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I’ve been re-reading the classic book, “Sugar Blues” by William Dufty. This book, written in 1975, remains the definitive crushing indictment of sugar every one of us should read and read again. We should read it to save ourselves and our families, to help solve the challenges of weight gain, cancer, depression, other mental diseases, diabetes and so on.
Last night I was reading in the book about Dr. John Tintera who, in the 1940s, rediscovered the importance of the endocrine system, particularly the adrenal glands. He found a direct correlation between patients with endocrine challenges and patients whose systems could not handle sugar. The similarities in the symptoms of patients with both complaints were so startling that he finally insisted his endocrine patients submit to a four hour glucose tolerance test to find out if sugar were an issue for them.
His first prescribed method of treatment was always diet, and he made a sweeping permanent statement against sugar in all forms. In fact, he ultimately believed no one should begin any form of treatment for any psychiatric disorder unless they had had a glucose tolerance test to determine if they could handle sugar or not.
We all know people who struggle with mental illness… bipolar, autism, chronic depression from which I suffered for decades until I changed how I eat… can you imagine if just getting sugar out of our diets would help us cure or at the very least improve these afflictions? It worked for me.
The challenge is that sugar is addictive. It’s not as easy as it sounds to eliminate it. It’s also in EVERYTHING! And in so many different forms and with so many different names. On my website in the resources section, you can download a list of 60+ different names of sugar. I took the time to alphabetize them to make it a bit easier for you to check out your food ingredient labels.
Here’s another factoid for you: The rich and famous began getting diabetes before any commoners did because they had greater access to sugar. Thomas Willis, in the seventeenth century, became private physician to King Charles II of England. Charles was heavily vested in the very lucrative sugar trade. To protect his neck in a time of beheadings, Willis, who was aware that sugar might just be the cause of this new disease decided there was wisdom in naming the new malady in a language few would understand. In this case, Greek. “Diabetes” in Greek simply describes the passage of inordinate amounts of urine. “Diabetes mellitus” is a combination of Greek and Latin: “mel” is Latin for honey, and “itis” is Latin for inflammation.
“The passage of inordinate amounts of extraordinarily sweet-smelling urine” became a description of a new symptom in a combo of two foreign languages. Clever boy, and he managed to keep his head.
Seriously, whatever ails you, what is the down side to getting off sugar to see if it makes a difference in your life. My life of no depression for more than six years tells me it is so worth it!
If you need/want to discuss further, I am available to you. You can email me: Cheryl@ThinStrongHealthy.com
This article was originally published on: https://thinstronghealthy.com/sugar-blues/
How may I serve you in your quest for optimal mental and physical health?
Cheryl A Major
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, live and online courses 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.
Cheryl’s book, “Eat Your Blues Away” is available this fall in select Whole Foods Markets!
