How...about sugar usage?
Currently reading this very interesting book called 'Sugar Shock' which covers quite a few things. A few highlights:
- in 1800 the avg. American consumed 2.2 teaspoons per day historians estimate.
- By 2005, the av.g American consumed a little more than three-quarter cup a day
"Even THREE teaspoons of refined sugars can work to throw the body out of balance and compromise it's health."
Sooo?
- A half cup portion of Ben & Jerry's Chuncky Monkey contains 28 grams or roughly 7 teaspoons of sugar
- A 8-ounce Minute Maid Strawberry Slurpee from 7-Eleven: 33 grams version 8.25 teaspoons, usually bought at twice that size: 16.5 teaspoons
- A 16-ounce grande Starbucks Strawberries & Creme Frappucino Blended Creme with whipped cream contains 85 grams or 21.25 teaspoons of sugar.
What about portion sizes?
- Original Hershey candy bar in 1908: 0.6 counces. Currently 1.6-8 ounces
- Standard bagel 20 years ago: 3 cm diameter, 140 calories; today: 6 inches diameter, 350 calories
- Coca cola bottle in 1950's: 6.5 ounce, 85 calories; nowadays: 20 ounce bottle is the norm; 250 calories.
Since the early 80's:
- Muffins supersized from 2/3 ounces to 4/7 ounces
- Cookies up to 8 times
- Pasta portions ballooned to almost 6 times larger
- Fast food hamburgers, fries, etc.: 2-5 times their original size
The effects?
Overweight are:
- 10% of _toddlers_ age 2-5
- 19% of children age 6 - 11
- 17% of adolescents age 12 - 19; 2 million with pre-diabetes
One in three children born in 2000 is likely to develop type 2 diabetes
And what can a messed up blood sugar level cause? Well. dozens of symptoms! These include, but are *not* limited to:
1. Cravings for sweets
2. Mental confusion
3. Mood swings
4. Unexplained fatigue and exhaustion
5. Weak spells
6. Cold sweats
7. Depression
8. Headaches
9. Heart palpitations
10. Digestive disturbances
11. Forgetfulness
12. Insomnia
13. Anxiety
14. Obesity
15. Internal trembling
16. Crying spells
17. Lack of sex drive (females)
18. Impotence (males)
19. Allergies
20. Blurred vision
21. Night terrors and nightmares
22. Muscle pains
23. Allergies
24. Itching and crawling sensations on the skin
25. Internal trembling
Also see:
146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health (Guest Column) -
www.sugarshockblog.com...
This book is opening my eyes, please think about your own sugar consumption, Google around for tips, etc... and it might be possibly the first step
to reduce the fatigue or at least save your problems on the long run!