Living Well Imagine eagerly tearing open a candy bar, only to have it explode in your face...
That's what the Nazis had in mind for Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
During World War II, British intelligence found out that the enemy secretly plotted to hide bombs in common objects like matchboxes, oil canisters, and even underneath a dinner of bangers and mash (a traditional British dish of sausages and mashed potatoes).
With the candy bar, Churchill would presumably peel back the black foil wrapper and break off a piece of the sweet treat. In doing so, he'd pull at a steel mechanism inside to trigger the deadly explosion.
But you don't need a booby-trapped treat to get the same kind of violent reaction...
You can get the same effect – a biological explosion inside your body – from overconsuming simple carbohydrates, especially white sugar.
A 2014 study of adults who consumed a beverage with 50 grams of sugar (more than what's in a 12-ounce can of coke) saw levels of an inflammation marker – C-reactive protein – remain elevated for at least two hours, after spiking just 30 minutes after downing the drink.
Not all inflammation is bad...
When your body detects infection or tissue injury, it activates a state of low-grade inflammation, where your immune cells rush in and try to fight off intruders or fix the damage. Once they leave, the inflammation subsides.
That's the good kind of inflammation... until it keeps happening over and over again. That's when you get chronic low-grade inflammation.
The same thing happens with when you consistently chow down on too many added sugars. Doing so triggers the release of chemical signals, or cytokines, that tell your immune cells to jump into the fray and start duking it out.
The only problem is, there aren't any intruders to fight. Having too many of these brawny fighters around for too long ends up causing collateral damage to otherwise healthy tissues which, of course, manifests by causing things like heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, obesity, and diabetes, to name just a few.
What's scary is that the average American consumes roughly 17 teaspoons of sugar per day – more than double or triple the recommended amount (more on that in a moment). And a study published last month using data on more than 34,500 American adults found that nearly 60% of American adults have a pro-inflammatory diet.
And then there's another depressing study that makes a whole lot of sense given our dietary tendencies... Published in the August issue of the Journals of Gerontology: Series B, this study found that while we all may live longer, most of us may not enjoy good health in our golden years... Folks aged 50 and up are in poorer health than previous generations' same age group. The team of researchers used data spanning more than 14 years from at least 100,000 folks in the U.S. and Europe. The Baby Boomer generation had higher rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, lung disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
So how can you avoid becoming one of these statistics?
Watch those labels. According to the American Heart Association, men should stick to less than 36 grams (or nine teaspoons) of sugar each day, and women should strive for less than 25 grams (or about six teaspoons' worth). Be vigilant and really read those nutrition labels. You might be surprised to find your favorite jar of pasta sauce or bottle of salad dressing is loaded with refined sugars.
Seek "nature's candy" if you're craving sugar. I know, I know. For many, a slice of strawberry cheesecake might seem infinitely more palate pleasing than a handful of real berries.
Fruit has natural sugars. They might taste just as sweet as the stuff in that brownie. But these sugars take longer to break down in your body...and, along with the included fiber, that means your blood sugar doesn't get as huge of a kick in the butt as with eating refined added sugars. That's important because too many spikes for too long can contribute to inflammation. Not to mention, "nature's candy" also comes packed with phytochemicals, or chemicals unique to plants, that have antioxidant properties to prevent and combat inflammation.
Studies have shown that keeping a streak may motivate you to make this healthy habit easier to adopt. Try setting a visual reminder like crossing off the dates on a calendar when you've swapped out bananas Foster for a Chiquita banana.
Adding an element of novelty keeps things more interesting, too. Try grabbing a different kind of fruit than your usual standby – like a different variety of apple or pear – on each weekly grocery trip. Or better yet, swing by your nearest ethnic grocery store where you might find exotic fruits like rambutan and mangosteen.
If you break the streak, no sweat... Gaze at the previous successes you've had and tell yourself you've done it before, and it wasn't as bad as you thought it'd be. And please don't beat yourself up for enjoying that slice of birthday cake (or, in my case, enjoying a slice of homemade chocolate cake on Fridays at the office, courtesy of my senior editor, Laura Bente). Life is too short to not enjoy yourself every now and then.
Our bodies begin this transformation as early as when we're in our 30s.
Spoiler alert: It's not for the better... Once you reach your 60s and 70s, that's when the damage can really start to snowball, spiking your risk of succumbing to injuries and falls, hospitalization, and early death.
Luckily, there's a way to prevent and even reverse this terrible transformation – a way to turn your "twilight years" into your "golden years." Don't miss my recent issue of Retirement Millionaire. Or get the details on a trial subscription here.
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? These blues have some mind-blowing benefits.
- Something different: Eat like an ancient Roman by recreating bread from Pompeii.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
October 8, 2024