Sweet Surrender

Pillow cases full of Halloween candy…birthday cakes…wedding cakes…chocolate Easter bunnies…marshmallow chicks…Christmas candy canes…fruitcakes…Valentines Day candy…doughnuts…Twinkies…brownies…S’mores…Mars Bars…Almond Joy…Snickers…Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups…Kit Kat…Butterfinger…M&M’s…Chip’s Ahoy…Nilla Wafers…

Like Pavlov’s dogs, are you salivating? You are not alone! Americans are addicted to sugar!

Welcome to this month’s Home Cures That Work topic: Sweeteners. As you can plainly see from the above list, sugar plays a key role in most of our celebrated holidays — but it wasn’t always this way.

• 

  • Pinterest
  In the 1700s, an average person consumed 4 pounds of sugar per year.
• In the 1800s, an average person consumed 18 pounds of sugar per year.
• In the 1900s, an average person consumed 90 pounds of sugar per year.
• In 2009, 50% of Americans consumed roughly a half a pound per day for a whopping 180 pounds per year.
• In 1893, there were fewer than 3 cases of diabetes per 100,000 people.
• Today, there are 8,000 cases of diabetes per 100,000 people.

The reason behind the epic spike in these statistics is not a surprise to many of you, but “Big Sugars” dark secrets and political power may be.

Make no mistake about it! Sugar and other artificial sweeteners are America’s number one addiction! And where there is an addiction, there is big money to be made!

“Big Sugars” history and lobbying power is well known, especially by those of us who live in the Everglades region of South Florida where the destruction to our Everglades from “Big Sugar” can be seen everyday. For more information, research “Big Sugar” and you will be shocked to learn about their connection to slavery, murder, political corruption ecological destruction and more.

Little Sugar Addicts

Let’s talk about what causes people to become slaves to sweets. Believe it or not, sugar addiction happens to a lot of us before we are old enough to start school! As a child, I never thought of games like Candy Land, the Easy Bake Oven, Pez dispensers, Keebler Elves or candy bar commercials as marketing tools aimed at a certain demographic (kids) to sell products!

One of my favorite candies growing up was candy cigarettes. Remember those white powdery sticks packaged in their own little cigarette boxes? I was shocked to learn a few years back that those little candy cigarettes were a concerted effort on behalf of “Big Sugar” and “Big Tobacco” to get kids hooked on sugar, at the same time to get kids used to having a cigarette in their hands and have cigarette boxes in their pockets with the same company logos as “real cigarettes,” such as Winston, L&M, Pall Mall, Salem and Viceroy. Beyond human gullibility, there is some real hardcore science behind our addictions.

The body electric is truly a divine creation. Its neural-pathways connect points of the body like a super highway connects our country.

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

Taste is Sweet

Taste is our sensory “gatekeeper” mechanism that audits foods and other substances before they enter the body. And there could be no tasting without the star of the sensory show — the tongue!

The tongue is covered with thousands of small bumps called papillae, which are visible to the naked eye. Inside of each papillae are hundreds of taste buds, which are tiny organs responsible for taste transduction. There are between two and five thousand taste buds that virtually cover the entire tongue, the sides and roof of the mouth and are even present in the throat. Now here is the cool part each of those taste buds contains fifty to one hundred taste receptor cells.

There has been much debate in scientific circles concerning the ability of these receptor cells until a major breakthrough occurred in 2001 concerning the isolation of the “sweetness receptor” called the T1R2 protein. This protein forms a G-protein coupled receptor that is the receptor responsible for sensing sweets in mammals. Here are some interesting findings:

1. Sweetness is variable. Dogs perceive sweetness, while cats do not.
2. Some primates have acute ability to sense sweetness, while others do not.
3. All humans can sense sweetness, although the ability begins to decrease by age 20!

With this knowledge, it is easy to determine why children really love sweets. Unfortunately, it is during our youth that our bodies become dependent on sugar and the health problems begin.

Recently, Barton Publishing and Home Cures That Work released an amazing study on diabetes that is extremely comprehensive. I highly recommend the Diabetes Reversal Solution Kit to all of our readers, not to mention the amazing contributors that will weigh in on this month’s topic. I will try to “stay in my lane,” as the Sweetener subject could far more easily render a book than merely an article.

Sweet Poison

Years ago, I was sitting in a Pizza Hut (busted!) with some friends. In a moment of utter boredom, I opened a package of Sweet ‘N Low and poured a bit into the table candle. I was shocked to learn that the product was quite flammable; emitting lovely sparks as I poured! Sweet ‘N Low, a saccharin based product that is a proven carcinogen, is only one of four dangerous FDA-approved artificial sweeteners permeating the American market place. These toxic sweeteners round out the list of troublemakers.

• Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet)
• Sucralose (Splenda)
• Acesulfame Potassium (Sunett, Sweet One)

Can we employ a little common sense here?

• Knowing that the FDA recently removed the warning info on all products containing saccharin…
• Considering the term “artificial” means unnatural…
• Knowing that these sweeteners are created in a laboratory and not the garden…

…Why would you ever purchase them in the first place?

Remember what happened when I poured the Sweet ‘N Low into the candle? What do you think happens in the body when we ingest refined sugar or artificial sweeteners and our body burns it for energy?

I will tell you what happens: inflammation from carbonization!

Think about it…joint pain, arthritis and stiffness…is it possible that sugar and artificial sweeteners could be the culprits lurking beneath your chronic pain? There is quite a bit of solid research that substantiates my claim. To learn more, research “Can sugar and artificial sweeteners cause inflammation and pain?” You will be shocked!

Tasteless Sugar Addiction

When I was in Junior High, I remember my Mom telling me, “Honey, your Father went in for a check-up and the doctor said his sugar was very high so I am going to cut back on sugar and salt.” When I sat down to dinner the next night, everything tasted terribly bland, but I didn’t say anything because I knew Mom was doing this for Dad’s sake. After about a week, I didn’t notice the food tasting bland, so I asked my Mother if she stopped cutting back on the condiments. She replied, “Not at all.”

You see, many of you are so addicted to the over use of condiments that you have forgotten what food actually tastes like. The truth is most proteins, fruits and vegetables have plenty of naturally occurring sugars and salts as is. By overusing (abusing) sweeteners, your brain has been fooled into thinking food tastes bland — unless you pour on the sweetener. Like all addictive behavior, the more you use the more you need.

Sugar Addiction Escape Plan

I recommend fasting (abstaining) from sugar, and salt shaker, for a month and see if after 30 days you still think you need to “doctor” your food. After the 30 day period comes to a close, if you still want something a little sweeter, then let me recommend my list of natural sweeteners that will not only satisfy your sweet tooth but will render amazing health benefits, as well!

1. Lo Han Guo – An amazing fruit based natural sweetener with a myriad of health benefits. It does need feed candida and is totally safe for diabetics!
2. Stevia is plant based and is also safe for diabetics.
3. Date sugar – A wonderful natural sweetener that is not a sugar. It is simply cooked and ground up dates… it is also a great source of L-Tryptophan, which will actually unlike sugar calm your kids down!
4. Last, but certainly not least…Honey…as natural and delicious as it gets. In fact, entire books have been written about this legendary life enhancing immune building powerhouse.

Sweet as Honey

And speaking of honey…(like that segue?)…The Bible is rife with mentions of honey. In fact, honey is mentioned 61 times in the scriptures. Here are a few biblical references to the power behind the natural sweetener honey.

• 

  • Pinterest
  Honey concerning the Promised Land: “But I said to you, ‘You will possess their land; I will give it to you as an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the nations.” Leviticus 20:24
• Honey as an honored gift: “Put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift- a little balm and a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds.” Genesis 43:11
• Honey as wisdom: “My Son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste.” Proverbs 24:13
• Honey as sustenance for John the Baptist in the desert: “This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” Matthew 3:3
• Honey compared to gracious words spoken: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24
• Finally, honey is mentioned as a complete food that revived a starving man: “There were honeycombs oozing here and there in the fields. But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers feared the curse of Samuel for anyone who broke the fast. But Jonathan hadn’t heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Revived, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor.” 1 Samuel 14:25-27

Friends, honey is a type and shadow of Christ in the Old Testament.  His words are sweeter than the honeycomb and he invites us to:

“Taste and see that the Lord He is good and blessed (happy) is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalms 34:8).

The message of Christ is sweet as honey. The words of Christ are pleasant words. They are the words of eternal life, sweet to the soul. Receive the milk and honey of God’s word and enter heaven, the true Promised Land, come to Jesus now.

Believe me, there is nothing sweet about an addiction to sugar. In fact, it will eventually lead to death. But a life addicted to Christ will eventually become eternal and that, my friend, is the sweetest surrender of all.

Being a Christian is not a church, a crutch or a religion…it is a relationship with the sweetest friend you will ever meet. Talk to Him, He is listening! As always, I consider it a great honor and an awesome responsibility to share Him with you through my monthly articles.

In lieu of my customary Q & A at the end of my musings, I have opted to leave you with some lyrics from the artist, Sarah McLachlan from her song, Sweet Surrender. God bless you!

Michael

Sweet Surrender

By Sarah McLachlan

You take me in no questions asked

You strip away the ugliness that surrounds me

Are you an angel am I already that gone?

When I am down here on my knees

And Sweet Sweet Surrender

Is ALL I have to give.