HEALTH
BY DR. SUSAN MAPLES
Rethink your sugar Would sugar by any other name taste as sweet?
W
e all have a sweet tooth, and whether you get your fix by eating an apple or slamming your favorite 20 oz. soda makes a difference! It’s partly about the quality of the sweetener and partly about the quantity and velocity with which it hits the bloodstream. Consuming sugar in absence of its natural antidote (plant fiber) is not as healthy. Fiber slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, allowing your insulin pump to respond optimally. That results in lower fat storage, suppressed appetite and reduced diabetes risk. For the same reasons, eating whole foods is far superior to juice or even smoothies, where you drink a freight of blended fruits/veggies/seeds/nuts much faster than if you chewed them all first. But what about sweetened commercial foods? The kind of sweetener makes a difference. First, fructose has a negative impact on the liver. That’s why our country’s massive influx of high
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