Fight Your Sugar Cravings

In one year, the average American will consume over 45 pounds of sugar. That’s enough sugar to fill a wheel barrow. In addition to that type of sugar (sucrose), the average American will consume another 4 gallons of added sugar (high fructose corn syrup) in a year. The bulk of the added sugar comes in the form of soft drinks and sodas. It comes as no surprise that many Americans have a difficult time cutting sugars from their diets.

There are a variety of reasons, both physical and emotional, as to why we reach for the sweet stuff.

Cravings for sugar have a lot do with the way the body manages the sugar levels in the bloodstream. When we eat simple carbohydrates, like a sugary snack or a soft drink, it raises the blood sugar almost as quickly as an injection of sugar straight into the veins. In response, the pancreas releases large amounts of the hormone insulin. Insulin triggers cells throughout the body to pull the excess glucose out of the bloodstream and store it for use at a later time. This exaggerated effort to remove glucose can lead to a functional hypoglycemia – a condition in which blood sugar levels are too low. Now with the glucose removed, the excess insulin in the bloodstream leads to craving more sugar which then exacerbates the condition and continues the cycle. Repeatedly overloading the bloodstream with sugar can reduce the body’s ability to respond to insulin, called insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition.

Sugar cravings and an appetite for sweet things could be hardwired into our brains. As newborns, our first food is lactose – milk sugar. It is the taste that we prefer from the moment we are born. Carbohydrates, including simple sugars, stimulate the release of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for making humans feel happy. Sugar also stimulates the release of endorphins. Endorphins are a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system that have a number of functions. One of those functions is to activate the body’s opiate receptors and induce a pain-killing and relaxing effect. There are some researchers who believe that this particular reaction to sugar is similar to an addiction to cocaine or heroin. It has a numbing effect on the body.

On top of all that, sugary foods just taste good and we tend to reward ourselves with treats. This reward system makes us crave sweet foods even more and is difficult to overcome. The end-results of this cycle of craving and eating and craving and eating are decreasing the body’s ability to process glucose and insulin efficiently, which could ultimately lead to diabetes, weight gain and a great deal of stress.

So what can we do? There are a few simple steps that people can incorporate into their daily lives to help control those cravings

· Grab some fruit. Keep an apple around or some grapes handy for those times you want something sweet. You’ll get the sugar you’re craving, and you’ll also get some fiber and beneficial antioxidants.

· Move. Get up; walk around. Remove yourself from your surroundings for a few minutes to get your mind off of it.

· Eat regular meals. When we wait too long between meals, we run a greater chance of grabbing what is quick and easy – and usually packed with sugar and fat instead of what will nourish our bodies. Eating every 5 hours max can help stabilize blood sugar levels.

· Avoid artificial sweeteners. Not only do these chemicals do nothing for sugar cravings, they may also have a negative impact on your weight. i.e. they make you fatter.

· Give in – but just a little. Don’t completely deprive yourself. Schedule a regular reward time – like Friday afternoon. And keep it small. And if you are going to reward yourself – indulge. Buy the best chocolate and savor it in small bites.

And most importantly, don’t beat yourself up if you slip. Changing eating habits is a process that takes time and patience.

What's in Your Honey - and What's Not

We are big fans of honey here at Redd Remedies. We love to try different kinds of honey – Manuka, buckwheat, Himalayan. It’s all good to us. But I think it’s safe to say that our favorites are of the local variety, especially the wonderful local honey raised by bees at Anna’s house, who works here in the Redd office.

Honey is one of the oldest medicinal foods on Earth. The health benefits of honey range from quelling a cough to helping burns heal. Many of us think of the iconic honey bear container when we think of honey. But what might be surprising is that the honey in that little plastic bear may have been smuggled into the United States. And it likely contains heavy metals and antibiotics. Mercury with your tea, madam?

Millions of Americans are unknowingly consuming honey that comes from China despite the fact that most countries around the world do not accept imports of Chinese honey. And according to some consumer groups, this honey contains dangerously high levels of antibiotics and heavy metals. To avoid detection at the U.S. border, China will ship its honey through other countries like India before it comes into the U.S. They also use a process called ultra-filtration which removes all traces of pollen from the honey so that it cannot be traced back to its country of origin. A recent investigation of honey on U.S. store shelves showed that 75% of the honey purchased from stores such as Walmart, Target, and Costco had all of the pollen removed. But all of the samples from farmers markets and natural food stores had normal levels of pollen. So did most containers labeled organic.

This is just another glaring example of why we need to support local farmers, local bee keepers and organics. Take a trip to your local health food store and check out the honey of their shelves. They are likely to have a local variety. Oh, and they use those cute honey bears too.

It’s Halloween and you know what that means – candy. Lots and lots of candy.

Candy bars, lollipops, that nasty chewing gum that loses its flavor in 10 seconds flat. What other time would you eat a Tootsie Roll?

Working in this industry, doing the job that I do, I am constantly aware of all the bad dietary choices that are spread out in front of me – and my kids for that matter. I consider myself quite vigilant in making sure we eat a healthy, balanced diet – without candy as a food group. But this time of year is the one time of year that I will let my kids go crazy for a night. Halloween is fun and let’s face it – carrot sticks and celery aren’t fun. Getting a pencil or pennies in your pillowcase or your little jack-o-lantern bucket isn’t fun. Admit it. You avoided that house like the plague when you were younger.

This is the one time of year that we get to be a little silly. We get to pretend to be something or someone we’re not. We get to watch the excitement on our kids’ faces when she puts on that Cinderella ball gown and feels like a princess for a night. It’s fun. And I can calm down for this one night. I can allow my kids to be kids and to stuff their faces with candy. No one says I have to let my kids eat all the candy they bring home. They won’t. It will be gone come November 1^st. That’s the rule.

I can also hand out candy to all the little Cinderellas, Spidermen, witches and goblins that come to my house and still feel good about it. Organic lollipops exist – free of artificial flavors and colorings. Organic, fair-trade chocolate exists. Yeah, it’s still candy but at least I can feel good about giving it out…Or I can be that house that hands out pennies.

If candy is what is going to get us out once year to mingle in the neighborhood, to smile for an entire evening, to say hello to people we rarely speak to, then so be it. There are far worse things in this world than a Tootsie Roll.

Since When Does Listerine Fight the Flu?

I was going through my Sunday paper, perusing the weekly ads to compile my grocery list for the week when I came across a particular big-box store’s ad with a feature called “Fight the Flu”. In our world of dietary supplements, we would not dare to use such language, because it’s illegal. The FDA does not allow such claims on a dietary supplement. But I guess it is okay to say that Listerine “fights the flu” and it must be okay to say that Allegra Allergy “fights the flu”, or even a box of tissues. Honestly, the only product on that page that actually “fights the flu” was the Clorox wipes. How can they say that all these products fight the flu when clearly, they do not? Since when does Listerine fight the flu???

As part of the team at Redd Remedies that decides on product claims and the statements included in our supporting literature, I often times find myself frustrated at finding a legal way to communicate what our products do for people’s health. At times, I wish we could just say what science has proven to be true and factual. I find it more frustrating when I see ads or products that claim things that are pretty much not true and at times completely ridiculous.

My frustration stems from the fact that, as an industry, we have rules to follow. Like them or not, they are law and we have to follow them. The more companies out there willing to blatantly ignore DSHEA (the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act, 1994), the more people will falsely believe that we are not a regulated industry. I also don’t appreciate the fact that some of these claims are just predatory and come from a place of greed.

We started Redd to help people get their lives back – back to a place where they are comfortable; where they can function at a normal and healthy level; where they can be happy. We don’t claim to cure. We don’t promise a magic bullet. We respect the laws set in place and will comply and function within them. We have reached 10’s of thousands of people operating in that manner and we will continue to do so.

A change in the seasons is on its way, and here in the Midwest, that means allergies. According to the CDC, in 2010 8.6 million children were reported with respiratory allergies. This number has increased every year in the past decade. The reasons for this increase are insurmountable and theories range from GMOs in food to environmental contaminants. Fall is also the beginning of the school year for our kids. Imagine dealing with itchy eyes, constant congestion and sneezing while you’re sitting in a classroom trying to learn the lesson of the day. (Maybe you can actually remember that!) Pretty hard to stay focused and concentrate on the task at hand. Many of us as parents will run to the local pharmacy and grab an over-the-counter medication to give our kids some relief, but get this. Many of the over-the-counter medications offered for children’s allergies actually hinder the learning process. They decrease focus and concentration. They cause drowsiness in some kids. How’s a kid supposed to learn anything under those conditions? And how many of us parent are aware of those possible side effects? With the demands schools are placing on our children today, the last thing they need is another obstacle to good grades.

There are so many alternatives to these OTC medications and we encourage parents to take a few moments to learn about them. Go to your local health food store or visit your nearest pharmacy that offers natural alternatives and ask questions. You might find that once you get your child’s allergies under control, other subsequent problems like ear infections, may no longer be a problem. These alternatives do not come strapped with the side effects and they won’t interrupt your child’s learning process. They’ve worked for my children and I know they can work for yours.