This week’s topic is:
If you could make one change in the world, what would it be?
I’d like to make many changes, but the Open Book topic only gives me the chance to make one. Therefore this is the change I’d make if I could…
I’d ban sugar!
Sugar has been added stealthily to virtually everything we eat, and it’s also in many drinks too. I’m reduced to eating lean meat, fish, vegetables and salads and drinking either water or green tea so as not to be another victim of sugar addiction. I’m not talking about the natural sugars in fruit, but the unnatural ones…dextrose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, corn syrup and the like. The sugars that manufacturers like to add to their products to make them more appealing and therefore increase their profits.
There are nearly 60 different names for these unnatural sugars, and they’re in most of our foodstuffs, increasing the sugar receptors in our brains and making us crave more of the stuff, which could lead to obesity and heart and joint problems in those not able to control their weight. Too much sugar in our diets can also cause the pancreas to become exhausted, leading to Type II diabetes and its legacy of poor circulation and foot/leg ulcers or amputation, and eyesight problems. I see the damage sugar can cause every day at the hospital where I work.
I buy wholemeal bread, and surprise surprise, it’s in there as well as caramelised sugar. I bought some frozen vegetable chips for my granddaughters who like them, and found they were coated with dextrose. Arrgh! The manufacturers get babies addicted as soon as possible, by putting sugar in tins of baby food.
People all over the world would be so much healthier without sugar. The sugar producers and probably the breweries too would be up in arms of course, but we as a nation would eventually feel the benefit. However, it will never happen. The Government enjoy their tax revenue from sales of alcohol too much, and all the sugar addicts would be up in arms too complaining about the mother of all withdrawal headaches and infringes of their human rights. I guess sugar is here to stay unfortunately…
Click on the blue button below to discover the changes other blog-hoppers would make. You can also link your own blog to this topic.
aurorawatcherak said:
Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for re-blogging, Lela.
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aurorawatcherak said:
I am opposed to bans because I’m opposed to forcing other people to do things MY WAY, but I agree healthy people – to be healthier – should stop eating so much sugar and it ought to be easier to do that. So, I wouldn’t ban sugar, but I would certainly consider removing it from all products it doesn’t need to be in. Sugar in bread, by the way, is an important catalyst for the yeast that makes the break rise. You can use honey, but you get a wetter loaf that doesn’t rise as well.
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Stevie Turner said:
I don’t have any interest in baking anything, so that’s something I’ve learned! Of course there’ll never be a ban on sugar – it’s just that if I had the power…
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P.J. MacLayne said:
And think how much “real” food we could grow if we didn’t need all the crops we grow solely as sugar sources.
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Stevie Turner said:
Indeed.
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Jodie said:
It’s amazing once we started looking at the ingredients in everything, how sugar is so prevalent. We try very hard to limit how much we eat. Yet it’s not always easy!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
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Stevie Turner said:
It’s not easy at all. Thanks for your comment, Jodie.
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Darlene said:
If I could change anything in the world it would be for people to stop killing each other.
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Stevie Turner said:
That’s a good one, Darlene. Let’s hope…
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jenanita01 said:
I have nothing against real sugar, we just need to eat less of it. The thing I would ban if I could, is the artificial sweeteners that seem to find their way into everything!
I struggle to lose weight to ease arthritis and find it very difficult to find safe things to eat (and drink)…
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes, aspartame in particular seems to be in a lot of low sugar foods.
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jenanita01 said:
And it actually makes fat!
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jenanita01 said:
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for re-blogging.
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robertawrites235681907 said:
I agree with you about sugar, Stevie. I removed sugar largely (not completely) from Michael’s diet and he lost 10 kg and his asthma improved exponentially. Of course certain baked goods, like brown bread, require a bit of sugar to activate the raising agent. A little bit of sugar is fine.
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Stevie Turner said:
Well done for trying to reduce it. I’ve found some wholemeal breads have sugar in, and some don’t. I now read labels carefully.
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