White Refined Sugar

The average American loves and consumes 130-150 pounds of sugar each year. The sugar accounts for approximately 24% of total calories in the contemporary American diet. This adds up to 500-600 calories, daily, per person, or 3.3 teaspoons per day. Sugar has no nutritive value and is therefore considered empty calories.

Sugar can be found in many forms. For instance, white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose and turbinado sugar. Processed foods are responsible for 70% of American sugar consumption. Sugar has become our nation’s most popular food additive. It is added to soups, gravy, cured meats, canned fruit, salad dressing, catsup, bread, crackers, spaghetti sauce, pies, cakes, jams, ice cream and candy.

At the turn of the century, refining carbohydrates escalated. As a result we are seeing more and more degenerative disease. One caveat to add, sugar is a major contributor to the overweight problems in our society today. The manufacturing processes allow for tremendous amounts of sugar to be packed into small quantities of food, making the product high in calories. For instance, a 12-ounce can of Coke contains over nine teaspoons of sugar, or 100% of its 144 calories. By comparison, if you ate one pound of apples, this would give you 242 calories, whereas if you ate one pound of M&M’s you would take in 2,240 calories.

Sugar has the ability to:

· Rob the body of B Vitamins. Sugar requires
B Vitamins in order for the body to process it.

· Increase triglycerides and cholesterol.

· Cause tooth decay.

· Prevent Vitamin C absorption.

· Reduce the efficiency of the immune system