STOP SUGAR CRAVINGS -- GAIN MORE ENERGY WORKSHOP 

Freedom from Sugar Cravings Class Notes

Sweeteners Commonly used:   Sugar, honey, maple syrup, artificial and other sweetener alternatives – you will benefit from my research classifying what sweeteners to never use, seldom use, what is better and what is best.

Something to think about: You would have to eat 3 feet of the sugar cane plant to equal just 1 teaspoon of our refined, regular white table sugar - aka “white death”!

What raw materials are you putting in your body?  TOXIC TIPPING POINT

SUGAR – Why do we eat so much? 

100 years ago – only 6 pounds of sugar per person per year.  Now – 150 pounds of sugar per person per year. 

1.  Quick Energy

2.  Temporarily Elevates our Mood (raises level of certain Neurotransmitters)
 
Dopamine – neurotransmitter, releases chemicals that allow us to feel pleasure (e.g. endorphins).

Seratonin – binging on sweets, starches or carbohydrates would raise serotonin and produce a feeling of well-being, but then drops you down.

Seratonin – Sunshine and exercise stimulate production of serotonin, a brain hormone that creates a feeling of well-being.

3.   Taste – we like sweet taste
Sugar Cane – if you were to eat the sugar cane from the field, it would take 3 FEET of sugar cane to equal 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Also, with the sugar cane, you are receiving vitamins and minerals naturally occurring which help you assimilate the sugar into your body.

Sugar gives you a spike in energy, but then drops you down low.

Spikes Energy – then makes you more tired than before

The human body requires carbohydrates to equal only about 2 teaspoons of sugar in the blood at any one time.
Complex carbs (starches) – include vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains.

Simple carbs, or sugars – include table sugar, honey, natural fruit sugars and molasses

Why Should we Stop Sugar Cravings?

Foods that raise blood sugar quickly trigger the release of the hormone Insulin.

Excessive releases of insulin and, more specifically, chronically high blood sugar and insulin levels are linked to Metabolic Syndrome (also called Syndrome X), which is a complex of health disorders.
Associated ailments include insulin resistance and type II diabetes, abdominal weight gain and obesity, problems with blood lipids (raised triglycerides and cholesterol) and high blood pressure.

Hidden sugars in Common Foods and Drinks

NEVER

1.         Artificial Sweeteners  - POISON

-  includes Aspartame, Splenda,

• Aspartame often increases appetite. 
• Depletes serotonin levels. 
• Causes sugar cravings.

2.         White Sugar – dental decay, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, cancer.  Stresses metabolism, disrupts digestion, affects brain

3.         Brown Sugar (just white crystalline sugar with a thin coat of molasses stirred back in)   This includes turbinado, Florida Crystals, Sugar in the Raw
 
Simple Sugar in many forms - too much can be harmful
READ YOUR LABELS
Barley malt
Beet, date or grape sugar
Brown, golden or yellow sugar
Caramel
Carob syrup
Corn syrup, corn syrup solids, high-fructose corn syrup, and Organic corn syrup
Demerara sugar
Dextran, dextrose
Diastase, diastatic malt
Dried or dehydrated cane juice, cane-juice crystals
Ethyl maltol
Fructose
Fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, fruit juice crystals
Glucose, glucose solids
Golden syrup
Honey
Invert sugar
Lactose
Malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose
Mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol
Maple sugar, maple syrup
Molasses, blackstrap molasses, light/medium/dark molasses
Muscovado sugar
Raw sugar
Refiner's syrup
Rice syrup
Sorghum, sorghum molasses
Sucrose
Turbinado sugar 

SELDOM:

1.         Fruit Juice Concentrates – Lacks fibers that slow digestion and smooth out blood-sugar lows and highs.  Also, fruits are sprayed heavily with pesticides, which become concentrated when made into juice – and even more so in juice concentrates.
 
2.         Honey – Not appropriate for diabetics.  Honey affects the blood sugar in the same way as refined sugar.   Commercial Honey – because honeybees have been infested with 2 destructive mites (tracheal mites and varroa mites) – almost all North American beekeepers must treat their hives with pesticides. 

Try to get organic honey.  Manuka Honey from New Zealand is known for healing properties.

3.         Maple Syrup – only use 100% pure.  Does have some mineral content.
 

BETTER:

1.         Fresh Fruit  - good, because of fibre & vitamins & minerals content.  Also freshly squeezed fruit juices (though in moderation).

2.         Dried Fruit – better not to have too much     However, they do have fiber, so that slows the release of glucose into the blood and helps the bowels.

3.         Black Molasses – releases serotonin in the brain, which contributes to a sense of well-being and reduces sugar cravings.  

4.         Sucanat  (dehydrated sugarcane, retaining mineral salts (calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium), vitamins (A, C, B1, B2, B6) and trace elements (chromium, copper, zinc)

5.         Rapadura (produced from organic sugarcane grown in Brazil)--- nutrient-rich

6.          Agave Nectar - liquid from inner core of the Aztec agave plant, low glycemic index, tastes like a mixture of honey and maple syrup.  Retains some vitamins and minerals.  60 calories for 1 Tbsp Agave Nectar

7.          Lucuma Powder - from the Lucuma Fruit, whole fruit powder from Peru, has a maple syrup flavor, retains vitamins and minerals and complex carbs and fiber. Used in raw food recipes. Raw, kosher, gluten-free, vegan, should buy organic.  60 calories, 13 grams of Carb for 1 Tablespoon
 

BEST – use Stevia - Stevia Health Benefits

Stevia is very sweet!

It is a herbal extract from the Stevia Rebaudiana leaf and has been shown to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure.

Common for centuries in China and South America
Stevia is a food herb native to Northeastern Paraguay where the Indians there have used it before the colonization by the Spaniards in the 16th century.1  By 1950 some Paraguayan physicians used Stevia Rebaudiana for the treatment of diabetes.2  In fact, a key research study published in the Brazilian Journal of Medicine showed that Stevia Rebaudiana actually ‘increased glucose tolerance.’

Let’s Balance That Blood Sugar!
The real problem is that ingestion of too much sugar, or any simple carbohydrate, creates an insulin rush that overworks the insulin receptors. Over a period of time, the body’s ability to handle all sugars, and even most grain carbohydrates, begins to weaken. This can ultimately lead to various disorders of the pancreas.
Stevia Rebaudiana may be helpful for the following:
·         Regulating blood sugar
·         Improving pancreas activity
·         Better glucose balancing
·         More even energy flow
·         More consistent blood pressure
·         Improving muscle density
·         Better and faster muscle recovery after exercise
·         Improving ability of the body to burn fat
·         Improving thinking capacity
·         Lessening tissue degeneration
·         Balancing the ups and downs of energy levels
·         Anti-fungal
·         Anti-bacterial
·         Anti-yeast
·         Topical skin care
·         Non fermenting
·         Water soluble
·          Non toxic
BEST OF ALL – VIRTUALLY NO CALORIES!