Sugar Alert – Fanning the Fire of Joint Pains
Dean L. Jones, C.P.M.
Way too many people are unknowingly exacerbating their pain associated with having osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, and gout by consuming processed sugar. There is no excuse to feed these degenerative diseases with an inflammatory refined sugar chemical. There are other diseases that can cause joint pain such as Lupus, Fibromyalgia and Osteoporosis that may benefit from this sugar alert page.
Entrepreneurs who may mean well at first are capitalizing on the pain and suffering of others. Do you know that the most popular dietary supplement in the United States is Glucosamine, making $800 million annually? This is money raised from the 40 million Americans that have joint pain, where yet again drug manufacturers are laughing their way to the bank from consumers’ lack of knowledge.
Modest studies have been able to show evidence that Glucosamine reduces the symptoms of osteoarthritis and possibly slows the long-term progression of the disease as well. Even the mildest of research is enough for the Federal Food and Drug Administration because their only concern about drugs is whether or not if the body can tolerate taking it with minimal adverse side effects or bad interactions with other drugs.
Most appropriate with this discussion is that there is a biochemical connection between sugar and pain. Processed sugar is a direct driver of inflammation in the body and the amount of sugar eaten each day may surprise you because it is used in just about everything sold on shelves. Taking gout for example which is a joint pain condition of tenderness, swelling, and redness in joints is caused by a buildup in the body of excessive uric acid from the kidneys, which forms crystals that deposit in the joints and lead to inflammation. Most people with gout are prone to have an insulin resistance, meaning that excessive carbohydrate consumption, particularly of refined flour and sugar can also raise the uric acid levels and precipitate gout.
There are well over fifty foods that doctors will recommend avoiding when you suffer from gout. However, the most common are processed sugar, alcohol and cigarettes. Sugar falls into the list of acid forming foods more times than you can count from pastries, cakes, jams, jellies, breads, sauces, artificial sweeteners, soft drinks, processed meats and the like.
By eating refined sugar you deliver a direct driver of inflammation to the body that equals pain, and the more sugar chemical you eat the more pain you will suffer. Switching sugar for aspartame (artificial sweetener) is totally wrong, thereby causing worse problems. Remember; by reducing your sugar and/or corn syrup consumption you will also reduce and even circumvent your likelihood of becoming obese, diabetic or having a heart related disease.
Sugar Alert is a community improvement service — www.sugaralert.com
Dean L. Jones is a marketing strategist with the Southland Partnership Corporation. He has published a series of articles prompted by his growing discomfort about how businesses market our food and water supply. +++++ssss
