Got Sugar in the Blood? Change Your Lifestyle Today!
Do you remember your elders speaking about “sugar in the blood”? Do you have a friend or family member who suffers from diabetes? The importance of understanding high blood sugar is critical to the management of our often fast-paced, unhealthy, and stressful lives. A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit the “Bodies – The Exhibition” and experienced the most engaging presentation on the anatomy and pathology of the human body. Cadavers, adult and fetus, were on display to showcase the miracle of the body and the importance of good health and exercise. This poignant visit, which highlighted all of our major bodily systems, provides the inspiration to urgently share information regarding sugar – the crack cocaine of the Black of the community!
What is the blood sugar level? The blood sugar level is the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Glucose is the primary source of energy for the body’s cells. It is also known as serum glucose level. Though it is called “blood sugar,” other sugars besides glucose are found in the blood, like fructose and galactose. Normally, blood glucose levels stay within narrow limits throughout the day, but they are higher after meals and usually lowest in the morning. If the blood sugar levels drop too low, a potentially fatal condition called hypoglycemia develops. Symptoms may include lethargy, impaired mental functioning, irritability, and loss of consciousness. If levels remain too high, appetite is suppressed over the short term. Long-term hyperglycemia causes many of the long-term health problems associated with diabetes, including eye, kidney, and nerve damage. In diabetes the blood sugar level moves outside these limits until treated. Even with good control of diabetes, the blood sugar level will still at times drift outside this normal range. Diabetes complications include: retinopathy (eye disease), nephropathy (kidney disease), neuropathy (nerve disease), and cardiovascular disease (heart attack, hypertension, heart failure, stroke and gangrene). Even if your blood sugar levels are normal, get retested every three years.
The average American eats more than a pound of refined sugar each week! Sugar has many names and is found in most processed foods including your morning pastries, ketchup, and sports drinks. Unfortunately, there is no warning label for its consumption and if one continues to regularly eat this toxic food without regular cleansing, the body will become diseased and eventually fail.
What are the signs of a lifestyle that is at risk? Answer the following questions:
1. Is your breakfast usually a pastry and coffee?
2. Do you watch more than two hours a day of television?
3. Do you drink regular milk?
4. Is the elevator your preferred method of going to a third floor high rise?
5. Do you exercise less than 30 minutes a week?
6. Is your ability to handle stress poor?
7. Do you smoke? Drink alcohol regularly?
8. Do you eat one or two large meals a day (versus five or six small ones)?
9. Do you get less than six hours a sleep per day?
10. Do you rarely eat beans?
If you answered ‘yes’ to more than five of these questions, you need to consider having your blood sugar level tested immediately and implement changes in your daily routine. Although researchers are still not conclusive on the “how,” when very high levels of blood glucose are present for years, it leads to damage of the small blood vessels and possible deadly complications. In addition, research shows that the big belly or “tire around the waist” is another risk factor for diabetes than weight alone. This fat may be excess storage and reflect the body’s inability to use sugar as fuel.
In summary, choose to modify your lifestyle gradually by incorporating an on-going and sensible cleansing, eating, and exercise program. Eat more often to avoid the three big meals a day routine, reduce the amount of sugar in your diet, and drink plenty of water to aid in the cleansing of your vital organs. High levels of sugar in the blood can be conquered with disciplined action. And remember information is not power — APPLIED information is power! You will then be on your way to a lifetime of improved health and wellness!
Dr. Deborah Stroman
Avoid the Whites — Salt, Sugar, Flour
Do you need a simple rule to begin a smart nutrition routine? Try to make a change in your diet by “avoiding the whites” – those additives that supposedly will make your food taste just right or have the right consistency. To live well and be healthy, we need to make changes that may feel uncomfortable at first and possibly illogical to friends and family.
Salt, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, accounts for nearly 150,000 premature deaths every year primarily due to complications from high blood pressure. We do need ~ 6g of salt per day to live. Sadly, the average intake of salt is between 9g and 10g a day! Salt is a commonly occurring mineral, the technical name of which is sodium chloride. It is the sodium part of salt that is important. Sodium helps to maintain the concentration of body fluids at correct levels. It also plays a central role in the transmission of electrical impulses in the nerves, and helps cells process nutrients.
The main sources of salt in the diet are processed foods, meat and meat products, bread and salt added during cooking or at the table. Experts estimate that if average consumption was cut to 6g a day it would prevent 70,000 heart attacks and strokes a year. Unfortunately, we continue to grab the salt shaker before we have even tasted our food. Poor etiquette, indeed! Most foods have so much salt in them that we now feel the cuisine is bland without the extra poison. New Zealand scientists found that the level of salt can be significantly reduced without sacrificing taste. In addition, one can eat more fruit and vegetables because they contain potassium which balances the effect of salt on the body.
Sugar, “the crack cocaine of the universal Black community,” is truly the enemy of proper nutrition. Stress has created a population of sugarholics. The average consumption of sugar per capita in the United States is 3.5 pounds a week for adults and slightly more for children. This ingredient in its various forms has been linked to almost every disease including cancer and diabetes. Sugar is a generic term used to identify simple carbohydrates, which includes monosaccharides such as fructose, glucose and galactose; and disaccharides such as maltose and sucrose (white table sugar). We must put the brakes on this toxic food by disciplining ourselves to decrease our intake of those sugar calories hiding in sodas, sweet tea, sports drinks, orange juice, and processed foods. (Drink no more than four ounces of fruit juice each day as fructose has lots of calories and more readily creates fat than glucose.). Now, don’t go eliminating all carbohydrates – that is the mistake of the Atkins diet. The focus should be on the simple carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour. Our bodies need fats, protein, and carbohydrates to function at peak performance. The definitive ratio is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat for blood sugar stabilization and the release of body fat.
Did you know that your key ingredient to that delicious bread or pie you make every holiday is an insecticide? When food is shipped it is difficult to avoid infestations by various pests such as mice, ants, crickets, rats, and insects that want to eat it during transport. However, when refined white flour is shipped and pests get in the bag they die by the time the delivery reaches the stores. Why? White flour is a natural insecticide because it kills any insect that attempts to live off it. Yet, Americans consume it in large quantities and wonder why we suffer from chronic disease. Did you know that the inclusion of hydrogenated oils, artificial preservatives, additives, and other chemicals in bread became standard practice in the mid 1950’s? Yikes! Does it make sense to then artificially “enrich” the bread by adding vitamins, minerals, and other materials destroyed in the chemical process? Other additives include alum, which gives the bread a whiter color, and emulsifiers, which are mainly used as a softening agent that can hide the signs that your bread is rotting. So, you’ll just buy wheat bread instead…well, even if you buy commercially produced whole wheat bread you may be paying for white bread colored with caramel. If the first ingredient in a loaf of whole wheat bread is unbleached enriched flour, then you’re actually purchasing white bread (loaded with chemicals). The solution is to bake your own bread, visit organic and natural stores, or use whole grain flour in your recipes and eat to live!
In shocking summary, the results are in – America is in a health crisis. The statistics are startling: 75% of Americans are overweight and two million more Americans become obese every year. Fifty percent of adult African American women are obese. The healthcare reform movement has too many enemies and not enough politicians with courage. So this battle is yours. Choose to modify your lifestyle gradually by incorporating an on-going and sensible cleansing, eating and exercise program. Don’t go long periods of time without eating. Try eating 200-600 calories every 2.5 – 3 hours to better regulate your portions and eating frequency. Research reveals that a minimum of 10 glasses of water (decaffeinated herbal teas can be a water substitute) per day is necessary to release body fat. Drink up and flush those impurities from your body and improve digestion. And remember, information is not power; APPLIED information is power! Reduce your content of “the whites” in your diet and you will be on your way to a lifetime of improved health and wellness!
In God We Trust — And That’s About It!
Sheeessh! By the news events of the past few weeks, one would have thought that it was time to grab our belongings and head to hills. Can anyone be trusted in this information age of hustle, fast-talk, get-rich deals, and quickie-relationships? Here’s a bit of timeless advice for those desperately seeking peace-of-mind and still holding on in hope for a brighter tomorrow –
Don’t seriously date someone that doesn’t have as much as you to lose financially in a relationship (especially if you’re already married). Yes, this tip may appear narrow-minded, elitist, and tough to swallow but the facts reflect reality. Mr. McNair more than likely lost his life not because the alleged killer was not cute enough or highly cultured, but rather she got a taste of the good life that she had never previously experienced. The young lover was not an observable regular in the high-income bracket circle. Her self-defined love and feelings for this once-in-a-lifetime fling would not permit her to let go. She probably rested on the “if I can’t have him, no one else will” sentiment to end their lives tragically. It is highly doubtful that a businesswoman with millions (who was rejected by a rich lover that would periodically spend his mint on her to woo her) would take her own life and risk the chance to meet another stud athlete with bank and street cred.
Drink more water and eat something green everyday. Pretty simple and logical, huh? Well, apparently most Americans don’t understand the levels of toxicity in the world that are directly attacking our vital organs. Our government just reported that 1 in 4 people get sick every year due to food-borne illnesses. If you haven’t looked around lately (or don’t trust the folks in D.C.) while visiting the mall, supermarket or movies, you might not have noticed the increasing tires around the waists of many men and rolls on women. Our nation is inhaling poison and eating too much sugar. In addition, there are over 12 million obese children. Data from NHANES surveys (1976–1980 and 2003–2006) show that the prevalence of obesity has increased from 5.0% to 17.6% for those aged 12–19 years. Yikes! We must cleanse daily. There is a simple law of physics that we all learned in grade school: all matter is in a state of entropy. Everything is changing by moving either forward or backwards. Nothing stays the same. To that end, you are either aging gracefully or perched high and hanging on by your fingernails as you look down at a bed of nails. Please don’t think your digestive track (and in particular, your liver) can do the necessary cleansing to offset the junk in the air and your self-selected food and water supply. And don’t wait on the FDA to adequately address salmonella and E.coli contamination. Incredibly, the Food Safety Contamination Act of 2009 has just gone to Congress…so what kind of protection have we had up to this point in time? Scary. Very scary. Thank heavens for our First Lady and her emphasis on vegetables and growing your own garden.
Be loyal to yourself and not your job. Huh? Yes, the days of working for an employer for 30 years to receive the gold watch and phat pension are over. Kaput! Sayonara! Instead, focus on how you can serve your clients – your boss, your peers, and your customers. If you take care of others, the universe will take care of you. Period. I’m not debating her decision to disregard her commitment to Alaskans, but even Gov. Palin realized that it is best to walk away and control her own life destiny. Others may consider her resignation to be shortsighted but she saw that jewel as false gold. Trusting the company line may get you in trouble when you need them most. Get rid of that pride and keep your resume updated. Tell those who sincerely care about your well being about your career interests early and often. Why? Shift happens. They can serve as ambassadors to inform you of job opportunities and career contacts when you aren’t around to receive the news or referral firsthand. The U.S. unemployment rate has risen to a 26-year high of nearly 10%, which is not only affecting the low-income strata but also the wealthy as they must become more efficient and strategic in business management. It is of no surprise that the NBA recently announced a lower salary cap ($57.7 million) for the upcoming season. Who wants to dig into their retirement and “fun-stuff” kitty to pay extra millions to employees (i.e., highly-skilled basketball players)? Hey ballers! Keep practicing those jump shots and crossover moves but don’t be shy about buying a condo in the many cities your career will take you, instead of throwing money down the drain in the purchase of opulent mansions to show off to your posse. Oh, and don’t forget that everyone is replaceable so watch your ego too.
Secure your financial foundation. Fundamentals in economic concepts include learning the difference between needs and wants. Pump your brakes on those expenditures that are not helping you stay healthy or providing shelter. Look at the alternatives and what is foregone (the opportunity cost) when considering a four-hour and $120 hair appointment. Educate yourself on insurance basics to protect yourself and loved ones in case of an unexpected loss. Using discounted dollars to replace property or loss of life is the most prudent decision unless you are independently wealthy. Life, health, disability and P&C (home, auto, etc.) should never be an afterthought. And don’t believe for a hot minute that crooks like Madoff operate on their own. Be suspicious of those in St. John knit, Kiton and Armani suits that you can never contact outside of business hours. The corporate web of lies and criminal activity have sent many portfolios south and far too few white collar cheats to jail. The best protection is education and the courage to ask questions of financial professionals. Take advantage of opportunities but don’t shop blindly. For example, the new $8000 (or 10% of the home’s value, whichever is less) credit for first-time homebuyers may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing so do your due diligence. Does it make sense to promote nearly 100% financing (with 3.5% minimum down payment) of homes to those with zero homeowner experience and limited money? Isn’t that what partially got America in the hot mess we are in now? Not that I would ever expect innovation from our political leaders…More than ever, save what you can to prepare for what appears to be a long climb out of this recession.
This advice may seem harsh and direct, but truth doesn’t always come in the form you like and expect. There are always exceptions to these suggestions, but don’t bet on you being that outlier. Trust your God and your instincts. Remember the ol’ country saying, “People are like onions.” You never really know someone 100% because there are layers and layers of new truth and experiences. And oftentimes that truth hurts without really trying. Choose your friends wisely and give them permission to tell you when you are out-of-line and that you need to check yourself. As the Bible tells us, guard your heart and act on those signals when someone shows you who they really are…including your new boo, financial advisor or manager. Read and become empowered in your own life journey. When you find a job that makes you smile each and every day AND you get paid for it – that is joy. And isn’t that what life is all about? Now go finish that glass of water.
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