Is Your Pantry Killing You?

Americans are progressively poisoning themselves with sugar. The insulin spikes that are inevitable with high intake of refined sweeteners are accompanied by inescapable cortisol surges. And cortisol, while it has its brilliant purpose in the body, creates insidious damage when it is high protractedly. Most chronic diseases have some aspect of their development that is related to unmitigated and unnaturally high cortisol levels.

"But I don't eat that much sugar," is the response I most often get. "I believe a moderate amount is okay," many troubled clients argue.

What is moderate??? Is it the 170 lbs. per capita that Americans are eating each year? Is 100 pounds per person per year more reasonable? And do you really know what your personal intake is anyway?

It may be surprising that at the height of the British Empire in the 1700's, England with its daily reliance on tea cakes and teas ("one cube or two?")  was considered the pinnacle of luxury with her one pound of sugar per capita. Then when the United States of America became the most prosperous country after her independence was won, she was the crown of indulgence in 1810 with 10 pounds of sugar per capita.

So, let's have a look inside your pantry. On average, how many teaspoons of sugar are contained in a daily serving of common American meals today?

Here's what we get by looking at nutrition labels. (5 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon)

Breakfast

1 1/2 cups breakfast cereal (whole grain flakes with real fruit): 3 teaspoons sugar

8 oz. of juice: 6 teaspoons sugar

A glass of milk: 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Mid-Morning Snack

Trail Bar with nuts and fruit: 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Lunch

2 slices white bread: 1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 Tb. peanut butter: 1 teaspoon sugar

1 Tb. jam: 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Tomato Soup: 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

12 oz. soda pop: 9 teaspoons sugar

Afternoon Snack

Candy bar: 5 teaspoons sugar

Dinner

Shredded Beef with 2 Tb. barbecue sauce: 3 teaspoons sugar

Bun: 1 teaspoon sugar

Salad with fat-free dressing: 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Applesauce: 3 teaspoons sugar

TOTAL

41 teaspoons or 205 grams of sugar per day

How much sugar is that in a year? 74,825 grams! That's 164.96 pounds!!! 

And that doesn't even include dessert. Or birthday cake. Or ice cream after a date.

We are inundating our bodies with sugar. Watch those food labels, and strive to get approximately equal calorie counts of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Sugars must be curtailed if we are going to save the nation's population from chronic disease.