A HIGH SUGAR DIET IS CONNECTED TO YOUR CHOLESTEROL

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 am chronically reading every article and every research I can find on health and diet. I think I’m driving my wife crazy, but I just can’t quit and I find it so interesting. The latest study I found is related to SUGAR INTAKE AND THE CONNECTION TO YOUR CHOLESTEROL.

Cholesterol is a subject that most of us are somewhat familiar with and the opinions of lots of doctors will vary which stresses me out. Cholesterol is extremely controversial, and I think it is often misunderstood. The thing that gets my attention is that our bodies make cholesterol, and we need it for so many bodily functions such as making hormones and even vitamin D. I was in a study in 1971 with Dr. DeBakey and Dr. Anthony Gotto and they proved that most foods that are full of cholesterol such as eggs, cheese and shrimp do not cause an increase in your blood cholesterol. So, what is the deal?

A recent study in 2016 published in the medical journal Progress in Cardio-vascular Disease, suggests that SUGAR and refined carbohydrates and linked to our cholesterol levels in a very unique way. Apparently excessive consumption of sugar will increase triglyceride levels and decrease HDL (good cholesterol) and thus lead to a bad cholesterol profile. Basically the way I understand it is that SUGAR is one of the main causes of high cholesterol. According to Dr. Stephen Sinatra M.D. F.A.C.C., the author of “THE GREAT CHOLESTEROL MYTH”, he states that the real cause of Heart Disease is INFLAMMATION, OXIDATION, SUGAR AND STRESS and goes on to say the SUGAR is also the culprit in having bad cholesterol that leads to heart attack and stroke.

The Framingham Heart Study, and several other studies basically come to the same conclusion-SUGAR CAUSES AN INCREASE IN Triglycerides and lowers your HDL. This is the problem and this is the cause of plaque buildup in your arteries which obviously is the cause of many of our health issues. The main reason is that HDL cholesterol is responsible for removing excess cholesterol from the bloodstream! Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is an important goal. According to the American Heart Association we should limit our SUGAR INTAKE to about 6 teaspoons of SUGAR per day! Most of our SUGAR comes from processed foods and beverages.

If you would like more information on this subject, I highly recommend that you get Dr. Steven Sinatra’s book,
“THE CHOLESTEROL MYTH”. Just go to Amazon and type in in The Great Cholesterol Myth
https://www.amazon.com/TheGreatCholesterolMyth

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, sugars and salts. Remember, the American Heart Association recommends only 6 tsps. of SUGAR PER DAY! And guess what, we all CHEAT 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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