If you knew something was toxic to your body would you still consume it? Did you know that sugar is now considered the new smoking? According to data collected by Harvard researchers, the more sweetened beverages a person drinks, the greater the risk of dying from heart disease and multiple cancers. 

Highly renowned motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said “Take care of your body.  It’s the only place you have to live.” If you want to live life well and to the fullest it’s imperative that you do everything possible to fuel your body with healthy foods. With every bite you take you are making a choice. You’re either feeding disease or starving it. If I could give one nutrition tip that would transform your health for the better it would be to ditch added sugars from your diet.

Natural Medicine doctor Josh Axe claims that “The ultimate villain when it comes to food is processed sugar.” Naturally occurring sugars like those found in fruit come with fiber and health-promoting antioxidants. Processed sugar is refined sugar that has been extracted and crystallized. This is also known as table sugar and it usually comes from sugar cane or sugar beets. Since it is extracted it has no nutritional value and has a host of devastating impacts on your health. 

What kind of damage does sugar do to your body? The number 1 cause of cardiovascular and heart disease is related to excess sugar intake. You are at an increased risk for hardened arteries, heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and stroke. Excess sugar in the blood causes inflammation, damages arteries and inflames organs. Too much sugar causes non alcoholic fatty-liver disease, leaky gut syndrome and metabolic diseases like cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Added sugar in the diet causes and exacerbates depression, mood swings and fatigue. High intakes also lead to premature aging, suppressed immunity, tooth decay, anxiety, osteoporosis, arthritis, headaches, migraines, hyperactivity in children, obesity, hormonal imbalances, chronic pain and much more. 

Added sugar can be found in candy, baked goods, fruit drinks and soda. Sugar in liquid form is the most detrimental to your health. Added sugar can also be found in places you wouldn’t expect like salad dressings, crackers, yogurt, bread, spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and breakfast cereals.

You can find added sugar by looking at the ingredients in a product. Look for words ending in “ose,” such as fructose, dextrose, maltose, glucose and look for syrups and juices. 

If you want the benefit of something sweet without the dangers of added sugar you can swap it out for stevia or monk fruit. These healthy alternatives taste great and are not harmful to your health. 

It might seem like punishment to eliminate “added sugar” from your diet, but you are actually treating yourself well. Growing up I loved sweets and was known to indulge quite often. I didn’t know how bad I felt back then until I gave it up. If people only knew how much better they could feel living on whole foods without added sugar this would not be an issue. I originally started avoiding added sugar after I was in a near-fatal car accident and gained a lot of weight. Cutting sugar helped me shed pounds at a rapid rate and feel like a million bucks. Several years later my identical twin and hero was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She immediately gave up added sugar to fight the cancer and never looked back. I will never forget how she said to me “now I understand why you don’t do sugar. Had I known how much better and healthier I would feel I would have done this years ago.” 

Discarding added sugar helps you achieve health like you never thought possible. A healthy life is really the sweet life! 

Jo Miller

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