Sugar - What Are The Nutritional Benefits?



Posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2007

by
Bespoke Spices

With most food, there's good and bad; with sugar, there's bad. Sugar is addictive, the more you eat, the more you want. In fact, some experts have classified refined sugar as a poison.

Refined sugar is completely depleted of nutrients and life-force, and all that remains is pure, refined carbohydrate. The body cannot use this refined carbohydrate and it disrupts the acid balance of the blood. Your body which has to mobilize reserves of sodium (from salt), potassium and magnesium (from vegetables), and calcium (from the bones) in order to return the blood to normal balance. So not only doesn't sugar provide any nutrients, it actually uses up essential nutrients, just so that the body can deal with it.

If you continue to take in refined sugar on a daily basis, the body will need to start getting its calcium from the teeth and bones, leading to weakening. The other problem is that sugar is stored in the liver as glycogen, and the liver can only hold a limited amount. When you continue to ingest refined sugar, eventually somewhere else has to be found to store it. The liver releases the glycogen to the blood-stream, in the form of fatty acids. The blood takes these fatty acids and stores them in various parts of the body - the belly, the buttocks, the breasts, and the thighs.

Now, when a woman hits the menopause, she is at increased risk of osteoporosis (bone thinning), and tends to put on weight. So you can see, too much sugar, which is bad at any time of life, is even worse for the menopausal woman.

As if that's not enough, sugar also depresses your immune system, so you won't fight off infections so easily, and affects your brain chemistry, leading to woolly thinking. Beginning to sound familiar? Here's a list of the effects of taking in too much sugar - see how many you recognise:
You should remove refined sugar from your diet, although you are not advised to remove it all at once - that will simply make you feel dreadful. Instead, cut down gradually. Once your body has recovered from its sugar addiction, you will find that fresh fruit tastes superb and naturally sweet.

Don't be tempted to replace the sugar in your diet with artificial sweeteners. Instead, try Molasses or Stevia, both of which are natural sweeteners that have added health benefits.

Stevia comes either as a liquid or in crystals and has been shown to: lower blood pressure; treat diabetes; have no side effects; is well-tolerated; can be used by diabetics and those with Phenylketonuria (PKU). There is even a suggestion that it may heal skin tumours.

Molasses may protect against heart disease and contains: iron; copper; calcium; chromium; magnesium; potassium; selenium; vitamin B6; PABA (one of the B vitamins); and vitamin K. All of these vitamins and minerals are vital to the health of the human body.

Jason Pitcher enjoys all things to do with cooking, particularly everything to do with making homemade herb and spice blends. Sign up to his free monthly newsletter "Flavour At Your Fingertips" at http://www.bespokespices.com/spices-and-their-uses.html and receive your free recipe e-book - "Homemade Spice Blends From Around The World".

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More comments
» left by brandon wilson from michigan 3 years 29 days ago.
no it's not helpfull at all!!!! we want to know why sugar is good?
» left by Anonymous 1 year 118 days ago.
If you read the tone throughout the article, my guess is that the point he was trying to make is that " sugar is NOT good AT ALL for us!"
» left by Anonymous 3 years 8 days ago.
didn't help, I also wanted to know why sugar is good?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
» left by JESSI
from VENICE;CALIFONIA 2 years 299 days ago.
JESSICA FROM VENICE CALIFONIA AGE:16
 
THIS WAS A VERY NICE AND HELPING PAPER AND I LEARNED A LOT;),BUT IN THE BEGINING YOU SAID THERE WAS GOOD AND BAD THINGS ABOUT SUGAR SO...UMM..WHERES THE GOOD NEWS?? :\
» left by Anonymous 1 year 118 days ago.
In the beginning, he did not say there was good and bad things about sugar at all. He said, and I quote :-

"With MOST FOOD, there's good and bad; with sugar, there's bad." In other words:- " UNLIKE most foods, which has good AND bad.... sugar ONLY HAS BAD."
» left by Barry
from Seattle, WA 2 years 267 days ago.
what about the fact that there is sugar is in almost all fruits
 
diabetics need sugars so now we are going to tax diabetics
» left by Christy
from . . . 2 years 153 days ago.
People.
 
Yes sugar exists in fruits and vegetables and milk and other sources, and those sugars can be beneficial to the body, but he's talking about REFINED sugar. Jessica: "With most food, there's good and bad; with sugar, there's bad." He wrote with MOST food.
» left by Anonymous 2 years 152 days ago.
AGREED Christy, I have been off REFINED sugars such as cakes, biscuits, and feel 100 better. Sugar also feeds candidis which is a fungal bacteria that forms in the intestinal tract, by eliminating sugers you starve this harmful fungis food supply. GIVE UP SUGAR IT IS SOCIETIES EVIL!!!
» left by Anonymous 1 year 156 days ago.
This is awful, very misleading and the guy next to me is playing a game!
» left by Theresa Amies from Australia 1 year 154 days ago.
I have been off refined sugar for about 8 weeks and feel FANTASTIC!!! YAY!!!
» left by Carlos Duran
from Houston, tx 1 year 64 days ago.
Well, I stopped consuming sugar gradually and its true that now I don't need it. I used to drink sodas and I started mixing the soda with water. It was a moment when I had more water than soda in the glass and then I could not drink sodas anymore. Now, if I had too much sugar I would get a headache... It took me maybe a year to custom my body but as the article said you can make it. I lost weigh, I go to the gym frequently, I get less cold.... I'm not sure if its just for nor having sugar but maybe it helps..... I found this article because I google " Benefits of Sugar". I've been asking myself if there is any benefits and i did not find an article explaining any benefits... So, not sugar... Maybe a sugar mama..... nice day. P.S: Sorry if I had any grammar mistake english is not my first language....
» left by Anonymous 1 year 32 days ago.
Umm what are the nutritional benefits? These are more like health concerns.

» left by Anonymous 291 days ago.
Heyguys, don't you understand? Stop talking about sugar...Just don't use sugar any more.Sugar is apoison,
» left by kashyap from India 231 days 10 hours ago.
Got it but how about sulfur less sugar are this refined sugar and sulfur less sugar rae same??

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