QUICK TIP: Identifying GMO Sugar

From: http://biggreenboulder.com/

I was reading the "Non-GMO Shopping Guide" and came across some enlightening info, new to me. If you look at the ingredients on a food you buy and it says "sugar", this can be a combination of sugar made from sugar cane plus sugar made from sugar beets. More than half of the US sugar production is from sugar beets, the rest from cane sugar. Only if the ingredients say "cane sugar" will you know that sugar beets are not used. Why is this important?

Sugar beets are one of the most common genetically modified crops in the USA (click for more info on GMO), with about 95% of the total crop being grown from GMO seeds. The sugar beet seeds which are GMO are engineered to be "Roundup Ready," meaning that Monsanto altered the genetics of normal sugar beet seeds so that the sugar beet producers can spray their crop with the Monsanto synthetic herbicide Roundup (aka glysophate) and easlily kill the weeds while the beets continue to grow.... with the blessings of the US Department of Agriculture.

Not only are GMO crops causing serious problems to our food supply and our nation's health, but there are other very serious concerns, including the increase of superweeds caused by resistance to the herbicide glysophate, and cross contamination of non-gmo crops like organic table beets or Swiss chard, often grown in the same regions as the GMO sugar beets.

I'm not encouraging you to buy and eat refined sugar, since it is also contributing to prevalent poor diets and the obesity epidemic, but I'd certainly favor it over artificial sweeteners (like Splenda). I always encourage reducing intake of any sweeteners, and, when necessary, using healthier alternative sweeteners, such as green natural stevia, local honey, vitamin B-rich molasses and sorghum, or agave. (Click the "Ingredients" tab at the page top for more info on words printed in red.)

Read and download the helpful Non-GMO shopping guide here for more excellent useful information.

The Shocking Truth About Sugar

"Decadence" - original painting © Judy Lavoie

Obesity? Diabetes? Heart Disease? Cancer? Spend the next 15 minutes with this video and you might learn a thing or two about the horrible consequences of sugar on your health.

My philosophy of nutritional eating as part of a healthy lifestyle has long included the minimizing - or elimination - of refined sugar in the diet. I use this blog to share my knowledge, trying to help educate others about what ingredients to use and about how to prepare foods that are good for the body, avoiding foods which are toxic. There are so many healthy alternatives to sugar-sweetened foods, and, once a balanced everyday diet is adopted, the craving for sugar is reduced.

There's no argument - sugar tastes good. Unfortunately we live in an age of over self-indulgence, and many don't want to give up anything that makes them happy. The American diet focuses on eating (overeating, actually) overprocessed food (most laden with sweetener) as a convenience in our busy lifestyles. Sugar, in its many forms, is an ingredient in so many packaged foods - even where you would least expect it. You have to search for salad dressing without sugar - even something like blue cheese dressing; soy milk (which everyone thinks is so healthy) sells much better in the sweetened vanilla version than in the "unsweetened" variety; there's even sugar added to frozen pea pods! I could go on and on.

Don't be foolish and think that "artificial sweeteners" are the answer to this problem. I get disgusted every time I hear the propoganda of an advertisement for Splenda. Their website says "It is made through a patented process that starts with sugar..." Well, it soon becomes a toxic chemical engineered by big industry (read about what it really is, in my ingredients list in the right column). But wait, there's more... now you can get vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber pre-added to your toxic sweetener! Anyway, I don't need to get any deeper into this topic - you know where it's heading.

Becoming aware is the first step in making positive changes, so please take a look at the video and educate yourself. Wishing you better health through nutrition!