Subscribe to our free, daily publication for all your Westford news.
Aging and what you eat…does it matter? We all would like to look and feel younger. So many of us think it’s the luck of the draw. Does your gene pool dictate that you will age more quickly than others? Is your rate of aging out of your control? The short answer is you have a lot of control over how you age, and that is very empowering! Today we’ll look at the effect sugar has on aging and will touch on three main points to consider…your weight, your body’s acid or alkaline environment and how sugar affects your body’s level of inflammation.
Weight gain – If you’re not about to go for a long run, any sugar you eat that your body doesn’t burn right away will be stored as new fat cells. It’s as simple as that. Sugar is your arch enemy when it comes to your weight, your health, and how you look and feel every day. In addition, eating sugar makes your heart work harder. Did you know those new fat cells created by that delicious box of cookies you just finished all have their own blood flow? Yes. It’s true. To survive, fat cells must have oxygen and nutrients, so additional blood vessels to supply those new fat cells with what they need are created. Your heart must work harder and harder to pump blood to all those extra cells if you continue to gain weight. This is so important to understand so you don’t let your weight get out of control, especially if heart disease is common in your family history.
Acid environment – Eating a diet high in sugar and in processed grains that quickly convert to sugar creates an acidic environment in your body. This puts your body on notice it needs to be on high alert which increases your body’s production of the stress hormone cortisol. A state of consistently high cortisol in your body damages your mitochondria which are your cells’ energy producers. Mitochondria are part of our cells and are responsible for generating energy in those cells. When those cells are damaged, serious diseases like cancer and Type 2 diabetes can result. To remain healthy, your body needs to be in an alkaline state…feel free to read that as “iksnay the sugar-a.”
Inflammation – It’s important to remember that consuming refined carbohydrates is the same to your body as consuming sugar. If you eliminate cookies but still have a sandwich or a burger on a bun, you are still challenging your body with processing sugar because the refined carbs are quickly converted to sugar by your body. Some highly refined carbohydrates can begin to convert to sugar before you even swallow them. Remember that any consumed sugar that isn’t used by your body for that run or work out creates new fat cells; this creates a state of chronic low level inflammation in the body. Excess weight and chronic inflammation make you look puffy and bloated. Inflammation also produces enzymes that break down the collagen and elastin which keep your skin looking youthful. That break down and loss of collagen and elastin make your skin lose its elasticity and smoothness.
HOT TIP: Aging and what you eat…You need vitamin C to produce collagen, and you don’t want to drink that glass of orange juice which immediately converts to sugar, keeping the cycle of inflammation alive and thriving! Instead, start your day with a few slices of orange. The whole orange will give you vitamin C and a host of other benefits including fiber to slow down the sugar conversion which makes it a much better choice than the juice.
The bottom line is that sugar, while delicious and most of us love it, (me included) does not love us back. Sugar destroys us and makes us look and feel older than our years; it makes us sicker than we should be. It all comes down to choice and finding direction toward a new way of eating that supports your long term health and wellness rather than destroying it. Aging and what you eat does matter.
It’s not an easy road to travel alone. Check out http://ThinStrongHealthy.com for ideas, resources and recipes. I’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to. It’s there for the taking, so help yourself!
Helping You Achieve Major Wellness!
Cheryl A Major, CNWC
Cheryl A Major lives in Westford and is a Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant. Her TV show, Thin Strong Healthy, airs on WestfordCat and is an offshoot of her blog http://ThinStrongHealthy.com Cheryl offers ongoing information and personal health coaching to help you feel better and be healthier. Follow Cheryl on Twitter @CherylAMajor. She is also a full time residential Realtor with Coldwell Banker with more than 25 years experience.
Questions? Email Cheryl at cheryl@thinstronghealthy.com and be sure to put Health Question in the subject line. Your question and its answer will be included in a future article
P.S. Check out all the free recipes for great tasting healthy eating in the Recipe Section at http://ThinStrongHealthy.com
