How much do you love sweet food?

sweet food and heart health
Sweet Food and Your
Heart Health

Welcome to the latest edition of Optimal Heart Health 4 Life!

You know, there are just so many aspects to maintaining your health. It doesn’t just happen magically. I suspect that many people don’t give their long term health a second thought until they become ill. Now, I know that you’re not one of those people because you wouldn’t have opted in to receive this E-zine if you weren’t interested in doing all you can to stay healthy so I won’t labor the point too much!

Discussing ways to keep healthy and promote longevity naturally and normally can all start to sound a bit too serious for some and they can soon switch off, an unfortunate sign that they intend to take their chances and roll the dice.

So, when I approach the subject of sweet food, a real source of pleasure in so many people’s lives I’m well aware that you might think that I’m trying to spoil your fun, but truthfully, that’s the last thing I want to do.

I want you to be able to look forward to years of fun in your life. That‘s why it’s important to me that you understand certain disease prevention strategies that could make a huge difference to you.

It’s very normal for you to like sweet food, so don’t feel bad about that in any way. The problem is though…

Do you crave it? Can you go through the day without it?

Now, shut your eyes and take yourself on a vacation to a deserted tropical island…the sun is out, nice and warm, hmmm, clear blue water, golden sand, no sodas, fizzy drinks and snack bars, What! Oh No!

If you don’t think you could stand to live in some perfect, idyllic environment because it lacks 24 / 7 access to sugar laden processed foods then maybe sweet foods have more than just a little hold over you.

So, maybe you’re thinking so what?

Well, consider this…

  • Researchers at Princeton University in the US successfully turned lab rats into sugar addicts. The rats actually showed that they craved sugar when it was removed from them, then they had a sugar binge when it was returned!

  • Researchers from Auckland New Zealand recently concluded that foods that have a large quantity of refined sugar and refined flour (flour contains starch. Starch is a complex carbohydrate or sugar) have the same addictive effect as that of tobacco
  • Here’s the important point.

    The Head researcher of the New Zealand team (they used real people in their study not rats!) commented that processed carbohydrates can very rapidly raise the amount of sugar in your blood. This spiking in blood sugar stimulates the areas of the brain that are active in drug addiction.

    So sugar has a powerful stimulatory effect on the ‘pleasure center’ in your central nervous system. That’s why you like it…and in moderation that’s ok. (everyday and several times a day is not moderation).

    Unfortunately, some people are more prone to this ‘sweet addiction’ than others.

    For now, just understand that too much reliance on sweet foods everyday can stress your pancreas out. I know, you thought it was just you that got stressed out trying to manage your day! Truthfully though, your pancreas can come under great stress with a high sugar diet and that has significant implications for the development of coronary heart disease and weight gain.

    Try and imagine yourself back on that tropical island again…without the availability of refined sweet foods that you get from your local convenience store. Just settle in with that image…it’s not so bad is it? Plenty of fish, spicy vegetable and seasonal fruit dishes to delight your taste buds…You don’t need all that processed sugar really do you?

    Next time I’ll explore the negative health effects of too much refined sugar and carbohydrates in your diet.

    Until then, I wish you all the best in vibrant health!

    Andrew.

    Andrew Large, coronary heart health
    Andrew has spent in excess of twenty years in the health care industry mostly as part of a Cardiology based diagnostic team. Andrew runs his own website at http://www.coronary-heart-health.com where you can learn more about heart disease, heart health, weight control and nutrition.