Sugar Crush . . .

I just read Sugar Crush by Dr. Richard Jacoby and this has been very insightful on the insidious impact and the longer term toll that excessive sugar consumption has on our health. Great timing right after thanksgiving! ??

A few sobering statistics first from the author - Each year the average American eats 160lbs of sugar. I almost fell off my chair reading this. Amazingly, in 1920 it was 25 bs, which means there has been a more than 6x increase in our sugar consumption in 100 years. 26M Americans have Type-2 Diabetes and diabetics have 2x – 4x the risk of stroke, and are 2x more likely to develop Alzheimer’s or Dementia. The treatment of obesity costs us $200B per year.

We all probably know why sugar feels good. It tells our bodies to release ‘feel good’ chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins which makes us hooked on the sugar high. Not surprisingly, these are the same chemical triggers caused by nicotine and cocaine. The reason this book struck a chord with me is the elegant explanations on the longer term impact of consuming high amounts of sugar and how truly insidious and devastating it is to our health. At the end of the book the author provides several common sense steps to reduction our addition to sugar. To me however, reading the clear connection between sugar consumption and how it interacts with my body was very helpful. ?

In several of the previous books I have previewed here, I read a lot about insulin resistance. This is the process by which if we eat high carb and high starch and highly processed foods, our bodies gradually build insulin resistance. Insulin’s main role is to take the glucose that comes into our bodies and safely transport them to be used for energy. If there is resistance to that insulin, over time the glucose is simply stored as fat and over time we gain weight and progress towards Type-2 diabetes.

What this book does is it clearly articulates the role sugar plays in this grand scheme and since the author is a leading Nerve Surgeon, he documents not only insulin resistance but also sugar’s role in our inexorable move towards neuropathy (long term nerve damage). At the risk of minimizing this detailed work, a diet rich in sugar creates inflammation, gums up the workings in the body, sugar in our cells attract water, the cells swell up, there is less blood flow to the nerves due to compression and we start heading on the journey towards damaged nerves (neuropathy has begun!). Another ‘pathway’ the author provides is that if we have excess sugar or glucose in our system, some of that excess glucose attaches to proteins, this builds sorbitol levels which causes the cells to swell, this leads to compression of the nerves, and we are again faced with neuropathy. There are lots more details that show this connection.

What can we do? – The author says that Type 2 diabetes is a conformational disease which means it has a long gestation period between cause and effect. By the time blood sugar levels are Type 2 levels high, its already been far too high for far too long with pancreas damaged that it is much more difficult to turn the ship around. The author has a simple set of markers for early detection through what he calls ‘metabolic syndrome’: Obesity, high triglycerides, family history of diabetes, high BP, low HDL, high fasting blood sugar. If you have 2 of these markers, its probably a good idea to get fully tested for insulin resistance and take action towards a healthier lifestyle. ?

What else can we eat? – Not surprisingly, lots of veggies again comes out as the winner. It seems like the least controversial area of nutrition and one that sounds simple but it actually fairly hard to execute. We have a society and culture that is hard wired to purchase easy to cook meals and an incentive system where sugar gets the largest amount of subsidies (read: cheap price at the store) while ?organic vegetables hit most people with sticker shock. In the long run though, veggies and fruits win out consistently over sugar and highly processed foods.

Sugar has become a big part of our lives – this book will help you put it in context.?