Its a Sin to be Sweet
By
Maulana Khalid Dhorat
Ahmed is a cute and bubbly little 8-year old, with a mischievous grin set in his doughnut face. He has endless energy and zest for life. The problem is that Ahmed suffers from asthma and is constantly constipated. Although he is an athlete and loves soccer, his eyesight is failing him and he is obese. He suffers from severe headaches every second day and his dentist just informed him that three of his permanent teeth that just popped up will have to be extracted. On his last check-up, his GP told him that his pancreas is under strain and he has a touch of diabetes. Life seems to robbing this promising youngster of his vitality…and Ahmed is not the only youngster in this boat.
Is sugar, Ahmed’s ‘sweet’ friend which accompanies him in all his drinks, food, lunch, snacks and cereal, plotting his secret demise? Well, many doctors and nutritionists seem to think so. And now the Minister of Finance seems to also agree with them when he proposed a “Sugar Tax” which would see prices of soft drinks, juices, sweets, chocolates, and confectionary items sky rocket. Although I doubt our Minister really cares about our health, but he has rightly classified sugar as a ‘sinful item,’ a type of ‘innocent sweet poison’ along with tobacco and wine, in order to increase state revenue so that government can steal a little more next year.
So, is sugar really a form of slow poison? Well, there is a vast sea of research suggesting that indeed it is. The single largest source of calories of everyone comes from sugar. In 1700, the average person consumed only about 2 kgs of sugar per year, in 1800, about 9 kgs; but by 1900, it rose to 50 kgs per year! A 2015 study concluded that half the population in western countries consumed about 300 grams of sugar per day – translating to about 107 kgs of sugar per year! This sugar is not only added in your morning coffee or tea, but loaded into soft drinks, fruit juices, sports drinks, and hidden in almost all cereals and processed foods – from bologna to pretzels to tomato sauce and cheese spread. And now for the shocker – most infant formula has the sugar equivalent of one can of Coca-Cola, so babies are being metabolically poisoned from day one of taking formula.
In 1893, there were fewer than 3 cases of diabetes per 100 000 people in the west. Today, diabetes strikes almost 14 000 out of every 100 000 people.
Mr Minister, please ban sugar totally and don’t take note of the huge beverage and confectionary industries who will threaten to pull out of South Africa. Way back in 1957, Dr. William Coda Martin answered the question on everyone’s mind: “When is a food a food, and when is it a poison?” His working definition of “poison” was: “Medically: Any substance applied to the body, ingested or developed within the body, which causes or may cause disease.” Dr. Martin then classified refined sugar as a poison because it has been depleted of its life forces, vitamins and minerals.
“What is left after refining consists of pure, refined carbohydrates. The body cannot utilize this refined starch and carbohydrates unless the depleted proteins, vitamins and minerals are present. Nature supplies these elements in each plant in quantities sufficient to metabolize the carbohydrate in that particular plant. There is no excess for other added carbohydrates. Incomplete carbohydrate metabolism results in the formation of ‘toxic metabolite’ such as pyruvic acid and abnormal sugars containing five carbon atoms. Pyruvic acid accumulates in the brain and nervous system and abnormal sugars in the red blood cells. These toxic metabolites interfere with the respiration of the cells. They cannot get sufficient oxygen to survive and function normally. In time, some of the cells die. This interferes with the function of the body and starts all degenerative diseases,” he said.
To simplify the above, refined sugar is lethal when ingested by humans because it provides only that which nutritionists describe as “empty” or “naked” calories. In action, sugar taken every day, as many of us do, produces a continuously over-acid condition, and more and more minerals are required from deep in the body in an attempt to rectify the imbalance. Finally, in order to protect the blood, huge amounts of calcium is taken from the bones and teeth that causes the entire body to decay and weaken. Excess sugar eventually affects every organ in the body. Initially, it is stored in the liver in the form of glucose (glycogen). Since the liver’s capacity is limited, a daily intake of refined sugar (above the required amount of natural sugar) soon makes the liver expand like a balloon. When the liver is filled to its maximum, the excess glycogen is returned to the blood in the form of fatty acids. These are taken to every part of the body and stored in the most inactive areas: the belly, the buttocks, the breasts and the thighs. This explains obesity.
Now for the alarming part – when these comparatively harmless places are completely filled, fatty acids are then distributed among active organs, such as the heart and kidneys. These organs begin to slow down, their tissues degenerate and turn to fat. The whole body is affected by their reduced ability, and abnormal blood pressure is created. The parasympathetic nervous system is affected; and organs governed by it, such as the small brain, become inactive or paralyzed. The circulatory and lymphatic systems are invaded, and the quality of the red corpuscles starts to change. An overabundance of white cells occurs, and the creation of tissue becomes slower. Our body’s tolerance and immunizing power becomes limited, so we cannot respond properly to extreme attacks, whether they be cold, heat, mosquitoes or microbes.
Excessive sugar also negatively impacts the functioning of the brain. The key to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, a vital compound found in many vegetables. The B vitamins play a major role in dividing glutamic acid into antagonistic-complementary compounds which produce a “proceed” or “control” response in the brain. B vitamins are also manufactured by symbiotic bacteria which live in our intestines. When refined sugar is taken daily, these bacteria wither and die, and our stock of B vitamins gets very low. Too much sugar makes one sleepy; our ability to calculate and remember is lost. So, we now produce a whole generation of dumb scholars, rather than bright original thinkers.
It has been proven today beyond any measure of doubt, that
(1) Sugar is a major factor in dental decay;
(2) Sugar in a person’s diet causes obesity;
(3) Removal of sugar from diets has cured symptoms of paralysis, and other diseases such as diabetes, cancer, auto-immune diseases, and heart illnesses.
Initially, sugar merchants had a huge problem when they tried feeding sugar to animals, but when they refused to eat it, they had to get rid of their huge stockpiles. So what did they do? They slowly introduced it to human beings via clever advertising campaigns and fake researches. Don’t be fooled by these campaigns. Remember that although sugar is made primarily from cane and beets (natural plants), but over 95% of the natural product is lost after refining. Heroin, too, could be advertised as being made from natural ingredients. The opium poppy is as natural as the sugar beet. It’s what man does with it that tells the story.
Finally, sugar is about to become an expensive luxury – a sin to be sweet,- in the near South African future. Those mouth-watering desserts or ice-creams may become a rare treat. So before your body goes into shock, start reducing your sugar intake from now… you will not only preserve your health, but your money too.
