Dr. David Reuben, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Nutrition, says, “White refined sugar is not a food. It is pure chemical extracted from plant sources.” Many nutrition experts say that white sugar is possibly as harmful as drugs, especially in the quantities currently consumed in North America. The brain is especially affected by refined sugar.

 

Glutamic Acid

One of the keys to orderly brain function is glutamic acid, an amino acid normally made in our bodies and found in many vegetables. It is a major neurotransmitter that plays an important role in cognitive function and memory.

 

In the brain, glutamic acid is stored in the synapses between the neurons, whose function is to transmit information to other cells. Glutamic acid is needed for communication between brain cells.

 

The production of glutamic acid is dependent upon sufficient amounts of B vitamins which are produced by helpful bacteria in the intestines. Eating refined sugar has a domino effect that begins in the gut and reaches the brain.

 

When refined sugar is consumed, harmful gut bacteria thrive and the good bacteria begin to die. The helpful bacteria stop producing adequate amounts of B vitamins. An inadequate amount of B vitamins stalls the production of glutamic acid. The end result is sleepiness.

 

 

Mental Shortfalls

The chain reaction caused by sugar also results in a decreased ability in short-term memory function and problem solving. When refined sugar is consumed over a long period of time, the resulting chronic low level of available glutamic acid and consequent impaired glutamic acid utilization is associated with various neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, neuropathy, depression, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

 

Diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates trigger a roller coaster response in blood sugar levels. Elevated blood sugar levels are associated with feelings of anger or sadness, while dips in blood sugar are connected to nervousness. Researchers believe this high-low surge may explain why mental disorders are associated with such diets.¹ 

 

Studies² have revealed that high sugar diets increase impulsive behavior, stress, and anxiety. In addition, mothers who eat a high sugar diet produce children who are prone to mental disorders that may eventually lead to substance abuse. Low insulin has also been linked with juvenile criminal behavior.³ Many mental ward and prison inmates are “sugarholics.” 

 

A recent study of preschoolers in China found that children who drank sugar-sweetened beverages at least once a day were more likely to exhibit behavior problems including emotional symptoms, conduct problems, peer problems, and autism behaviors.⁴ Erratic emotional outbreaks often follow a sugar binge, but stability can be achieved with appropriate long term long term dietary changes that are maintained.

 

Pioneers of orthomolecular psychiatry such as Dr. Abram Hoffer, Dr. Allan Cott and Dr. A. Cherkin, as well as Dr. Linus Pauling, have confirmed that mental illness is a myth and that emotional disturbance can be merely the first symptom of the obvious inability of the human system to handle the stress of sugar dependency.⁵

 

 

In Megavitamin B3 Therapy for Schizophrenia, author Dr. Abram Hoffer relates that schizophrenic patients usually have a dietary history rich in sweets. They are advised to restrict sucrose and sucrose-rich foods, to control their disorder.

 

Research with hyperactive and psychotic children, as well as children with brain injuries and learning disabilities, shows “an abnormally high family history of diabetes—that is, parents and grandparents who cannot handle sugar; an abnormally high incidence of low blood glucose, or functional hypoglycemia in the children themselves, which indicates that their systems cannot handle sugar; dependence on a high level of sugar in the diets of the very children who cannot handle it."⁶

 

If you have any doubts about the harmful nature of refined sugar, take it out of your diet for several weeks and see if it makes a difference. Refined sugars come in different forms and include sucrose, glucose, and high-fructose corn syrup. Read labels and replace processed foods with natural whole foods. If you experience some withdrawal symptoms, be assured that you are working to dethrone the tyrant that seeks to destroy you. Be determined, be informed, be victorious!

 

 

Cover image: Thalia Ruiz, via Unsplash.