Are You Eating Too Much Sugar? 6 Reasons Why You Should Consider Ditching Sugar From Your Diet by Dr. Vikki Petersen

We all know that kids shouldn’t consume large amounts of sugar for obvious reasons. But, can you name those reasons besides the extra jitteriness before bedtime? With Halloween fast approaching, let’s take a look at a few reasons why excess sugar can be particularly harmful to kids and even grown adults.

Kids love sugar, so do adults for that matter, but is it good for anyone? As yummy as it tastes, sugar is “the devil.” If you’ve been a parent for a while you’ve likely experienced your child “high” on sugar only to crash and burn later. It isn’t fun for you or them. But did you also know that sugar is devastating to your immune system? It opens the door for infections, and no one enjoys getting sick. Here are six reasons to cut or reduce sugar in your diet:

1. Obesity: Obesity has become an epidemic in the U.S. Sugar is most definitely a culprit in weight gain, but the sad facts are that overweight kids most always maintain their overweight status into adulthood. Add to that the association of obesity to diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver and cancer, and you begin to see how sugar is not the friend to your children.
2. Higher Cholesterol: It is interesting to note that excess sugar leads to heart disease. Sugar lowers the “good” HDL cholesterol while raising your triglycerides. Sugar also alters the function of the “bad” LDL cholesterol, causing rapid clogging of your arteries. If you think your children are “too young” to worry about heart disease, that sadly is not the case in the U.S. Evidence of early plaquing in arteries occurs in young children.
3. Increased Cancer Risk: The preferred source of fuel for cancer cells is sugar. For that matter, it is what bacteria and viruses prefer to eat as well. Therefore, the “sweetness” of sugar belies its evil side in its attack on your immune system’s strength.
4. Imbalanced Gut Flora: The balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut dictates a great deal about your health. Your immune system’s strength or weakness, your hormonal balance (think mood and comprehension in kids), your tendency toward developing autoimmune diseases along with heart disease, diabetes and more, are all very much dictated by the population of bacteria in your gut. Sadly, sugar feeds and promotes the increase of bad bacteria, leading to the issues stated above.
5. Narrow Airways Leading to Asthma: Research has shown that a diet rich in sugar may set up the immune system of the airways to experience allergic inflammation. Such inflammation can cause a narrowing of the airways, excess mucus production and result in asthma symptoms, including wheezing and shortness of breath.
6. Immune Strength: Eating or drinking sugar reduces the strength of your immune cells. These immune cells, called natural killer cells, defend you against the ravages of bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. When you consume sugar the negative effect and weakening of your immune system last several hours (up to five hours). If you want to make bacteria, viruses and cancer cells "happy," eat sugar. It is their preferred source of fuel. Needless to say, we do not want to empower them.

Sugar, or blood sugar, is vital to deliver fuel to your cells. Blood sugar is maintained from all foods, not just sugar; and, in that way, the terminology “blood sugar” is a bit confusing.

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