Sugar craving

Very good article, Josie. Thanks for sharing. When I was a girl growing up in California, our next-door neighbors were survivors of World War II from Holland. I remember Sister Snel telling us that when sugar rationings were let up, and people could once again have as much sugar as they wanted, there were people in the streets sick as dogs and throwing up due to the overdose of sugar that they allowed themselves. I think that our bodies nowadays would have a similar reaction, if they were to experience the sudden shock of going from practically no sugar to overload sugar. As it is, our bodies are pretty amazing with their ability to adapt to all the sugar we throw at them.

This quote from the article hit me as being particularly interesting: "Sugar is basically a socially acceptable, legal, recreational drug, with deadly consequences." I'd like to add that not only is sugar socially acceptable and legal, it is also, just like other recreational drugs, pushed upon us. And not only are our peers urging us to partake at every church social or family gathering we go to, the marketing of it nets huge profits for businesses and our government, and they have every interest in keeping us hooked. Also very similar, in my mind, to other recreational drugs.

Now that sounds pretty extreme, maybe, but I think it is not too far off. In today's Deseret News there was an article about how schools are trying to offer more nutritious foods to our children, but our kids prefer energy drinks. Duh. Who wouldn't? Just like those rats in the experiment talked about in the article. If you can feel good by swallowing some sugar water with stimulants in it, why take the time to eat an apple or sit down to a real meal? And it's not like the makers of those energy drinks are sitting back and saying, "Oh, maybe we shouldn't be marketing this to those poor vulnerable kids. They might get hooked." Oh, no. They know where the source of padding for their pockets comes.

Well, that's my opinion. The article Josie suggested reading is not so emotionally charged as are my opinions. I think it is a good source of advice for those who are trying to improve their diets. The only thing in it I disagree with is the cleansing diet. I think that, as members of the LDS church, our monthly fasting may provide the same benefits, and possibly more so. What little research I've done about cleansing diets does not make me want to try one. On that one, I'll trust that our Father in Heaven has told his prophets the best way to go, and I'll try to follow that counsel instead.