot of supplements, mostly after breakfast. It was time I investigated whether it was OK to take so many tablets together. It didn't take me long to find it wasn't. There are certain times of day when it's more betterto take supplements than others. Here's what I found about my personal collection of capsules, recommend by my by doctors, nutritionists, a mycologists and my kinesiologist:

Morning

2 x 500mg capsule Reishi

1 x 500mg capsule Cordyceps

1x Probiotic (9 billion mixed bacteria capsule)

Teaspoon full Prebiotic (wheat bran)

1 x 400 mg capsule Saw Palmetto

1 x 400 mg capsule Sulforaphane : 30 minutes before or 2 hours after a meal

Lunch

1 x Vit D3 25 mg capsule with main meal

1 x Vit B6 30 mg capsule

Evening

1 300 mg capsule Magnesium citrate

1 x 400 mg capsule Saw Palmetto

It was relatively easy to look up the volumes, doses and frequencies for my supplements.

But let's not over obsessed with the 'whys' and 'wherefores'. My sense is we should build up a good understanding of sound information which we retain. This becomes the foundation of good habits which are largely automatic. I don't want to become a boring pedant who talks of nothing but his regimen.