sugar blues

January 1, 2014 by christinefrmd

Hello faithful readers! I write to you today as a happy momma. It’s hard to believe it’s been 8 months since the happy day when Flynn entered the world. Nothing could have prepared me for the wonder of it all. There is so much joy and love. At the same time there have been challenges.

Slow progress on settling into a regular sleep schedule has kept me for getting back to blogging (and counseling). Things had started to get better in late October but then in November I went back to my urgent care job part-time and it’s been hard to find a regular sleep routine since then. We are making progress, but I’m still pretty sleep deprived.

With sleep deprivation has come not only the usual fatigue and foggy thinking; but also some serious sugar cravings. Through my health counseling work I understand my cravings have multiple origins. Some of the time I just crave the quick energy of a simple sugar. Other times I feel worn out and crave a “treat” for myself. And other times I find myself a little bored and a trip to the local coffee shop calls to me. Since I’m breast feeding I still need extra calories every day and if I don’t get enough healty protein and healthy fat in my meals then I’ll find myself craving sugar.

My philosophy in health counseling is one of “balance.” This means I don’t like to demonize food. Everything has it’s time and place. Too much of anything can lead to imbalance. And some foods will cause imbalances sooner than others. White sugar is definitely one of those foods. That doesn’t mean you need to remove it completely from your diet (though some people do find this approach to be helpful). However, knowing that it has harmful effects, I want to be very mindful about how I use it. Sweet foods, made with love, are a wonderful way to celebrate the sweet things in life. Still, there are many reasons to be judicious in your use of white sugar. The research around the detrimental health effects caused by sugar continues to grow.

White sugar intake has been linked to increased risk for :

diabetes (type2) obesity high cholesterol high blood pressure heart disease

fatty liver cancer memory impairment mood swings inflammation

dementia yeast infections dental disease

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I know this and I am completely convinced about the negative effects of sugar; yet I still struggle… why?

1) Sugar is everywhere: As a people Americans take in a huge amount of sugar. This has been steadily going up for decades. Sugar is all around us and eating large amounts of it is socially acceptable and even encouraged at times. Sweet drinks and foods are constantly in front of us, tempting us.

2) Sugar is sneaky: Sometimes sugar will appear in foods when you least expect it. Most packaged/ processed foods will have some added sugar. Some places you may be surprised to find a high amount of added sugar:

–BBQ sauces, Asian marinades (teriyaki sauces, etc), salad dressings, frozen dinners, frozen breakfast foods

Even things that seem like they could be healthy choices often have a LOT of added sugar such as:

–oatmeal, “wheat” bread, yogurt, packaged fruit, cereal bars, vitamin drinks, and bottled tea

Remember to read labels. 4gm of sugar = 1 tsp of sugar. And look at the list of ingredients too. Remember there are many euphamisms for sugar here are some:

-corn syrup –high fructose corn syrup
-sucrose -(pretty much anything ending in “-ose”
-maltose -dextrose
-lactose -fructose
-honey -white grape juice or other fruit concentrate
-barley malt -maple sugar
-sucanat -natural cane sugar
-dehydrated cane sugar -brown sugar
-turbinado sugar -invert sugar
-beet sugar -buttered syrup
-cane juice crystals -caramel
-molasses -sorghum syrup

3) Sugar is addictive: Sugar can stimulate some of the same “feel good” hormones in your brain that many street drugs activate. That is not to say sugar is equal to those drugs, it is just to show you that it has effects in your brain that can lead to cravings which have nothing to do with “will power.”

Research done with rats showed that when they were given sugar to binge eat they showed brain changes similar to those in getting off drugs. Also studies with humans have shown that when subjects were asked to look at pictures of milk shakes, their brains would react in a way similar to those seen in drug addicts.

Addiction has both biological and behavioral aspects. Sugar definitely has biological effects in the body but these do not seem to affect every person that same way. Those who struggle the most with sugar also have a strong association with sugar as a “reward” both physically and psychologically.

Nonjudgmental awareness of how you relate to sugar is one way to begin to change that relationship.

4) Sugar speaks to my brain: Besides stimulating the pleasure and reward areas of the brain sugar has another advantage. Plain glucose is the main fuel source for our brains. Other, more complex carbohydrates and sugars, are broken down in the body to glucose in order to fuel the brain an other organs/ systems in the body. When your energy is low, your brain knows that a simple sugar will raise your blood sugar the fastest and so that is often what you end up desiring the most.

However, the best way to keep your brain happy is to keep a steady level of glucose in the blood (not to put yourself on the up and down roller coaster of simple sugars). Foods that are digested more slowly will allow for a more level and consistent blood glucose level. This is behind the concept of glycemic index (a topic I’ve have written on many times in the past). Low glycemic index foods help to curb sugar cravings and keep the body healthier and happier. (See glycemicindex.com to learn more).

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So, yes, it’s a challenge. But I know I can do it. In fact I usually do a “cleanse” each year where I give up sugar for 2 to 3 weeks. And I know plenty of people who have given up white sugar 100% as a daily lifestyle choice. I can do it. But that said, I’ve been trying to do it for months now. Some reason always comes up as to why it’s a good time to put that off. A family party is coming up and there will be good treats and cake and I don’t want to offend anyone but not eating it (nice rationalization at work there!).

So here we are at the change of the year and I figure this is as good a time as any.

Cleanses work for me because they help me to reinforce my healthier food options and they help me to be more aware of how I am using sugar in my daily life. However, if you have never done a cleanse before then extreme, 100% removal of sugar may not be the best course of action for you. “Diets” don’t work. Their restrictive nature can lead to strong cravings and ultimately binge eating of the thing you are trying to avoid. That can lead to guilt and the next thing you know your mood is low and your brain has you craving even more sugar to get those “feel good” hormones back to work.

So I encourage you to look at your daily food intake and increase your awareness of how much sugar you are eating. It has been estimated that in the US we eat on average 22 teaspoons of sugar EACH DAY! Remember sugar has many detrimental effects on our health.

Here’s a handout I give to my clients called “the top ten ways sugar ruins your health”

Top Ten Reason’s Why Sugar Ruins Your Health:

1) Sugar raises your insulin levels leading to low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) which has been associated with fatigue, “brain fog“, moodiness, and irritability.

2) High Insulin levels over time leads to insulin resistance a condition associated with
-Type 2 Diabetes
-High serum triglycerides (fat)
-Low HDL (good) cholesterol
-Heart Disease
-Some Cancers (breast, colon, ovarian)
-Polycystic Ovary syndrome and infertility

3) Refined sugar is empty calories and regular intake raises the risk for weight gain and obesity.
-Just one 12 ounce bottle of sugar soda daily contains 150 calories which translates to an extra 15 pounds each year.

4) Sugar can suppress the immune system

5) Sugar interferes with the absorption of calcium and magnesium leading to weak bones (osteoporosis) among other problems

6) Sugar can cause a rapid rise in the adrenaline levels in children

7) Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines

8) Sugar can cause depression

9) Sugar may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease

10) A high sugar diet leads to inflammation in the body. And inflammation has been linked to many medical problems, diseases.

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So if you want to join me in reducing the amount of white sugar in your life, I welcome the support and want to offer mine to you as well. I have started a google group for this purpose. Anyone who would like access to the group please email me (christinefrmd@gmail.com). In this online group we can share our success and our challenges and increase our success. The great thing about healthy eating is that the more you do it the easier it becomes.

Foods that help and harm the brain; Preventing dementia through diet

April 8, 2013 by christinefrmd

I was fortunate enough to go to New York City at the beginning of March to attend the Integrative Health Symposium. On the first day David Perlmutter MD (author of The Better Brain Book) spoke about the link between diet and brain health. He touched on many aspects of this but one thing that came out loud and clear is SUGAR IS BAD FOR YOUR BRAIN.

Where there is Smoke there is Fire:

When it comes to a disease like Alzheimer’s, modern medicine often focuses on the end product of the destructive process going on in the brain. In Alzheimer’s this is often the excess Beta Amyloid levels. Dr Perlmutter argues that these “end products” are actually more like “smoke” we can do a lot more good for people if we stop focusing on them and instead bring our attention to the “fire” that is producing them.

His theory (and it is supported by many well done studies ) is that one of the major contributors to this disease are something called “Advanced Glycation End products” or AGEs. What the heck are they? Well “glycation” has to do with sugar. In the simplest terms, these a diverse group of molecules formed when sugar attaches to a protein or a fat. Once formed the reaction is irreversible. If you have more sugar circulating in your blood than is needed to meet your normal energy needs then you will make excessive AGE’s. Over time they can build up in the tissues of the body .

Ill effects of excessive AGE’s include: wrinkles, joint aches, cardio-vascular disease, fatty liver, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

Other things that cause AGE’s to be formed include: normal aging, oxidative stress (more on this later), and inflammation in the body. AGEs are also found in foods. They are most highly concentrated in animal products exposed to high heat (such as grilled, fried, or broiled meat). Those dark lines that form on grilled meat may not be the best thing for your brain!

AGEs have been known play a role in other neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and also in heart disease and other chronic illnesses. And they have been clearly linked to an increased risk for cognitive decline (memory loss, etc).

Sugar and the Brain:

Anytime you have more sugar circulating in your blood than you need to run the machinery of your body, you’ll end up making more AGE’s. Considering that the average American now consumes 2.5 pounds of sugar per WEEK, you can see how we are setting ourselves up for chronic disease.

An article way back in 1994 had already implicated AGE’s and Alzheimer’s ds (Vitek et al. “Advanced glycation end products contribute to amyloidosis in Alzheimer’s disease.” Neurobiology. vol 91. pp 4766-4700. May 1994)

Avoiding excessive sugar intake is vital for brain health. Especially highly refined sugars because they are more likely to lead to spikes in your circulating blood sugar.

Having excessive AGE’s increases overall inflammation in the body. Read on to see how you can combat inflammation and oxidative stress through a healthy diet.

Oxidative stress, is fuel for the fire:

Oxidation is the process that puts rust on metal and when it happens inside of us it makes us pretty rusty, too. Oxidation happens when harmful substances called “free radicals” act on healthy proteins and cells.

Free radicals are atoms of oxygen with an unpaired electron. That electron does not like to be unpaired and so it will take another electron away from other molecules in the body. Free radicals cause damage this way when they steal electrons from your DNA, cell walls, LDL cholesterol particles, or structural proteins. In face these free radicals have been implicated in many health problems including: premature aging, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, memory loss, and cataracts.

Where free Radicals come from: —-Some free radicals are normal byproducts of the body’s metabolism.

—–However many come from our environment: from pollutants in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink

—–Other sources include charbroiled meats, cigarette smoke, SUGAR, excessive stress, and sunlight exposure.

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In Alzheimer’s disease the beta amyloid that causes the destruction inside the brain is “glycolated” and “oxidized”. One study published in Neurobiology in 1994 showed that the brains of people with Alzheimer’s have 300% more of AGE modified beta amyloid than healthy brains. (Vitek, Michael et. al. “Advanced glycation end products contribute to amyloidosis and Alzheimers disease” Neurobiology. May 1994. Vol91: pp 4760-4770).

Glycated proteins (those changed by sugar), produce nearly 50 x more free radicals than non-glycated ones in the human body.

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Antioxidants to the rescue:

The Good News: if high sugar diets and excessive free radicals are contributing to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia there is something you can do about it. You can change your diet.

Free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants. These wonderful natural defenders are abundant in many foods. Some research has looked at using antioxidants in a pill form, as supplements, and the results have been mixed. Some early research did show that taking vitamin C and vitamin E may help to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Other research on vitamin E has shown increased risk for other problems. It’s complicated and so I’m not going to strongly come out for or against supplements right now. I believe the best way to get your antioxidants is in food, the way nature intended!

Most experts agree that diet and lifestyle changes are most effective when done BEFORE any symptoms arrive. But it’s never too late to make a healthy change.

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Foods that Help the Brain:

1) Antioxidants: Antioxidants are most abundant in brightly colored vegetables and fruits. Most people get more than enough fruit and not enough vegetables so keep that in mind when planning your meals. Antioxidants are also found in coffee and dark chocolate but the research seems to indicated that for brain health you want to focus more on the ones in vegetables and fruit (though organic coffee in moderation may also have some protective effect).

Goal: “eat the rainbow” –try to have something from each color of the rainbow every day. There are different ways to break up these food groups. At the conference one nutrition expert did it this way:

Blue/Purple: (they kept this as one group b/c they share many similar phytonutrients but I would still try to get some of each). Blueberries, blue corn chips (organic), Black berries, beets, eggplant, purple plums, prunes, raisins, grapes, purple kale, purple potatoes, etc.

RED: Apples, strawberries, raspberries, red plums, tomatoes, pomegranates, red peppers, etc

ORANGE: Winter squashes, carrots, apricots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, oranges, bell pepper, etc

YELLOW: Bell Peppers, corn, yellow onion, yellow squash, yellow peppers, avocado

GREEN: Broccoli, all the dark leafy greens, Brussels sprouts, artichoke, asparagus, green beans. GREEN TEA too (there is some research showing intake of green tea can prevent demential

2) Follow a low carb/ low glycemic index diet. Sugar is a carbohydrate; but not all carbohydrates are unhealthy. In fact they are a great source of prolonged energy and we need them to be healthy. But not all carbs are alike. Some will turn quickly into sugar once you eat them and lead to quick spikes and then crashes in your blood sugar. These are called “high glycemic index” carbs and are best avoided. “Low glycemic index” carbs tend to be more a more complex type of carbohydrate such as a vegetable or a whole, unrefined grain. To learn more about how to switch to a low glycemic index diet check out the following web page:

http://glycemicindex.com/index.php

3) Eat Lean Proteins:
Lean proteins such as beans, tofu, fish, are less likely to lead to the creation of excessive AGE’s. And are less inflammatory to the body than proteins high in saturated fats.

4) Eat Healthy Fats: Omega 3 fatty acids (such as those found in fish and nuts) are anti-inflammatory to the body and essential for normal brain function. The Omega 3 fatty acid DHA is crucial for brain function and we cannot manufacture it in the body. It must come in through our diet. The main source of this fatty acid is fish. If you do not eat any fish then you may want to consider taking a fish oil (or krill oil) supplement.

5) Avoid unhealthy fats, too much animal protein, and processed foods. Some examples of foods known to be unhealthy for your brain include:

-trans-fats –White sugar –Artificial sweeteners (aspartame) —Chemical food additives -hydrolyzed vegetable proteins –soy protein isolates —overcooked meats –caramelized foods –excessively sugary foods

6) Buy organic whenever possible:
Though we don’t know exactly what the impact is of pesticides on brain function, we do know that some pesticides are neurotoxins and it seems wise to avoid those if you want to keep your brain functioning at it’s best. It can be expensive to do 100% organic all the time. However some fruits and vegetables are known to excessively accumulate pesticides and those are best eaten as organically grown only. Leafy greens and berries are two examples that come to mind. You can also check out the “dirty dozen” list put out by the Environmental Working Group each year. It lists the produce with the highest pesticide levels and also those with the lowest.

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

7) Get enough Vitamin B12: An 8 year study of people in their 70’s looked at memory and other signs of healthy brain function. The researchers found that cognitive function declined much faster among the subjects with the lowest B12 levels. Surprisingly these people did not have to have levels below normal to show ill effects. Just being in the low normal group was enough. It is certainly a good idea to have your B12 level checked at your physical and it wouldn’t hurt to take a supplement. Most of the multivitamins for people over age 55 add in extra B12, or you could just take it as a stand alone with 25 to 50mcg for prevention and much higher doses (500 to 1000mcg) to treat deficiency.

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Don’t forget about Stress:

Stress is inflammatory to the body as well. A key part of brain health is having a healthy way of coping with stress:

–exercise –meditate –laugh –be creative –do some yoga, or tai chi –get enough sleep –have a massage

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Exercise :

Finding a type of exercise you enjoy is essential for overall health. Besides helping you to cope better with stress, exercise also helps you to use up excessive sugar and makes the insulin you have circulating in your body work better. It burns fat and the less fat you have sitting around your mid-section the less inflammation you have in your body. If you want to minimize the amount of AGE’s in your body then regular exercise is key.

You don’t have to run a marathon either. Just walking for 30 min 5 x a week is enough. If that seems like too much start with shorter walks and work your way up.

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consider the impact of medications (over the counter and prescription):

In his “Better Brain Book” Dr Perlmutter goes to great lengths to discuss all the potentially harmful medications out there. I recommend checking it out. Also there has been some new research recently reporting on the dangers of benzodiazepines (xanax, klonopin, valium, ativan, etc). A prospective study looking at 1063 men and women (mean age 78) who were all free of dementia at the onset of the study. They were followed for 15 years. The researchers compared those who started benzodiazepine use at year 3 or later in the study to those who never took them and found a 50% increased risk for dementia in the group using benzodiazepines.

This really struck me because poor sleep is a common problem as we age and these medications are often used to help with sleep. I think the message here is to think long and hard before taking these and to investigate more natural ways to cope with insomnia and anxiety. Contact me if you want to learn more about how to do that for yourself.

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Helpful Links: For those of you who want to learn more:

Dr Perlmutter on Alzheimers:

http://www.drperlmutter.com/videos/a-better-brain-alzheimers-disease-is-preventable/

Eating a low glycemic index diet:

http://glycemicindex.com/index.php

Eating Organic:

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/

Sleeping Better:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02037/sleep-aid

Exercise more:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/staying-active-full-story/