When you make a habit of eating refined sugar your body becomes acidic. Eating sugar on a regular basis is like laying out a welcome mat for illness.
The cumulative effect extends to every organ in the body. This is how the body tries to deal with sugar:
1. Excess sugar is stored in the liver as glycogen. When the liver can handle no more, it swells.
2. The remaining excess sugar goes back into the blood in the form of fatty acids. These fats are moved around the body until a “safe” storage place is found—inactive areas like the belly, buttocks, breasts, and thighs.
3. When those areas are filled, the fatty acids have nowhere else to go except to the active vital organs such as the heart and kidneys.
4. As the heart and kidneys fill up with stored excess sugars, they slow down. Finally, their tissues degenerate and are replaced with fat cells.
5. The entire body is affected by the impaired functioning of the heart and kidneys. Blood pressure becomes abnormal and a long list of disorders follows:
a. The parasympathetic nervous system is affected. This system is responsible for sexual arousal, urination, defecation, salivation and digestion. i
Pressure on the Pancreas
When the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin, diabetes develops. We can literally wear out our pancreases by poor dietary choices. Diets high in processed foods have high refined sugar and high hydrolyzed fat content.
High glycemic foods, whether whole foods or processed foods, are those which the body quickly converts into glucose, a form of sugar. Eating a large amount of these foods shocks the body and overwhelms its capacity to deal with the influx of sugar in the blood. Over time, breakdown and disease result.
Hypoglycemia, another pancreatic problem, occurs when a body’s pancreas over-reacts to an over-abundance of sugar in the blood. In an attempt to deal with the sugar, the pancreas releases too much insulin, which leaves us feeling tired.
Refined sugar may also be a major factor in gallstone disease. The body’s efforts to digest a demineralized food can result in the upsetting of the mineral balance in our bodies. In an effort to rebalance itself, the body at times deposits excessive minerals somewhere in the body; at other times, it draws minerals from body parts or organs or cells where they’re needed. Calcium can be deposited in our gallbladders, resulting in the formation of gallstones, which are made of fats and calcium.
The average healthy digestive system can process and eliminate from two to four teaspoons of sugar daily without noticeable problems. However, one can of cola contains 11 teaspoons of sugar. Be alert to what your put in your body—your organs will thank you.
i.William Dufty, “Refined Sugar: The Sweetest Poison of All,” www.globalhealingcenter.com/sugar-problem/refined-sugar-the-sweetest-poison-of-all.