Fruit Juices and Smoothies Have Too Much Sugar!

 

The next time you offer your children a healthy smoothie instead of a soda, you may want to remember that it could contain as much as 13 g/100 ml, equivalent to around 2.5 tsps in a 3.5-oz serving, or approximately two thirds to a half of a child's recommended daily sugar intake.

Fruit juices and smoothies have 'unacceptably high' sugar content. Yvette Brazier. Medical News Today. March 26, 2016.  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308290.php?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=56f66e0b04d30168cec047bb&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

The American Diet Consists of Too Much Processed Food!

Calories from "ultraprocessed" foods make up more than half of all calories in the average American diet and account for nearly 90 percent of all added sugars, a new study finds.

'Ultraprocessed' Foods Make Up More Than Half of Americans' Diets. Sara Miller. Live Science. March 10, 2016http://www.livescience.com/53998-ultraprocessed-foods-are-half-of-american-diet.html?cmpid=514645

Too Much Sugar Causes the Brain to Act Different and Leads to Cardiovascular Disease!

 

In Elle, one article the author cites the results of a a15-year study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Internal Medicine, U.S. adults of all ages whose daily calorie count consisted of 17 to 21 percent added sugar (not naturally found in food) were more than a third more likely to die of heart disease than those who kept their consumption to less than 8 percent of the total—regardless of their BMIs.

In the same article, the results of a survey show that being weaned off of sugar has health effects including "low energy, depression, flulike symptoms, and mental fogginess, at least temporarily. Ninety-five percent of the participants demonstrated that in two weeks of abstaining from sugar there was a change in taste preference. They claimed that many sugary foods and drinks were too sweet. All in all, the participants claimed they had intense sugar cravings within 3 days and in 6 days some suffered from headaches. So you see, the brain does act differently on sugar!  

 This is Your Brain on Sugar. Sarah Elizabeth Richards. Elle. February 29, 2016. http://www.elle.com/beauty/health-fitness/a33810/this-is-your-brain-on-sugar/

Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults. JAMA internal medicin , Vol. 174, No. 4. (April 2014), pp. 516-524 by Quanhe Yang, Zefeng Zhang, Edward W. Gregg, et al. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13533893

Different Sugars Are Not All The Same!

"Because fructose does not stimulate insulin — beginning the cascade of hormonal responses that end in feelings of fullness — high levels of fructose may not be as satisfying as glucose, leading people to eat more to feel satisfied."

Diet and nutrition is more complex than a simple sugar. Science News. Bethany Brookshire. May 26, 2015. https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/diet-and-nutrition-more-complex-simple-sugar

Moderate Consumption of Sweetened Beverages Elevates Liver Enzymes!

"A recent study demonstrated the effects of moderate consumption of sugared beverages on liver health. In this study, 259 women were followed for two months. During the study liver enzymes ALT and AST,  that are biomarkers for health, were assessed. According to the results of the study, there was a noticeable increase in both ALT and AST for every 1 cup of sugar-sweetened beverage and 10g/day sucrose or fructose. The researcher's concluded from this study that even moderate intake of sweetened beverages can cause liver lipogenenesis and fatty acid production for later storage in fat." 

The relationship between sugar-sweetened beverages and liver enzymes among healthy premenopausal women: a prospective cohort study. European journal of nutrition (24 March 2015) by Maya K. Shimony, Karen C. Schliep, Enrique F. Schisterman, et al. http://www.citeulike.org/user/kimberlykramer2015/article/13586470