Feature
Don’t Eat That,
Eat This
INSTEAD OF REACHING FOR THAT PROCESSED-SUGAR SNACK, PICK SOMETHING RIPE AND DELICIOUS.
By Artemis Morris, ND, LAc All too often, candy is a go-to snack for a quick energy boost. But the refined sugar in candy is also apt to create an insulin spike, raise blood sugar, contribute to inflammation, and, if you eat too much of it, increase your risk of gaining weight and developing diabetes. Fresh fruit also delivers fast-acting fuel that can help give you a pick-me-up. The difference is that the sugar in fruit is made up mainly of fructose, not to be confused with high-fructose corn syrup. The fructose in fruit is a simple sugar that occurs naturally in foods and is a better choice because fruit also has vitamins, fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. Of these, fiber is the most important because it can help slow down
the body’s sugar response and help with lowering blood cholesterol and detoxification.
Sugar, Sugar! The sugar response is what happens after sugar enters the blood stream. The pancreas produces insulin to prompt cells to absorb blood sugar for energy and storage. As cells absorb blood sugar from a sugary meal, levels in the blood stream begin to fall. When this happens, the pancreas starts making glucagon, a hormone that signals the liver to start releasing stored sugar. This interplay of insulin and glucagon ensures the cells throughout the body and brain have a steady supply of blood sugar. A fast response from the body can make one feel quick-witted, but once the blood glucose level falls, which it does rather sharply when an abundance of simple sugar enters the blood stream, the body and brain can then become slow and sluggish. This event is often called a “sugar crash.” However, when you eat fruit rather than refined table sugars, the slower sugar response gives you
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