A HIGH SUGAR DIET CAN EFFECT YOUR GUT HEALTH

I believe the mouth is the WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH. I also believe that as individuals we need to take care of our health-nobody else is going to do it for us. I like to look at health and nutrition from a simple common-sense approach and that is why I like the PALEO DIET so much. It is pretty simple and not oprressive. I read an article the other day that even though there are differences between all of the diets such as Paleo, Keto, Mediterranean etc. the end result is often pretty similar in that you might lose some weight, you might feel more energetic, you might lower your blood pressure and your blood sugar.

All of those things are good things and it seems to me we need to find the diet that works best for us and for our individual makeup. For example, I didn’t know that I had a dairy intolerance until I went on the Paleo diet which excludes dairy products. I feel so much better for doing that. The Keto diet likes for you to have full fat dairy products like cheese etc. but that doesn’t work well for me. However, almost all of the major diets would like for you to restrict your processed foods, eliminate sugar, eat organic vegetables etc. so maybe you should find a diet that you can live with and makes you feel better.

Almost every client that I have encouraged to get onto the Paleo diet has lost weight, reduced fatigue, become more energetic and improved multiple medical conditions such as lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar and overall improved basic health. I think that is our goal and for me the Paleo diet works great and it is easy to stick to. What is wrong with a protein (fish, chicken, beef, pork etc.) served with a large healthy salad along with some fruits and seeds and nuts?

This weekend I read about how a high sugar diet can effect your gut health. We all know that dentists and physicians are against sugar. Why is that? Mainly it is because SUGAR HAS NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE and SUGAR is linked to 45 different medical conditions. Of course in my opinion SUGAR IS POISON AND TOXIC and we need to eliminate it from our diet. That is very hard to do since it is so addictive (SUGAR IS 8 TIMES MORE ADDICTIVE THAN COCAINE!) and it comes in almost anything in a container-just read your labels. It is no wonder that the average American now consumes almost 200 pounds of sugar per year!!

So, let’s talk about how a sugar diet can actually affect your GUT! What does that mean? It means that all of us have trillions of bacteria living in our gut from the mouth on down. Some of those bacteria or good for you and are directly linked to your immune system. Some of those bacteria are really bad for you and can also affect your immune system. Everything you eat feeds all those bacteria. Some foods nourish or feed the good bacteria and some foods feed the bad bacteria. There is no question that SAD (Standard American Diet) is a huge problem for our health! Ask any physician, dentist, dietician, or nutritionist. SAD is creating a lot of health issues and it should be addressed by everyone. SAD FEEDS THE BAD BACTERIA!

The study that I just read concludes that eating too much sugar can impact your overall health but also corroborates the idea that sugar in general is harmful for gut health. In fact, the study found that elevated blood glucose levels from excess sugar consumption worsened gastrointestinal symptoms in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients. Another study determined that reducing the intake of starch and sucrose (two types of sugars) would improve Symptoms in IBS patients! Since there is absolutely no nutritional value in SUGAR, if we just eliminate it then we should see improvement in IBS patients as well as 45 other potential HEALTH ISSUES. When I went on the Paleo diet I had about 16 different medical conditions that improved such as Sleep apnea went away, my blood pressure dropped from 120/80 (considered Normal) to 100/60 which is much better.

So here are some other hints to help you avoid SUGAR and processed foods (Almost all processed foods contain sugar!).

1. Stay to the outer perimeter of the grocery store. That is where the fresh vegetables, fruits and meats are located. The inner part of the store is everything in a package/box or some kind of container.

2. Always read the ingredients before you buy. If it has anything with an “OSE” (All sugars end in “OSE” like fructose, glucose, dextrose etc.) or any big chemical words that you don’t know what they are-THEN DON’T BUY IT! The other day I found Dextrose in Morton’s salt! How can that be????

3. Look for the expiration date-Fresh foods will not last for months on your shelf or in your refrigerator. When it says, “USE BY DATE” and that date is months or years from now, that means that there are tons of chemicals and preservatives etc. in this container that will prevent the food from spoiling. I don’t want to eat all those chemicals! Many of them have been proven to cause or be linked to IBS, IBD, Crohn’s disease, bloating, diarrhea, gas etc. Try leaving all processed foods out of your diet for just one month and you will be shocked how much better you will feel.

4. When in doubt, the fewer ingredients the better. Fresh foods won’t have a label, but everything packaged and processed will to extend their shelf life.

5. Don’t let the words “ORGANIC OR NATURAL” fool you for ingredients in a container.

6. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT GETTING MY PATIENTS THAT ARE INTERESTED TO GO ON A SUGAR DETOX PLAN IN JANUARY (After the holidays). Would you be interested?

SUMMARY-It is obvious that your mouth is the window to your health. In my opinion, we need to eliminate sugar and processed foods from our diet. Sugar, along with lots of chemicals and additives are in almost anything in a container. Please switch to fresh foods and unprocessed foods and in my opinion, avoid the fast-food restaurants as they are loaded to the gills with all kinds of chemicals and sugars and salts. Remember, the American Heart Association recommends only 6 tsps. of SUGAR PER DAY! And guess what, we all do it once in a while, or least it is very difficult to avoid all processed foods and SUGAR. Just do the best you can and learn to read the labels and avoid as much SUGAR AND PROCESSED FOOD as possible.

“THE MOUTH IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH”. BRUSH AND FLOSS TWICE DAILY, AVOID SUGAR FOR 2023, AND SEE YOUR DENTIST AND PHYSICIAN REGULARLY.

Spiker Davis D.D.S. drspikerdavis@thepaleodentist.com John Seger M.D. Matt Guerre D.D.S.
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