Health & Medicine

Is Sugar Toxic?: No. 1 Killer in American Diet

Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Feb 28, 2013 08:59 PM EST

Sugar seems so harmless, especially when you add a teaspoon or two in your coffee or cereal. However, according to reports, it might just be the no. 1 killer in your diet, contributing to problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, aging, fatigue and many other health concerns.

And unfortunately, we are often unaware that everything sugar is hidden in almost everything we consume. We have been programmed to eat and buy things that taste good and that are sweetened. Children also prefer eating sugary cereal, sweetened hamburger buns and sweetened fruit juices.

The average American consumes 140 pounds of sugary every year. This means, according to reports, that the average person eats a 10-pound bag of sugar each month, though they are completely unaware as most of the sugar is hidden in processed foods.

Anything ending in "ose" is a sugar, including such things as fructose, glucose, galactose, maltose and dextrose, to name a few.

And while glucose in healthy doses is a primary metabolite, it's a common fact that Americans consume far too much sugar. It's estimated that one out of three people will develop diabetes, and many show a highly volatile insulin reaction in response to sugar.

Sugar problems in the U.S. are an epidemic, and eliminating sugar from your diet would be an excellent step in helping to solve this health problem.

Our advice? Make sure and read the ingredients on the labels of products. It might just save your life. 

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