Sugar, Inflammation and Longevity

Monday, July 23, 2012 by: Angelo Druda
Tags: sugar, inflammation, longevity

(NaturalNews) Ancient Roman and Indian doctors used sugar topically to treat infections and internally to sweeten less palatable medicines. It was, however, fairly unknown in the common marketplace. The tropical conditions required to grow sugar and the labor intensive difficulty of harvesting the plant ensured the rarity of it's sweetness. But slavery ended all of that.

Sugar finally made its way into Europe in the sixteen hundreds, and it set off a demand that rivals in madness the modern cravings for cocaine and heroin. The dramatic expansion and institutionalization of the African slave trade was in direct response to the demand for sugar and was ignored and tolerated by the ever growing numbers of European sugar addicts. Today sugar is everywhere in our lives, even though it is not a true nutrient or necessary for human life.

The sweetness of sugar directly affects the stomach, spleen and pancreas. Sugar burns hot in the gut which is exactly what we like about it. It sets off a fire in the belly and lifts our energy for a time. The digestive system is naturally nourished and boosted by sweetness. It is however, the natural and grounded sweetness found in fruits, vegetables, grains and herbs that regenerates the stomach, spleen and pancreas and not the concentrated and fiery excess that sucrose provides. So there is a price to be paid for the sugary treat.

We learn as infants that the simplest way to make ourselves feel better is by putting something consoling in our mouths. This early response becomes something we can all resort to over the course of our lives. In the modern world the food choices are endless and the corporate purveyors of junk food stand ready to sell us their remedies for the boredom, doubt and discomfort that we feel in the midst of our lives.

Excess sugar in the blood stream causes the pancreas to excrete excess insulin. Regular ingestion of sugar causes the body to become resistant to insulin's sugar clearing effects. Since insulin promotes the storage of fats, weight gain quickly ensues. With little more than a teaspoon of sugar a day, inflammation levels begin to significantly increase. Elevated levels of inflammation dramatically accelerate degeneration in the body and can lead to a host of cell damaging diseases, that greatly reduces longevity.

In 2008 it was determined that over one third of American children and adolescents were overweight or obese. Those numbers have only increased. Modern research demonstrates that even short term obesity dramatically effects the present and future health of the person. In addition to this insulin resistant weight gain we see increasing blood pressure and circulatory degeneration, elevated levels of cell damaging inflammation, and a probable increase in risk for cancer. All this for our children today.

The overpriced American health care system is now buckling from the weight of treating ever growing numbers of people, a high percentage of whom are suffering conditions caused by chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance. We begin creating these so called "diabesity" diseases early in life, by putting sugar in children's breakfast cereals and then surrounding them with sucrose filled candies and cakes.

Everyone can take a giant step towards health, well being and longevity by simply eliminating sugar from their diets.

One of the best kept secrets of herbal medicine is just how effective berberine rich herbs are in lowering blood sugar levels, clearing inflammation and healing mucous membranes. In oriental medicine the right combinations of berberine herbs, such as gardenia, scute, coptis, and phellodendron, have been used for centuries to cure a broad range of inflammatory disorders. Recent research indicates that these individual herbs are extremely effective at reducing and even eliminating the modern effects of sugar driven insulin resistance. Used correctly, herbal medicine, in addition to right diet and exercise, can be an effective treatment for a broad range of "diabesity" issues.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22483555#%23

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22465347#%23

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22474499#%23

About the author:
Angelo Druda practices oriental medicine in Cobb, California. He is the founder of Traditional Botanical Medicine and the Author of The Tao of Rejuvenation.
www.TraditionalBotanicalMedicine.com
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