The big difference between salt and sugar – is we need salt, its essential, but we dont need  table sugar (or honey). In fact think of it as a poison.

The similarity is: – sugar and salt are added by manufacturers into almost everything we eat . Its a safe bet that every packaged (canned or dry) food we buy has added salt and refined sugar

Sugar:

A visitor coming to North America could well think that we run on sugar. Sugar is in almost every manufactured food product. It is believed that the average North American eats or drinks an average of 5 lbs of refinied sugar a month!

In 1999 (they say) the average N. American consumed in total sugars ( all kinds refined and food sugars) 156lbs a year

The recommended amount of sugar we consume should be limited to 6 to 12 tsp. a day (and that means sugar bound up naturally in foods, fructose and fruit sugars)

Refined Sugar is found in almost everything we eat: ketchup, cereal, juices and almost all packaged foods. To give you an idea how fast the sugar adds up in a day, the following are a few foods that contain sugar:

• Fruit flavored sweetened carbonated beverages contain 7 to 11 tsp. of sugar while the cola type contains 10 tsp. – basically your whole daily allotment!
• 2 Cookies made of two biscuits with filling is 3 to 5 tsp. sugar
• The same 2 Cookies with filling but lower fat version also include 3 to 5 tsp of sugar
• Children’s cereals 1 cup contains 2 to 5 tsp of sugar
• Fruit flavored yogurt ¾ cup has 5 tsp of sugar
• “health’ and ‘natural’ yogurt almost always has sugar – read the ingredients
• Whole grain cereals – typically contain 50% sugar
• Almost any food for children – health, low fat or otherwise will have sugar as a primary ingredient
• All packaged (canned or dry) soups
• Almost all canned vegetable
• Packaged cold cuts
• Packaged chili
• Most peanut butter
• PLEASE NOTE – Table Salt has sugar.

Always remember the ingredients in a product are listed by its volume of the overall product – so if sugar is the first or second on the list – it is the first or second largest ingredient. And then don’t forget all those “extras’ at the end, the ‘mumbo jumbo’ words – a lot of them are sugar too.

If its packaged (canned or in a dry pack) – pretty much guaranteed it has refined sugar. Check the ingredients.

“But dont we need sugar? ‘ you ask ” isnt that what gives us energy?” Not packaged sugar. Blood sugar is not table sugar.

As an example, let’s take a look at an apple. It contains fiber, vitamins and minerals, and lots of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are the fuel. But the carbohydrates are bound up in the fiber of the apple so that it takes your body a fair amount of time and effort to release those carbohydrates and convert them into fuel. So you could call the apple a medium-burning carbohydrate, or in medical terms, it has a lower glycemic index than straight sugar.

But if you take straight sugar, that is, refined white sugar, which is something that does not occur naturally in the environment, and you put that in your mouth, then your body converts that into blood sugar very rapidly. It’s like pouring jet fuel down your throat. When you eat sugar you consume soft drinks — which are even worse because they are liquid sugar — you are trying to run your metabolic engine on jet fuel, and the human metabolic engine was not designed to run on jet fuel.

So your blood sugar, which might have been around 80 or 90 before you drank the soft drink or ate that candy bar, now suddenly starts spiking up to 150 or 200, or perhaps even higher. This creates an emergency situation in your body. High blood sugar is very dangerous for human beings. It causes , if unchecked – death.

A little extreme?

Well it usually doesnt go unchecked, but if it is allowed to continue, it will cause symptoms that are more classically known as diabetic neuropathy, which means the nerves that feed various limbs in your body (feet, mostly) start to die. Diabetics who maintain high blood sugar over a long period of time often have to have their feet amputated because the nerves in their feet are wasting away.

Refined Sugar is bad for you because it raises the insulin level in your blood.

Raised blood insulin levels depress the immune system. If your immune system is depressed then your ability to fight disease is weakened.

Raised blood insulin levels can cause weight gain. Insulin promotes the storage of fat; so, when you eat foods high in refined sugar, you increase fat storage. Obviously, the result is rapid weight gain.

Refined Sugar contains no vitamins or minerals so in order for sugar to be metabolized it must draw on the body’s reserve of vitamins and minerals. When these reserves are depleted, metabolization of cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher blood serum triglycerides, cholesterol, promoting obesity due to higher fatty acid storage around organs.

For types of sugar and their details - click here

In terms of sugars bound up naturally in foods: -

Just about everything we eat or drink causes our blood sugars to rise.  There is one exception: water.  Staying well hydrated can actually lower your blood sugar levels … part of the excess glucose will then be excreted in your urine.

The three major nutrients in food are protein, fat, and carbohydrate.  Protein’s effect on blood sugars is minimal as very little, if any, is converted to glucose.  Large amounts of protein though can have a sparing effect on your glucose metabolism giving a gradual rise in sugar levels.

The impact of dietary fat is usually of little significance.  However, large amounts of fat causes a prolonged rise in your blood glucose levels.  The reason this happens is not clear; researchers say large amounts of fat in your bloodstream contribute to temporary insulin resistance.

Carbohydrates are the nutrients that have the most effect on blood sugar levels.

Facts about food that help raise your blood sugar levels quickly:

1. Boiling and cooking foods containing starch will enable them to be absorbed more quickly.  Heating breaks down starch making the sugar more accessible and faster to digest.
2. Mashed potatoes are absorbed more quickly than whole potatoes, wheat-flour gives a higher blood sugar response when baked in bread, than when used in pasta
3. Salt in food increases the absorption of sugar into the blood stream
4. Drinking fluids with a meal encourages the stomach to empty more quickly
5. Fruit juices raise your blood sugars dramatically as they have had the fiber removed
6. Peeled fruits also raise your blood sugars faster than whole fruit

Salt:

Every living cell in your body is bathed in a salt solution. The liquid part of the blood, plasma, is nine tenths water; in it are dissolved and carried the proteins, other food substances, gases and salts which our bodies require.

Sodium enables the red corpuscles in the bloodstream to carry vital oxygen to the tissues and to rid the body of harmful carbon dioxide.

Salt also helps to digest foods and turn them into living tissues; the salt we eat is easily absorbed into the bloodstream. Certain glands take salt from the blood and convert it to hydrochloric acid which forms part of our digestive juices and aids in the breaking-down of proteins. Sodium helps to transmit the nerve impulses which contract the muscles.

The body will not function properly unless the ratio of salt to water in the bloodstream remains nearly constant. A system of safe-guards prevents the intake of too much salt. First, heavily salted food is unpalatable; second, salt in large quantities acts as an emetic and would be rejected by the stomach; third, the kidneys filter out and eliminate any minor excess of salt.

1. Salt is most effective in stabilizing irregular heartbeats and, (in the correct amounts) it is actually essential for the regulation of blood pressure – in conjunction with water. Naturally the proportions are critical.

2. Salt is vital to the extraction of excess acidity from the cells in the body, particularly the brain cells.

3. Salt is vital for balancing the sugar levels in the blood; a needed element in diabetics.

4. Salt is vital for the generation of hydroelectric energy in cells in the body. It is used for local power generation at the sites of energy need by the cells.

5. Salt is vital to the nerve cells’ communication and information processing all the time that the brain cells work, from the moment of conception to death.

6. Salt is vital for absorption of food particles through the intestinal tract.

7. Salt is vital for the clearance of the lungs of mucus plugs and sticky phlegm, particularly in asthma and cystic fibrosis.

8. Salt is vital for clearing up catarrh and congestion of the sinuses.

9. Salt is a strong natural antihistamine.

10. Salt is essential for the prevention of muscle cramps.

11. Salt is vital to prevent excess saliva production to the point that it flows out of the mouth during sleep. Needing to constantly mop up excess saliva indicates salt shortage.

12. Salt is absolutely vital to making the structure of bones firm. Osteoporosis, in a major way, is a result of salt and water shortage in the body.

13. Salt is vital for sleep regulation. It is a natural hypnotic.

14. Salt is a vitally needed element in the treatment of diabetics.

15. Salt on the tongue will stop persistent dry coughs.

16. Salt is vital for the prevention of gout and gouty arthritis.

17. Salt is vital for maintaining sexuality and libido.

18. Salt is vital for preventing varicose veins and spider veins on the legs and thighs.

19. Salt is vital to the communication and information processing nerve cells the entire time that the brain cells work – from the moment of conception to death.

20. When the body is short of salt, it means the body really is short of water. The salivary glands sense the salt shortage and are obliged to produce more saliva to lubricate the act of chewing and swallowing and also to supply the stomach with water that it needs for breaking down foods. Circulation to the salivary glands increases and the blood vessels become “leaky” in order to supply the glands with water to manufacture saliva. The “leakiness” spills beyond the area of the glands themselves, causing increased bulk under the skin of the chin, the cheeks and into the neck.

21. Sea salt contains about 80 mineral elements that the body needs. Some of these elements are needed in trace amounts. Unrefined sea salt is a better choice of salt than other types of salt on the market. Ordinary table salt that is bought in the super markets has been stripped of its companion elements and contains additive elements such as aluminum silicate to keep it powdery and porous. Aluminum is a very toxic element in our nervous system. It is implicated as one of the primary causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

22. Twenty-seven percent of the body’s salt is in the bones. Osteoporosis results when the body needs more salt and takes it from the body.

Too much salt or excess sodium intake

Too much salt or excess sodium intake will elevate the blood pressure and cause edema (usually ankles and feet swelling). This particularly occurs in person who is more sensitive to sodium.

The kidneys regulate the amount of sodium by retain or excrete it as needed. When there’s a high amount of sodium in the body, the kidneys will excrete more sodium to balance body fluid volume while when it’s too low, the kidneys will retain more of it to maintain a normal fluid volume.

However, when the kidneys can’t excrete enough of sodium, excess sodium starts to accumulate in the body. The accumulated excess sodium then leaks to the surrounding tissues causing swelling especially in the ankles and feet. In addition, because sodium pulls and holds water, high sodium concentration in the body will lead to an increase in the blood volume. The heart then needs to work harder to maintain normal circulation thus resulting in high blood pressure.

Sodium Sources

Sodium (often known as salt) is one of many minerals that help in maintaining normal blood pressure and balancing water volume in the body and tissues. It’s also needed by the nerves and muscles in order to function properly. It can be found in:

* Natural foods such as dairy products, eggs, fish, celery
* All Processed foods such as smoked meats, ham, bacon, cheese, canned foods
* Salt-containing seasonings such as table salt, baking soda, monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Recommendation

The recommended amount of sodium intake per day is no more than 2,400 mg for healthy adults, the lower the better. You can reduce your salt intake by: eating more fresh foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, or meats which are naturally low in sodium; avoiding or reducing processed foods; using herbs and spices instead of salt-containing seasonings to enhance the taste of the foods.