Saturday, January 22, 2011

Dietary Crack

I confess. I have a problem that is entirely out of control. I'm addicted to sugar. Searching the Internet for inspiration on kicking the habit, I came across the following article:

Sugar Addiction in Humans is the cause of much suffering!
www.naturalnews.com

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

"Human researchers are fascinated by the behavior of lab rats in response to food rewards, but few humans are willing to closely examine their own behavior in relationship to sugar. Most people living in western societies (the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, etc.) are truly addicted to sugar, and they use it as a form of self-medication to temporarily boost their mood and energy. The frequency and context in which these people press a button on a soda machine is eerily similar to the way lab rats press a lever to produce a food reward.

This CounterThink cartoon attempts to ask, "What would an outside observer think of modern human behavior in relation to sugar?" The answer is not difficult to predict: They would think humans were strange animals to be so utterly controlled by a crystalline white substance. Refined white sugar is like dietary crack, and it rots out your teeth just like meth, only slower. To get the real story on white sugar, read the pioneering book, "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" by Weston Price, or check out the Price-Pottenger Foundation.

Of course, most people reading this cartoon will insist, "I'm not addicted to sugar. I can quit eating sugar anytime I want." Really? Prove it! See if you can go sugar-free for just ten days. That's a real eye-opener for most people, because even if they have the determination to attempt such an experiment, most soon find themselves crawling back to the pantry, desperately seeking a soda beverage loaded with high-fructose corn syrup (liquid sugar) to end their withdrawal symptoms.

The truth is, most American consumers are so addicted to sugar that they will deny their addictions in the same way that a crack or heroin addict might. And yet, when it comes down to it, sugar controls their behavior. If they don't have their sugar in the morning (in their coffee, pancakes and cereals), sugar at lunch (in the salad dressing, pasta sauce, soda and restaurant food) and sugar at dinner (there's sugar in pizza, ketchup and BBQ sauce, plus virtually all restaurant foods), then they suffer serious withdrawal symptoms and go crazy with moodiness and irritability. They start blaming everyone around them for silly things, and they may even become sweaty and light-headed.

Curious, isn't it? That's what happens when you take a substance out of nature and refine it to maximize its chemical surface area and biological activity. Cocaine is a drug that's refined from coca leaves. Opium is a drug that's refined from poppies. And sugar is a drug that's refined from sugarcane. And while we have a "war on drugs" against cocaine and heroin, our taxpayer dollars actually subsidize the sugar industry, making refined white sugar cheap and widely available to the entire population so that everyone can be equally hooked.

Refined white sugar is a pleasure drug. If you don't believe me, just put a spoonful on your tongue and observe the instantaneous effects. You'll experience a warming, comfortable feeling that makes you feel safe and happy. They're not called "comfort foods" by accident.

Sugar is, essentially, a legalized recreational drug that's socially acceptable to consume. And yet, just like other drugs, it destroys a person's health over time, rotting out their teeth, disrupting normal brain function, promoting heart disease and directly causing diabetes and obesity. The argument that "street drugs are outlawed because they're dangerous to a person's health" falls flat on its face when you consider what sugar does to the human body. It's a lot more dangerous than marijuana, for example, and yet marijuana is illegal to possess or consume.

Isn't it curious how, in modern society, we fight a war against certain drugs (like cocaine), yet subsidize others? (Like sugar.) The difference, of course, is that the sugar industry has a powerful political lobby and is universally abused by virtually the entire population. Drugs that are abused by only a few (such as heroin) get outlawed, while drugs that are abused by everyone (such as caffeine and sugar) receive legal immunity. It's mob rule. And the mob is addicted to sugar."




Makes sense to me!

5 comments:

autismand said...

Oh. My. G_d. Absolutely true. Scary. I should do something about it but I'm hooked :(

Autism Mom Rising said...

I like this piece. He makes a good point about how normal natural substances distilled down to one element can be harmful. Think of MSG....that's just an isolated aspect of the natural amino acid glutamate, and yet it triggers migranes and nerve problems in some people.

Lora said...

I can't believe that he likened sugar to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin! Sugar is bad but c'mon, it doesn't alter your cognitive thinking and your behavior! It isn't illegal nor should it be and the damage that it does is minimal compared to what hardened drugs do.

I'll admit that some people do have addictions to it and it does contribute to obesity but the addiction is psychological not physiological at least I don't think so. D, maybe you have an addiction to sugar but don't be too hard on yourself because I doubt that you are out on the street corner looking to score or in your home lab brewing up something that could potentially kill you!

Sorry for getting so passionate about this but this is something that is personal to me because I used to work undercover for the FBI doing drug sting operations. I know the damage that drugs can do and sugar is innocent by comparison, in fact, there is no comparison because it is apples and oranges.

If sugar is all that you are addicted to then so be it...you don't deserve to be persecuted over it!

Lynn said...

I'm a sugar junkie...I admit it! Are you giving up your Coke, Dee?

dluvscoke said...

Lora- I understand your point.

Lynn- Hell no. I'm not crazy. I drink Diet Coke,...no sugar in that. :)

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