Dolce Veleno

I am not sure if any of you know this, but I have a little bit of a sweet tooth.  By that, I mean I could eat an entire medium sized bag of m&m's by myself in one sitting. I figured out yesterday that having a sweet tooth is not something to be proud of, especially if sugar is something you crave.  Once it becomes a craving, it becomes an addiction and therefore, potentially lethal.

Did you know that sugar is actually toxic to the body?  It lacks the natural minerals that your body needs to operate.  So, ingesting it is just as bad for you as ingesting poison in very small doses.  Your body actually goes into survival mode if you eat too much sugar causing calcium to be taken from your bones and teeth in order to protect the blood.  As a result, your bones and teeth decay much faster than they should causing early aging and weakening of the bones.  That's not all.  According to globalhealingcenter.com, sugar effects all organs of the body:

Initially, [sugar] is stored in the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). Since the liver's capacity is limited, a daily intake of refined sugar (above the required amount of natural sugar) soon makes the liver expand like a balloon. When the liver is filled to its maximum capacity, the excess glycogen is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These are taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: the belly, the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs.

When these comparatively harmless places are completely filled, fatty acids are then distributed among active organs, such as the heart and kidneys. These begin to slow down; finally their tissues degenerate and turn to fat. The whole body is affected by their reduced ability, and abnormal blood pressure is created. The parasympathetic nervous system is affected; and organs governed by it, such as the small brain, become inactive or paralyzed. (Normal brain function is rarely thought of as being as biologic as digestion.) The circulatory and lymphatic systems are invaded, and the quality of the red corpuscles starts to change. An overabundance of white cells occurs, and the creation of tissue becomes slower. Our body's tolerance and immunizing power becomes more limited, so we cannot respond properly to extreme attacks, whether they be cold, heat, mosquitoes or microbes.

Excessive sugar has a strong mal-effect on the functioning of the brain. The key to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, a vital compound found in many vegetables. The B vitamins play a major role in dividing glutamic acid into antagonistic-complementary compounds which produce a "proceed" or "control" response in the brain. B vitamins are also manufactured by symbiotic bacteria which live in our intestines. When refined sugar is taken daily, these bacteria wither and die, and our stock of B vitamins gets very low. Too much sugar makes one sleepy; our ability to calculate and remember is lost.

Taking refined sugar daily is something that I have been doing for a while now.  I always thought that having something sweet after each meal is okay as long as it is a small amount.  But, as you all know, sometimes that "small amount" can get out of control...and the next thing you know the entire bag of M&M's is gone.


So...how do we fix this problem?  According to a lot of forums online, the best way to cure a sugar addiction is to quit it cold turkey.  The reason?  Your body responds better to the sugar not being in your body.  Sure, the cravings will be very strong in the first week, but after that it should go away.


My personal goal is to go 30 days without refined sugar, and see how it goes.  Since I am training for a marathon, it will be a lot easier for me to stick to the plan since I run better when I don't eat sugar.  I will be posting daily updates on my progress, feelings, mood, and running endurance without the sugar.  Wish me good luck, and let me know if you would like to join me in the fight to quit sugar!


Remember, sugar is poison.  It's not okay in small, medium, or large amounts because your body doesn't NEED it.  Don't put anything into your body that it doesn't NEED, and it will be happier :)  You will be amazed at how great you feel.


Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day!!