CC7 Sugar Rush

Mister Toastmaster, Ladies and gentlemen.
with apologies to the medical doctors in the room in case of errors in the process.

Our body needs sugar!

Now I'm sure you never thought I'd say that.

But yes, our body does need sugar. A daily recommended amount of 25g (fructose).

If you think on these foods then you may get an idea of how much sugar that may be.

A half cup of raisons, cranberrys or dates average at 50g of fructose.

A half cup of mango or prunes around 30g, while a cup of pineapple or paw paw, an apple or a banana will give you 15g.

Berries are the winners here at 10g.
So we decide to be more aware and instead of Cola....... #display cola bottle with sugar content# we buy fruit juice......... #display fruitjuice bottle with sugar content# .....(everyone in the audience should hum and haw here as I take out milk cartons, yoghurt tubs and soups with their equivalent sugar content.....)
I think I made my point. (smiling)

There is fructose in 75% of packaged foods and even in ketchup, flavored water and yoghurt.

Sugar can come as sucrose, maltose, fructose, karo syrup, corn syrup or argave nector.

The nutritional value of fructose or sugar is only carbohydrate and nothing else.

Makes me think of Rachel Vincent's comment on her blog, and I quote,
"...and the words melted like sugar on my tongue - sweet yet insubstansial..."

Sugar is produced from sugar cane and sweet beets. The raw product is boiled up and produces a thick black molasses.

The molasses is spun in a drum with a high centrifugal force and dry sugar crystals spin off. The crystals, if not rinsed are "brown sugar" and when rinsed are pure white sugar.

As we put sugar into our mouths, the taste receptors are activated and secrete saliva. Then the dopamine receptors release seratonin. For the amount of sugar we eat, we will have immediate energy. Insulin will be released to regulate the sugar levels. By the way.......Insulin strengthens the synapses in the brain which if optimal will make for better recall and a clear mind. Anyway.......Excess sugar will get stored as glycogen in the liver and will be released as the body needs it. 

So right here we can see that we don't need to interfere. 

The body has got it.

Probably long before the liver releases the glycogen into the bloodstream as "some other form of sugar the bloodstream can handle", have we reached for the next treat, "to keep us going".

I..... we, then overload on sugar, feeling really good for a short while and then that sugar dumps us. 

A feeling of sluggishness, foggy brain, depression sets in. Our tolerance level is lower and we feel "dof". (An Afrikaans slang word meaning thick or stupid)

Actually the body is struggling to process this overload. If we are sitting on the couch you can imagine that it would be far worse to put the body in such a dilemma than if we were running a marathon and the body could use the sugar immediately.

Of course the minute we feel sluggish or tired, the first thing we may reach for is a sugary treat. Here starts a cycle which becomes addictive. Years of sugar spikes and the bodies struggle to keep processing the sugar we are on the way to insulin resistance and possibly diabetes.

Jamie Oliver said, and I quote, "Sugar is the next tobacco it should be taxed like tobacco and anything else that can destroy lives".

Our next option is to go for an artificial sugar, and there are many....with brandnames

sweetex

xylitol

sweet 'n low

necta sweet

canderel

stivia (no not the green plant but the tube of fine white granules) note to self....this comment is optional :-)

nevella
diabetisweet

equal

sweet 'n "safe" #(implying?)

"nutra"sweet  #also implying? not nutritious surely!

but to name a few. 

These are "chemically produced" powders!

As soon as we taste this, we trick the taste receptors to activate, which tricks the stimulation of dopamine receptors and which in turn tricks the release of Insulin and the liver prepares to receive any excess........what?........the body is expecting sugar......I can only imagine what confusion ensues.

The Irony of this is that if we continue the sugar rush cycle and create an insulin resistance or diabetes where we have to artificially administer insulin, if we don't get the sugar when we need it, the result is possibly a diabetic coma.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would far rather try and regulate my sugar now than end up creating a nightmare.

Lets change our pallets
from sweet to bland

and when we eat an apple
it'll be all too sweet enough.

Mr. Toastmaster.

(1 1/2 minutes over time....eeeeek...8.27)