The following is a guest post by Magadalena Wszelaki, the Thyroid Diet Coach. I met Magdalena through the web last fall and have since been very impressed with her work, which helps people with many different health issues, specifically thyroid and autoimmune diseases. She is a health coach who healed herself from Hashimoto’s disease through the practices she teaches her clients.
In this article she writes about the detrimental effects that sugar has on our bodies and she also offers you help in the form of a very affordable class she is teaching. I especially love that Magdalena focuses on changing your diet to aid in helping your body to heal. She has some great recipes available on her website and she will also be featuring some of my recipes in the upcoming Sugar Rebound course.
I do want to disclose here that I am an affiliate of her’s so I do earn a commission on any sales she makes through me. However, I only refer my readers and subscribers when I find true value in what the person or company has to offer.
If you are interested in the course, be sure to receive your coupon code at the end of the article after you finish reading!
How Sugar Throws Off Your Digestive and Hormonal Balance by Magdalena Wszelaki:
What if I told you that, on average, you and your fellow Americans are consuming 40 teaspoons of sugar every single day? Would that amount seem like a lot to you? Would you be concerned? You should be. The recommendations are that you should not be consuming more than 4-5 teaspoons per day. That’s a 700-900% increase.
Regardless of whether you think you are eating healthy by not consuming gallons of ice cream, or cakes, cookies, and donuts daily, you are still very likely to be consuming a significant amount of sugar.
Where the heck is all this sugar coming from? From soups, breads, yogurt, fruit juices, coffee, canned food, sauces, frozen dinners, soda, and many, many more products sold to you, even under the guise of being “healthy”.
What effects does sugar have on the body? Oh, so many…
- Adrenal fatigue
- Candida
- Digestive problems
- Hyperglycemia/Diabetes (high blood sugar)
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) - Immune function suppression
- Infertility
- Mineral depletion
- Mood swings
- PCOS
- Thyroid problems
- Weight gain
Let’s dive a little deeper and take a look at the specific body systems sugar has a profound impact on.
Your Endocrine System
Endocrine system is a system of glands that are interconnected and produce hormones that keep our body in a state of balance. Excess of sugar in your diet brings havoc in your endocrine system and it starts from your pancreas first.
When sugar enters the bloodstream, our pancreas releases insulin to maintain healthy blood sugar balance. Too much sugar causes it to either release too much insulin or not enough. This can lead to hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, respectively.
At the same time other endocrine glands are also affected because they ramp up their function to help out the pancreas when it is in trouble.
The liver is another organ that starts to work in overdrive. Fructose is metabolized in the liver and during this process uric acid, a waste product, is produced. This can lead to hypertension and gout.
Some of the other conditions above that you will experience from sugar disrupting the endocrine system are diabetes, thyroid problems, adrenal fatigue, infertility, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Your Digestion
Sugar has a huge impact on the digestive system, which is where the majority of our immune system is housed. Over consuming sugar can feed the infections such as Candida (yeast), and result in bloating, gas, and other unpleasant digestive effects.
Sugar can also have a more severe impact, which manifests itself as diseases and health conditions such as ulcers and leaky gut syndrome (undigested food particles leak through the gut lining into the bloodstream). How does sugar cause all of this?
A drop in blood sugar can kick the adrenals into high gear, causing them to produce excess cortisol. Cortisol inhibits the production of hydrochloric acid in the digestive system, which is needed to break down food properly. The lining of the gut is often weakened at this point from the above-mentioned infections, toxins and poor diet.
A compromised intestinal lining allows the undigested food particles to leak out into the bloodstream (leaky gut). This can lead to a whole host of autoimmune diseases when the immune system thinks those particles are foreign intruders and starts attacking the body’s own organs and systems (e.g. Hashimoto’s disease).
Mineral Depletion
Minerals are super important to our health. However, too much sugar depletes our mineral supply because our body requires minerals in order to metabolize sugar. These include zinc, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chromium, to name a few.
Therefore, we end up with a reduced supply in the bloodstream and the other functions in our body that need these minerals suffer. If you have health conditions like low blood pressure, kidney stones, osteoporosis, or rheumatoid arthritis, it is likely caused by mineral depletion.
Mineral depletion also has an effect on our digestion. Enzymes are required to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Mineral depletion causes a reduction in the production of enzymes. This leads to digestive problems such as leaky gut that was mentioned above.
It is a vicious cycle. All of these factors are so interconnected. Sugar depletes minerals, which deplete enzymes, which cause digestive issues, which cause immune problems, which leads to many other health problems.
So what can we do?
Start being more aware of just how much sugar you are consuming on a daily basis. ALWAYS check the nutrition label to see how many grams of sugar are in the products you are buying. And remember to check out the serving size. The label may say 5 grams of sugar, but if the amount of servings is 10, that’s 50 grams (and who really sticks to one serving?).
Ask questions, read labels, look up nutrition facts online. The health risks of sugar are many and you really don’t want to be mindlessly consuming it. Wouldn’t it be better to really enjoy a treat once in a while and know exactly what you are putting into your body, than be consuming 40 teaspoons of sugar a day without even knowing it?
The author of this article is Magdalena Wszelaki, who is a Holistic Health Coach and Nutrition Expert who specializes in thyroid and autoimmune conditions.
About the Sugar Rebound Course (Plus a coupon code):
Magdalena created SUGAR REBOUND as a 7-day live online program to help a people to redefine their relationship with sugar. The Program will focus on reversing sugar blues or addiction by making easy, effective and delicious diet and lifestyle changes to help lose weight and regain hormonal and emotional balance and well being.
The program runs from February 19th till February 26th 2013 and is designed to provide in-depth knowledge and empowerment about the detrimental and deceiving impact of sugar on our health. It includes two live video lectures (2 hours each), Q&A sessions, 5-day email guidance and a Sugar Rebound Contest to make it fun and easy to implement the recommendations.
The participants will learn in detail about the different types of sugars and the impact of sugar on our endocrine (hormonal) balance, the immune system, weight fluctuation, heart conditions, mental well being, candida, cancer and many more.
The program will leave the participants empowered with solid practical step-by-step guides including downloadable presentation video, transcripts, printable handouts and yummy recipes covering next action steps, safe and unsafe sweeteners and nourishing breakfast, dessert and snack recipes.
Get $10 off!
The investment for the whole program is only $47 and our readers get $10 OFF with the discount coupon SUGARREBOUND10, valid till February 17th 2013 midnight.
To book your seat, go to Sugar Rebound.
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