The perils of sugar....

We all know that sugar is bad for us, but we continue to eat it (including me).  I had a real wake-up call on Friday when I found a magazine in our waiting area that had clearly been left by a customer.  The magazine was Natural Health and they had a big article on sugar.  I'd already made two hits on the M&M Peanut machine, but this article stopped me in my tracks.  Here are the health costs they list of too much sugar:

Anxiety: sugar causes wide swings in blood sugar, wreaking havoc on the nervous system, which can leave you feeling on edge.

Depression: Eating sugary foods rather than nutritionally dense foods often leads to B-vitamin deficiencies which can exacerbate the blues.

Type II Diabetes.  We all know this one, but -- too much sugar can overwhelm the body with the demands of processing all that sugar, which can lead to insulin resistance and weight gain.

Fibromyalgia: Sugar suppresses the immune system (just one 12-oz can of soda can drop immune function by 30 percent for three hours) which makes it harder to fight infection and can lead to both chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

Migraines: A drop in blood sugar after a sugar "high" can cause muscles to spasm, causing and worsening tension headaches and migraines.

Sinusitis: Too much sugar causes yeast overgrowth, which may trigger an inflammatory reaction in the nose.

Somehow, seeing all these listed out so clearly made me realize that sugar may well be the cause of many of my current issues.  All the things I've been whining about recently -- anxiety, depression, weight gain, extreme fatigue and pain in the body.  I haven't been checked for chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia and don't intend to do so, but as of Friday afternoon this gal is off sugar in just about every form.  It'll be interesting to see how many of these issues disappear, if any.

I'll still drink milk, despite the natural sugar that's in milk.  But, I'll stop with the candy, baked goods with flour and/or sugar, hot chocolate, apples and other sugary fruits.  Fortunately, I don't have much of a fast-food or processed food habit, and I don't drink soft drinks or fruit juices and rarely drink alcohol.  But, am I going to not eat those nice sugar peas that I harvested from the garden this morning?  Or the carrots that are currently flourishing out there?  Sorry. 

I'll keep you posted if I see any difference, plus now that I've put it out here in public, it'll be harder to fall off the sugar wagon.