All food is broken down into sugar. That means all carbohydrates and all protein are eventually broken down into sugar, in the form of glucose, and this is known as a simple sugar. Do not be scared to hear the word sugar, for this is not a bad thing, because the all the cells in our bodies rely upon glucose for energy. However, once the body has used all the glucose it needs to function, the surplus glucose will be stored in the body. The main places in the body which excess glucose is stored, is in the liver, muscles and in fat. When blood glucose levels are too high, the pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin. It is insulin which combines with the glucose to form glycogen. Glycogen is basically stored glucose/sugar/energy, and it will be used effectively again when the body needs it. When the body eventually needs more glucose in the blood for energy, the pancreas will be stimulated to secrete another hormone called Glucagon. Glucagon, will then go the target areas of the liver, muscles and fat and transfer the stored glycogen back into glucose/sugar/energy for the body to use and function. This is the basic principle on how the body uses sugar as energy... So, what's the problem ? if the body is able to transfer sugar into energy then what's the big deal ?
The problem lies in FAT. If there is too much sugar in the blood, meaning that the body is functioning well as it should, and that it doesn't need anymore glucose for energy, it will just store the sugar to use at a later time when needed ... however, if one keeps adding more and more sugar to the system before the body needs it, the body will just keep on storing and storing the sugar in the fat cells, creating more and more fat ... hence, this is how people get fat. This brings us back to the subject of limiting even raw food deserts, because most raw deserts are sweetened with fruit or fruit syrups. As we learned, fruits are classed as a carbohydrate ...and all carbohydrates are broken down into ... yes, you've guessed it ...SUGAR ... and as we have just learned, this sugar will be stored as fat, even if it came from fruit.
As we can observe, people who are fat, tend to be over weight. People who are over weight, are at a higher risk of developing diabetes. There are two types of diabetes ... Type 1~ meaning that person is un able to produce insulin, which results in high blood glucose levels. Type 2 ~ meaning that body is un able to use the insulin which has been produced by the pancreas, and this is called insulin resistant. Diabetes can be fatal, so this is another reason to eat a low glycimic diet or a low sugar diet.
Cholesterol is another word used a lot to describe fat. Although we need to be careful how we use this word cholesterol, because not all cholesterol is bad for us, in fact, there is a type of cholesterol which is absolutely essential for our health. There are two types of cholesterol ... LDL ~ Low density lipoprotein, and HDL~ High density lipoprotein. LDL can build up in the arteries, forming plaque and eventual blockages that can lead to heart disease or stroke. Foods which contain the most LDL are meat, fish and dairy. On the other hand HDL is the good cholesterol,which the body needs to make all of our hormones. Fruits and vegetables/leafy greens are high in HDL. This simple fact alone is another reason why Gabriel teaches the world to eat a raw plant based diet. Triglyceride, which is stored fat from excess sugar actually decreases the levels of HDL in the body, so we can see again another correlation between sugar and fat.
Also, Low levels of HDL reduce the function of certain hormones like dopamine which can lead to depression. Interestingly enough, depression is very common with people who have heart disease, diabetes or for people who are over weight...again this shows us the relationship and dangers of excess sugar.
Remember, people who live the longest ... eat less than most ... people who live the longest eat less at night ... people who live the longest, eat a live raw food diet, which is very low in sugar.
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