welcome to healthy inspirations i'm your host lindsey smith thank you for tuning in to our monthly series the purpose of this show is to encourage and inspire you to take action in your life and your health our goal is to provide you with valuable health information that you can use every day to create positive changes in your current health situation maybe you want to lose weight reduce stress increase energy or just learn the basics that's what we're here to teach you today show is all about america's number one addiction it surpasses coffee fast food and tobacco we consume it on a daily basis and it's added to most of our meals whether we realize it or not curious yet our number one addiction in the united states is actually sugar william dufty ofter of sugar blues talks about how addictive sugar really is he says like heroin cocaine and caffeine sugar is an addictive destructive jug yet we consume it daily and everything from figure out to bread think about it americans love sweet things sweet things consume us on an everyday basis you can add a cookie up america for an extra dollar candy bars and grocery stores and dessert has become an american staple the united states is actually the largest consumer of sweeteners and one of the largest global sugar importers we started in sixteen eighty nine when the first sugar refinery was built in new york city colonist soon began to sweeten their breakfast porridge with refined sugar and within ten years individual consumption had reached four pounds a year the average american now consumes more than one hundred pounds of sugar and sweeteners per year in contrast americans consume an average of about eight pounds of broccoli a recommends we get no more than ten teaspoons per day which is about about fifty grams of sugar yet most americans eat about thirty teaspoons per day which is about one hundred fifty so that's really three times the recommended about you even before we started refining sugar we sought out foods with sweet taste sugar is a simple carbohydrate that occurs naturally in food such as grains being vegetables and fruit on process sugar actually contains a lot of vitamins minerals and limes and proteins that are good for us when brown rice or other whole grains are cooked chewed and digested the natural carbohydrates break down and separate into glucose molecules the small molecules enter the blood stream where they are burned smoothly and evenly allowing your body to absorb all the good stuff refined taper sugar also called sucrose is very different however it's extracted from sugar cane or beets and it lacks the vitamins minerals and fiber and requires extra effort from the body to digest the body must deplete its own store of minerals and zines to absorb the sugar properly therefore instead of actually providing your body with nutrition and the vitamins and minerals as needed it actually creates a deficiency it enters into the bloodstream and wrecks havoc on the blood sugar level first pushing it sky high causing excitability nervous tension and hyperactivity we can all think of times when we eat a candy bar and then get really excited and real energetic and ready to go but then you know a couple hours or maybe even minutes later our blood sugar then drops and it becomes extremely low which then causes the t v depression wariness and exhaustion we feel happy and energetic for a while and then suddenly unexplainabl we find ourselves either arguing with our friend or in a bad mood or just really depressed sugar also as an additive substance or is an addictive substance for two reasons the first is eating even a small amount creates a desire for more and the second is suddenly quitting sugar causes withdrawal symptoms such as headaches mood swings cravings and fatigue it's similar to any type of addiction any drug addiction things like that sugar gives us that same that same mentality so today sugar is found and many of the usual suspects like cakes cookies candy all the favorites but you also find it now in canned vegetables baby food cereals peanut lemon poppy seed clif bar has twenty one grams of sugar or five teaspoons compare that to chocolate glazed donut from dunkin donuts which has fourteen grams of sugar or three teaspoons so you may think you're eating healthy when you're really not and that afternoon cup of coffee from starbucks well the frappuccino a sixteen ounce actually contains forty four grams of sugar that's like about ten teaspoons and that's like eating about three of those chocolate glazed donuts that we were talking about so over consumption of refined sugars and added sugars are found in everyday foods which has led to an explosion and hypoglycemia in type two diabetes as well as obesity sugar like i said before sugar becomes easily disguised and foods we eat because it has so many names some of the most common and that's the common names for sugar also include brown sugar powdered sugar the corn syrup so we were talking about high fructose corn syrup which is a big one that is all over the news these days honey lactose sore but told by tall you know some of these you can't even pronounce so let's take a minute and look at some common products that we eat or drink every day and the amount of sugar in each of them this information was found on w w w's dot sugar sex dot com this website showcases everyday products and uses sugar cubes to show the amount of sugar per serving each in the picture represents about four grams and remember we should have no more than fifty grams a day according to the u s d a food guidelines so let's take a look at some of these everyday products the first one can and a bottle two bottles of coca cola this product is consumed by a lot of americans on a daily basis so that in general other flavor drinks lattes they not only add additional calories but they also add more sugar in this example you can see that one can in two bottles of the one can has over thirty nine grams of sugar which is well over the recommended daily amount a large bottle has one hundred eight grams that's more than four days the recommended amount the next product is a job a juice sunrise banana smoothie most of us would consider this a healthy drink however this trick alone has fifty nine grams of sugar and that's more than a can of coke next we're going to take a look at some breakfast foods after all breakfast as the most important meal of the day the first product is chick cereal as you can see one serving has twelve grams of sugar many people think that switching to an organic cereal for their children will automatically make it healthier after all it's labored organic and is typically more expensive however the organic koala chris cereal has eleven grams of servings so basically just the same amount as the trick cereal so just because a product is it doesn't necessarily mean it's healthy always be sure to check your labels lastly let's look at some snack food the first is a powdered sugar donut this snack has about twenty three grams of sugar however when we look at the you'll play yogurt next we can see that this has twenty seven grams so once again once we think that we're eating healthy but we're really not and sugar can be disguised in so many products that we eat or trying on a day to day basis that we don't even know we're eating or drinking them so it's important to read your labels before you buy something you could be eating x x sugar and products that you think are really healthy now we're going to take a quick break but when we come back we're going to see what we can do to overcome the sugar addiction golf american  recent increases in smuggling are putting american food sources at risk people and businesses are smuggling live birds and poultry products to sell online in specialty groceries or outdoor markets they may think they're simply catering to their customer's tastes what they are really importing is trouble importing outside u s the safeguard is not only illegal it threatens american food production smuggled poultry products were smuggled birds can bring in diseases such as exotic new castle disease or avian influenza bird flu into the u s we need your help to make sure that what is grown and raised here stays safe from florence has a disease if you suspect the business of importing or selling illegal birds or poultry products the agriculture hotline at one eight hundred eighty seven seven three eight three you can make an anonymous report or find out exactly which products are prohibited america's food supply is too important to let smugglers put it at risk reports little birds and p talking about sugar is a highly addictive substance once we have it we want more but what can we over what can we do to overcome the sugar bowl let's go over the top ten ways to overcome a sugar addict addiction as we go over these still free to write down the one or two that really resonates with you try this one for the next week or two and notice how you feel maybe you have more energy or maybe you're less tired you know really find one or two that resonates with you and incorporate it in your life so the first one is to reduce or eliminate caffeine and i know this may be hard for some of you but the ups and downs of caffeine include hydration blood sugar swings and we actually cause sugar cravings even even more  a way to do this is actually baby to have half castes caffeinated coffee and half regular half caffeinated have to catch and start incorporating that in your diet just a small baby the second one is to drink more water sometimes we cravings are a sign of dehydration so before you go to the sugar have a glass of water and then wait a few minutes and see what happens and when i say water i mean just water sugary drinks  does flavored water those don't count those actually have more added sugars and are just another way to get us more addicted to the substance the third one eat sweet fruits and vegetables they really are sweet healthy and sweeteners and food with added sugar use more gentle sweeteners like make maple syrup brown rice syrup dried fruit stevy a barley malt and a god nectar and i actually brought one with me today and this is a god nectar and it's a great match real sweetener to use and you can actually use if you use that cup of sugar regular sugar you would actually only use a half a cup of this so it lasts longer it tastes great and it's really inexpensive i actually bought this here you can see marshall's which is kind of a weird place that you would think to purchase a sugar or a sugar substance a natural sugar but it was only to ninety nine for this this bottle and it's great with tea you can use it with different products baking products you can add it as a sweetener for your tea or coffee many different things this can be used for and like i said it's really inexpensive and it's a natural sweetener and it's great to get off the sugar the sugar cravings so the fifth one is get physically active start with simple activities like walking or yoga start with ten minutes a day and gradually increase it will help balance your blood sugar levels boost your energy and reduce tension without medicating yourself with sugar and remember when it comes to physical activity find something that you really like and find something that resonates with you not everyone likes going to the gym so it's important to find something that you like whether it's playing tennis going for a walk riding your bike or involving yourself with a yoga practice you know find something that really works for your lifestyle next is get more sleep rest and relaxation when you are tired or stressed your body will crave energy in the form of sugar these cravings often result from being sleep deprived going to bed late or waking up early sometimes for months and months even years on end the next is to evaluate the amount of animal food you eat eating too much meat can actually lead to sugar cravings believe it or not so so can eating too little so a good health coach or  nutritionist or someone can really help you evaluate this type of bio and develop individuality with yourself the next is to eliminate fat free or low fat packaged snack foods these foods take out the fat and actually replace them with sugar so they tend to give you the highs and lows just just like other sugar based products the next experiment with spices cinnamon n cloves pepper things like that these actually naturally sweeten your food and they help reduce your cravings and lastly slow down and find sweetness and non food ways your body does not biologically need sugar but it does long for hugs time with friends you know outside time workouts relaxation things to just time for yourself so when life you know becomes sweet enough you know we don't crave sugar anymore so now that you have the tools to succeed and overcome a sugar craving try adding just one or two of these tips that you wrote down into your weekly routines the small changes can lead to big results for more information or if you have any other questions feel free to visit w w w dot the real you nutrition dot com and once again thanks for tuning in to healthy inspiration join us next month as we will discuss stress and the effects it has on the body will also  great tips to keep us stress free and healthy thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you next month