by Lawrence Wilson, MD

SUGARS OR SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES

Sugars are the simplest type of carbohydrates. They are also called simple carbohydrates. Chemically, most are ring-shaped structures with five or six carbon atoms arranged in a circle or ring. This ring is under tension. When we eat sugars, our bodies are able to open the ring, releasing energy. This is somewhat like opening a jack-in-the-box. Opening the ring structure releases the energy, similar to releasing a spring that is under tension.

FRUIT

Ripe fruit contains mainly simple carbohydrates or sugars. These are also found in other sweet foods such as honey, maple syrup, corn sweeteners and refined sugar. Fruits also contain some fiber and vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

However, most fruit is mainly sugar and water. I feel that fruit is nutritionally highly overrated. Many who are trying to live healthfully eat an excessive amount of it because it is quick and easy to eat, satisfies cravings for sugar and is less expensive than many protein foods. Fruit is largely unhealthful today because:

· Most fruit today is hybridized. That is, it has been altered for enhanced sweetness, better shelf life or bug resistance, but not for better nutrition. Most hybrid fruit contains more sugar, but almost all contains fewer vitamins and minerals. If you happen upon an older apple or pear tree, you will often find the fruit is smaller and less sweet.

· Lots of pesticides are often used to grow fruit. It is always best, therefore, to seek out organically grown fruit.

· Fruit is extremely yin in Chinese medical terms. This is not helpful for almost all people.

· Fruit acids often have an acidic reaction in sick individuals, in spite of what one is told by the acid-alkaline books and websites.

· Eating fruit often upsets the blood sugar, which, in turn, stresses the adrenals glands even more.

· Fruit is also hard to digest when combined with other foods. Therefore, it is best eaten alone, if at all.

· Fruit is very low in etheric energy.

Do not eat more than one small piece of fruit daily, and none is needed. Among the best fruits are berries such as blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. Berries are high in anti-oxidants and other health-promoting substances. Dates and figs are also very nutritious, though they are also very sweet. Other fruits, such as apples, peaches, pears, plums and others are also okay if eaten in very small quantities.

NONABSORBABLE SUGARS

Just as we cannot digest some fibrous starches, our bodies do not absorb some sugars. These are found in various fruits and vegetables, and help make the food sweet-tasting without adding calories or sugar to the diet.

In the food industry, these are used as natural non-caloric sweeteners and include mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol. These are excellent sweeteners if one does not want the calories that the other sugars provide. They are not without problems, however. They still upset the blood sugar level, though less than calorie-containing sugars. They can send phony signals to the body that one is eating a sugar and to prepare to digest the sugar, when in fact the product is not digested and absorbed at all.

I believe it is best not to sweeten your food. The best solution is to avoid all sweets. Sweetening your food just a habit, and with patience and practice it can be changed. However, if you need a non-caloric sweetener, xylitol or mannitol are far better than the artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Equal, Splenda or Saccharin.

The latter are synthetic chemicals that have been shown to have many adverse effects on the body. Indeed, the term “aspartame disease” describes a range of symptoms from depression to seizures that can result from consuming diet soda and hundreds of other products sweetened with NutraSweet or Equal. If you have any unusual symptoms and use artificial sweeteners, try discontinuing them all for at least three weeks and notice if you feel better.

One can find non-caloric natural sweeteners such as xylitol, sorbitol or mannitol at health food stores and some supermarkets.

REFINED SUGARS

Most sugars eaten today, including most honey, is refined. This means that some or all of the minerals and vitamins naturally contained in the food are removed. This is a crime against humanity, as these precise minerals, vitamins and other nutrients are needed just to digest the food. Therefore, the more that one eats of these foods, the more sick one becomes.

For example, sugar cane is processed into molasses and sugar. The sugar contains almost no vitamins or minerals. Molasses, meanwhile, is considered a health food, as it is rich in micronutrients. Despite some propaganda to the contrary, eating sugar leads to tooth decay, hypoglycemia, hyperactive behavior, mood swings, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and more illnesses.

Unfortunately, most Americans receive a major portion of their calories from refined sweeteners. The most popular today is high-fructose corn syrup. It is one of the worst sugars, but it is widely used, as it is inexpensive. Corn syrup, which is mainly fructose, interferes with blood sugar and with copper metabolism. These are just two of its problems.

Other refined sugars are barley malt and rice syrup, which are little better than refined sugar. Others are beet sugar, and most honey and maple syrup. Most honey is boiled, and most maple syrup contains a little real syrup with added sugar. These “foods” contain little or no vitamins and are correctly called “empty calories”. They contribute to an epidemic today of obesity, hypoglycemia, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. Preferably totally avoid all sugars, even natural ones.

Refined sweeteners are often listed on food labels as glucose, fructose, maltose, corn syrup, sugar, liquid sugar or natural sweeteners. They are added to most processed foods from soda pop and cereals to dressings, breads, pastries, desserts of all kinds, condiments such as ketchup and mustard, peanuts butter and hundreds of other foods. They upset blood sugar and raise insulin levels, slowly causing many health conditions.

1. Cleave, T.L., The Saccharine Disease, The Master Disease Of Our Time, Keats Publishing, CT, 1974.

2. Dufty, W., Sugar Blues

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