Equally grim facts exist for diabetes. From 1980 to 2011 the
number of Americans with diagnosed diabetes has more than tripled. There are
over 25.8 million Americans with diabetes and an additional 79 million
Americans over the age of 20 with pre-diabetes. That’s beyond a third of adult
Americans directly affected by diabetes. The estimated treatment cost associated with diabetes is staggering at over $245 Billion.
Add to this the emerging epidemic of diabetes in young children and you have a
recipe for disaster. It’s no wonder why some are saying this may be the first
generation of children to die before their parents. Considering the devastation
from obesity and diabetes alone, many are questioning whether America will survive
the economic outlay for medical treatment, while still finding enough healthy
individuals to fill basic jobs, including safety and military positions. Want
to know the real definition of stupidity? In the interest of saving a few jobs
that could easily be retrained, and securing the re-election war chests of
elected officials, each year our government continues to subsidize sugar production
and corn (high fructose corn syrup) rather than subsidize healthy organic foods
such as organic fruit and leafy green vegetables.
Certainly we don’t need to worry about terrorists when we
are doing everything to kill ourselves as fast as possible. In fact it would be
much more effective for terrorists to simply flood the market with cheap candy
and soft drinks if they really want to speed the downfall of America. Oh, I
forgot, we’re doing that already.
To understand why we’re in this pickle, all we need do is
take a look at the history of sugar and sweetener use in America. In 1822 the
average sugar per capita consumption was only 9 pounds. Prior to this time added
sugar was not a significant factor in recorded history. By 1900, sugar
consumption had risen to 90 pounds per capita, and in 1920 that became 100
pounds. In 1978 high fructose corn syrup entered the market, and by 1980
obesity began its rise from 12.7% to 27.7% of Americans by the year 2000. In
1997 diabetes, already on the rise, began a dramatic increase. With the
addition of HFCS, total sweetener consumption just kept increasing. By the year
2000 our added sweetener consumption had risen to 152 pounds per capita.
The pattern is clear. Increased
added sugar consumption contributes to increased obesity and diabetes.
So why are we eating so much sugar? Simple, it’s addictive.
One study showed that Oreo Cookies with their sugar and fat were more addictive
than cocaine and morphine. The Oreos actually activated more neurons in the
brains pleasure and reward centers than the drugs.
Now we know that addiction has both biological and behavioral components, and in
our high stress environment sugar appears to fit the bill for both components. Sugar
is added to most every processed food we eat. From so-called healthy breads, to
cereals and energy bars, to even tomato sauce, it’s everywhere. When we try to
go off sugar, we often experience real symptoms of withdrawal, like when trying
to eliminate nicotine of caffeine. Then there’s the taste factor. During the
ill-advised political push to make foods ‘fat free’, food processors found that
no fat made food taste like cardboard, hence they add more sugar and salt to
sell more product.
So ask yourself, what do obesity and diabetes have in common
with Prostate Cancer? We just chatted about one part of the relationship under
the heading of Nutrition and Cancer-Part 2-Inflammation. It’s called ‘Silent Inflammation’.
How do you expect your body to fight an emerging cancer when all its resources
are focused on just trying to keep your overweight, insulin resistant body
alive? Now consider the toxic factor of sugar. In a 2013 article Robert Lustig,
M.D. states, “Sugar in excess is a toxin, unrelated to its calories. The dose
determines the poison. Like alcohol, a little sugar is fine, but a lot is not.
And the food industry has put us way over our limit."
He goes on to say, “When you do the math, fully one-quarter of the world's
diabetes is explained by sugar alone”; and “the increase in sugar consumption
over the past 30 years paralleled the increase in obesity, diabetes and heart
disease.” According to Doctor Lustig fructose, a large part of sugars is only
metabolized in the liver, which quickly becomes overwhelmed by the excessive amount.
The liver then turns the excessive fructose directly into fat, becoming insulin
resistant in the process, causing insulin levels to spike. This in turn causes more
food to be stored as fat, making more insulin resistance, decreasing liver
function, allowing more toxins to be stored in the body, driving greater
inflammation throughout the body, and opening the path for cancer.
As inflammation increases in the body it causes the loss of protective
antioxidants. As toxins are increased by an overwhelmed liver and poor diet,
infections begin to increase. This causes the body to release oxygen and
nitrogen radicals to fight the infections and bacteria. Without protective
antioxidants these same radicals go on to damage normal DNA, causing cancer growth
to begin. By this process it’s suggested that inflammation and oxidation play key roles in development of prostate cancer.
According to Lewis Cantley, director of the Cancer Center at Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School, as much as 80 percent of
all cancers are “driven by either mutations or environmental factors that work
to enhance or mimic the effect of insulin on the incipient tumor cells.” His research
has shown that refined sugar stimulates the growth of cancer cells into tumors,
and then larger tumors.
To sum up, at the May 21, 2014 of the 109th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association a study was presented
stating that having two or more metabolic syndrome components including: obesity,
high blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar (>100), high fasting
insulin (>5), low HDL (good) cholesterol (<40), high triglycerides
(>150), or fatty liver, and storing fat primarily in the belly, was associated
with an increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer. Considering obesity,
diabetes, insulin spikes and inflammation, the connection between Prostate
Cancer and Sugar is abundantly clear.
Of course, once you have Prostate Cancer sugars secondary
role is to feed the cancer. One recent study confirms prostate cancer cells
have a much higher demand for glucose over healthy cells, and that chronically
elevated blood glucose, insulin, and insulin-like growth factors stimulate
prostate cancer growth while worsening the outcome in patients.
Another study published in 2011
found that lower carbohydrate diets slowed tumor growth. Both these studies confirm
that reducing sugars and processed carbs could slow the growth of cancer giving
the body a better chance for healing.
Next, lets take a look a where all this sugar in our diet is
coming from, what types of sugars may be worse or better than others, surprising
sources of sugars, artificial sweeteners and cancer promotion, and acceptable
sweeteners for Prostate Cancer Survivors. Much more to follow.
Looking for more help
and support?
Go to:
http://steve-warren.healthcoach.integrativenutrition.com/
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