Sugar- the love and hate relationship

Sugar.  We love it.  We hate it.  It’s a complicated relationship.  At least for me. 

Sugar in it’s many forms has magical abilities to make us feel good, give us energy, and satisfies our hunger.  On the flip side, however, it can cause fat, insulin resistance, diabetes, and mood swings. 

How can one thing do both things?  It’s complicated also- but a big reason is bacteria. 

Our bacteria in our digestive system all like to munch on different things, and as far as the bacteria is concerned our job is to keep them fed.  They have so much to do with what we choose to eat it’s almost like we don’t have a choice at all.  

But one problem with this system is MOST of the bacteria that prefer sugar are NOT the bacteria that are good for us!  We call these pathogenic bacteria and they cause inflammation, first in our digestive system and then on the rest of our bodies.  When we feed these bacteria the sugar they crave, and they give us a momentary pleasurable result for it, they can cause breaks in our digestive lining people often refer to as leaky gut! 

This leaky gut leads to our immune system being less effective at fighting off illness AND can cause inflammation that leads to many problems including many autoimmune problems.  There are also many studies showing this can lead to mood problems like anxiety and depression- which I have talked about before. 

So, not only are you craving sugar to make yourself feel good and keep the bacteria happy, but you are feeding the bacteria that will make you not feel well!  It’s a horrible loop that feeds itself and we need to work to stop it! 

One way to try to stop it, is to try to not feed it.  Much easier said than done, I know.  And you will NEVER completely rid yourself of the bacteria, so if you go back to eating sugar often, you will crave it again. 

Another way to help is by putting good bacteria in- once again by probiotics.  Trying to rebalance the system of better than bad will help restore your health.

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Blessings in Health and Happiness!