The bell goes for recess. Little Shimmy runs out into the
playground, pulls his candy bar out from his pocket, tears
off the wrapper and eats it hungrily. The candy bar goes down
Shimmy's foodpipe, into his stomach and melts in the juices
of the stomach. Within a few minutes, cane sugar from the
candy bar starts to enter Shimmy's bloodstream, raising the
level of blood sugar above the level which the body can
permit.
Sugar reaches the brain, overactivating the neural system and
stimulating the adrenal glands. Shimmy feels high. He feels
he has so much energy.
An urgent message is sent to the pancreas: "Send out an
emergency load of insulin into the blood to lower the level
of sugar!" The pancreas off-loads its reserve of insulin and
the level of sugar is quickly lowered. Shimmy suddenly feels
tired. He feels he needs another candy bar.
If this cycle continues, day-in and day-out, Shimmy's sugar
regulation system can become affected in one of two ways:
If the pancreas becomes overactive, it will send out too much
insulin and cause the level of sugar in the blood to always
be too low. This condition is called hypoglycemia; it can
cause feelings of exhaustion, depression, irritability,
vertigo and mental confusion.
If the pancreas becomes tired and stops functioning properly,
it will stop producing sufficient insulin, causing diabetes,
which is when the blood sugar level rises above the danger
level.
Eating the candy bar will also take away Shimmy's feeling of
natural hunger, so he will not eat the fruit and other
healthy food which his mother packed for him, thereby robbing
Shimmy of important nutrients which he needs for his health,
development and proper functioning.
Sugar can also promote dental decay, gum disease and
osteoporosis. It is also a frequent cause of hyperactivity
and poor concentration problems, particularly in children
when it can lead them to becoming labeled as ADD, ADHD or
dyslexic.
Molasses, brown sugar and unrefined cane juices all derive
their sweetness from the sugar they contain, though they also
contain nutrients and minerals.
There are many other sweeteners available and they can be
considered when you want to avoid cane sugar. Many of them
also do not cause the `ups and downs' of cane sugar.
Honey is, of course, the classic `old fashioned' sweetener.
Its sweetness comes from a mixture of glucose and fructose
and it is also rich in many nutrients and minerals. It takes
one bee an entire lifetime to collect one tablespoonful of
honey. Honey is about twice as sweet as sugar but raw honey
can be dangerous for children under one year old.
Date sugar, fruit purees and fruit juices are also healthy
and nutritious alternatives to sugar, but the more `natural'
they are, the healthier.
Sweeteners such as barley malt syrup, brown rice syrup and
amasake are made by brewing grain. The brewing converts their
starches into complex sugars which are digested slowly and
so, do not cause the dramatic changes to blood sugar level
which cane sugar causes.
Stevia is made from a South American herb and is 150- 200
times sweeter than regular sugar. It comes as a powder or as
a liquid extract and is reputed to be very healthy.
Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sacccharine and
acesulfame-K contain no nutrients and few or no calories and
can be 200 times sweeter than regular sugar. However, because
of possible side effects, their use needs to be monitored,
especially for small children.
