Connie Bennett spent a lot of time interviewing doctors and other health professionals before she wrote her book, “Sugar Shock”. She’s a self-professed former sugar addict, and defines the term as follows:
“The term Sugar Shock is intended to encompass the often-misdiagnosed and maligned condition of reactive hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), as well as other blood sugar disorders, from insulin resistance to diabetes.”
Connie Bennett also says, “… that repeatedly over-consuming sweeteners, dessert foods, and culprit, quickie carbs (such as white rice, French bread, chips, etc.) wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels, overstimulates insulin release, triggers inflammation, and could contribute to more than 140 health problems, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and “brain fog.”
Now she enjoys good health that she directly relates to her ability to kick the sweet stuff to the curb. So is eating too much sugar really that big of a deal? Is eating lots of sugar and other simple carbohydrates really as bad as everyone says it is?
Well, perhaps they are and perhaps it’s time to start analyzing your own diet and the effects it may be having on your health.
You can certainly turn to sugar and other simple carbohydrates for an energy boost. Unfortunately, the problem is when the intake exceeds the glucose required by the activity being undertaken. The sugar intake triggers an insulin release to deal with the sugar, usually causing a sugar slump, leaving you with even less energy than before.
Additionally, eating too much refined sugar, a food item that is not at all needed by the human body, has been linked to a myriad of health problems. Other simple carbohydrates that deliver very little nutrition are also just as problematic as sugar, in many ways. Quite often people develop addictions to these types of foods.
The Turkish-born Mehmet Cengiz Öz, better known as Dr. Oz for his television show and multiple best-selling books on health and wellness, agrees that sugar shock is a serious problem.
During an interview with Bennett, Dr. Oz pointed out that sugar causes a natural insulin response in the human body. Unfortunately, dramatic levels of sugar consumption cause insulin activity to spike and fall.
This insulin yo-yo effect leads to inflammation, which is the basis of most chronic diseases. You can also irritate the inner linings of your blood vessels, and over time, experience radical mood swings, powerful headaches, fatigue, anxiety and depression … all from eating sugar and simple carbohydrates.
What Happens During Sugar Shock
Shocking your body is not always a bad thing. When you lift heavy weights, exerting yourself more than you usually do, you shock your muscles. You actually create small tears in your muscles because you are forcing them to work harder than they are accustomed to working.
As a naturally healthy and normal response, your muscles begin to repair themselves, eventually becoming stronger than they were previously.
This is why resistance training like lifting heavy weights or performing body weight exercises leads to the growth of bigger, stronger muscles.
Unfortunately, when you sugar shock your system you are not doing yourself any health favors. There are countless amounts of research that show over-consuming sweeteners and bad carbohydrates leads to a dramatically negative up and down swing in your blood sugar levels.
This sugar shock swing is linked to more than 140 health problems that include diabetes, heart disease, cancer, neurological disorders and obesity.
Your body instantly gets an energy boost because of the massive amount sugar you consume. As you probably know, this sugar or simple carbohydrate flood is soon followed by an energy crash. You feel tired, fatigued and experience a “brain fog”.
Since sugar did such a good job of giving you an energy boost, what do you reach for? You eat more of the processed foods, snacks, sugar, baked goods, white rice, french fries, potato chips, sodas and energy drinks that you remember boosted your energy level immediately.
This leads to a repetitive sugar shock effect, which can deliver all of the unfortunate health problems we just discussed.
