By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
There is an epidemic of diabetes and hypertension, arthritis and cancer in the Cordillera, especially in town centers. This has slowly crept on us, starting way back in the 1990s, so stealthily that we are not alarmed. We know that people are dying from cancer, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure but we are not alarmed. We seem to be resigned to this situation and we go on our merry unhealthy eating habits. Masarap kumain at ang matamis ay masarap.
Thus I was happy when in one gathering, I saw an old friend whom I haven’t seen for many years and she was still strong at 74 years. She told me that she followed my advice of not adding sugar to her food or drink. Wow, thank you! There are people who are concerned about their health, after all.
When the world observed the epidemic proportions of these modern diseases, science pointed to excess fat intake as the culprit. So while people were cutting down on fats, they were slowly being addicted to sweets because there were no strong health information campaigns regarding sugar and the food industry was adding sugar to almost all processed food- from junk food to corned beef. Let’s see what excess sugar does to our body:
1. Tooth decay – sugar feeds the bacteria in the mouth and acid is produced corroding the enamel. We see a lot of dental caries nowadays, even in young children. Actually, this is usually the first sign that one is eating or drinking excess sugar.
2. Diabetes – refined sugar causes a spike of sugar levels in your blood which triggers the release of insulin from the pancreas. Insulin moves the sugar from the blood to the cells for them to use or store. But when blood sugar spikes are frequent because you eat sugary food and drink 5-6 times a day, everyday, then your pancreas will be tired and will no longer release insulin. So the sugar stays in your blood and your lab result will show this. This increased blood sugar is seen as a threat by the body so it creates an inflammatory reaction. This inflammation can damage all vital parts of your body, including your reproductive organs. So it could cause erectile dysfunction. Attention, men!
3. Heart disease including hypertension – Excess sugar in your body is converted into triglycerides, a form of fat, which makes your blood malapot also so this could lead to hypertension and heart disease.
4. Fatty liver – excess fructose (from processed sugar) is converted into fat in the liver so you will get fatty liver. So you see, not only alcoholics get fatty liver.
5. Arthritis – sugar can bind to proteins and fats forming advanced glycation end products (AGEs) – these are sticky, toxic by-products that can stick to your joints and damage joint tissues and cause inflammation. Araaay!
6. Sugar weakens immune system and provides food for bad bacteria and even cancer cells.
7. Sugar can create addiction-like effects in the body and brain – especially refined sugars in to processed foods. This is what we should really be concerned with so we know how to handle our sugar cravings. Refined sugars stimulate the release of dopamine in the brain’s reward center, the same area activated by drugs like cocaine or alcohol. Repeated sugar intake can alter this response and make you crave for more sugar.
Sugar is really the culprit in our diseases today. Scary, isn’t it? I am referring to added sugars in our food – white sugar, brown sugar, white bread, cookies, powdered sugar in drinks, cakes, etc., added sugars in processed foods. Always read the labels. And start cutting back on processed foods and stay healthy.
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“You were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, to serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13
