In the last twenty years, the average American’s sugar intake has gone up from 26 pounds per person, per year to 135 pounds of sugar per person, per year. With this massive increase of sugar into the bloodstreams of Americans, diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular, and cancer are rapidly growing out of control. Furthermore, research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that the amount of sugar consumed in two sweetened drinks lowers the immune system by 50 percent for up to five hours after drinking or eating.1 In other words, sugar is the number one factor that limits the ability of white blood cells to fight viral and bacterial invaders and suppresses the immune system’s ability to fight off infections, sickness and disease.
The classic paradigm for dealing with infection is vaccination and other prescription drugs using the theory that this will prepare the body for invasion. Yet clearly, the best way to deal with infection is to build immunity. You were born with a defense system already designed to stave off viruses, bacteria, and other bugs. It’s called your immune system and you should do all things that boost it to eliminate not only infectious disease, but other illnesses like cancer that are kept at bay by maintaining internal, healthy defenses.
The number one source of sugar in the American diet comes from sweet drinks including soda and juices. Desserts are also sugar filled, disease-inducing foods.
The chart below outlines the top sources of sugars. Some may surprise you. 2
Many other factors impact immunity as well and by addressing these factors, you take your best leap forward towards longevity, quality of life, and avoiding sickness and disease. Obviously, drugs cannot replace this fact. Prescription drugs may seem easier in the short run, but in the long run, the benefits just aren’t there.
Managing stress and cortisol levels, the right nutritional choices and avoiding the wrong ones, a healthy spine and nervous system, the right kinds of physical activity, and minimizing toxins are all key factors in optimizing immunity. These are the 5 Essential elements of good health and are just that: Essential. You can’t replace them with the one arm bandit that is the world of medical intervention after the fact or using drugs to attempt to avoid disease.
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1 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 26, 1180-1184, Copyright © 1973 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.
2 http://abcnews.go.com/WN/diabetes-rise-america-slow-growth-world-news-question/story?id=11945648