Iansmama

Sugar is a drug. It has addictive properties.

Sugar taxes your endocrine system to the max. You end up with problems with your pancreas and your adrenals which ends up causing insulin problems and adrenal fatigue.

Sugar and other refined products cause your liver to be overworked and send out fat and cholesterol which gets stored in the body causing weight problems and clogged arteries.

Eating refined products weakens your immune system. Sugar cane has vitamins and minerals in it. When it is refined and turned into table sugar it is close to 100% pure carbohydrate. All the vitamins and minerals have been removed so that when you consume it your body actually leeches the vitamins and minerals from itself to process the sugar. Over consumption of refined sugar (which I believe includes products like raw sugar and turbinado) leads to a nutrient deficiency which compromises the immune system.

Agave nectar and fruit juice concentrates are primarily fructose, which, consumed in large quantities, can also be damaging to your body. Fructose is actually very hard for the liver to process. When we consume it in naturally occuring quantities in fruits the amount of fructose is fairly self-limiting...one can only eat so much fruit at a time. However, when we consume straight or concentrated fructose like we would refined sugar, it can lead to problems as well.

When we need a sweetner for our foods we like to use rapadura, organic maple syrup, dates, or raw honey...all as unrefined as possible, all products that still contain the nutrients they were designed to have, and we use as little as possible.

The things that I have had improve since cutting out refined sugars:

My complexion
My ability to be patient
My moods are stable and my emotional responses are in line with the events that cause them
Less PMS symptoms
My energy level is stable