For those in the USA, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. For the most part, the traditional Thanksgiving meal is full of refined carbohydrates. Just about everything we consume in our holiday meals has added sugar. My Thanksgiving meal was no exception. I roasted the obligatory turkey with all the sides you’d expect from the stuffing, cranberry sauce, my mother’s famous German potato salad, scallop potatoes, green beans, and a homemade pecan pumpkin dump cake…with ice cream. Within 30 minutes, I was feeling the effects of the carbs and sugar rush. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. It was like having an alcohol hangover, and I haven’t had alcohol in 21 years.

I test my blood glucose often (although I’m not diabetic) to see how different foods affect my blood sugar.  My normal range is around the mid 80’s after eating a low-carbohydrate meal. I tested my blood glucose about 40 minutes after the carb/sugar load, and my reading was 112. I can’t remember the last time my reading was over 95. This was shocking but not surprising.

Never in the history of humankind have we had an emergency need to lower blood sugar. The chronic high levels of blood sugar are creating an epidemic of diabetes and obesity, which lead to other health problems like high blood pressure, high triglycerides, insulin resistance, and insomnia.

Elevated blood sugar is also related to brain health. There’s a process called glycation whereby glucose reacting with proteins results in “sticky proteins.” These proteins covered with this sticky sugar begin to harden. Glycation injures the brain’s neurons and cell membranes and creates neuroinflammation. People with diabetes have four times the rate of Alzheimer’s, pre-diabetics three times, and compromised blood sugar two times risk. The inability of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients to utilize glucose is a critical factor in the disease, and newly coined as Type 3 Diabetes. In Dr. David Perlmutter’s book Brain Maker, Dr. Perlmutter shares studies that there’s a direct correlation between elevated blood sugar levels and Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Returning to my Thanksgiving meal, the turkey was pumped with sugar to enhance the taste. Unless you cook your food to know what you’re eating, you can’t escape sugar or the hidden names for sugar. If sugar or a sugary ingredient is listed as one of the first three ingredients, the product is likely high in sugar. There is some good news from the USDA. In 2015, Americans consumed an average of 120 lbs. of caloric sweeteners compared to 151 lbs. in 1999. Caloric sweeteners are refined cane, beet sugars, corn sweeteners, honey, and edible sweeteners.

I know many people try to avoid sugar. You must be diligent and vigilant, read every label, and know the hidden names where sugar lurks.

Pat  Garner is a Certified Nutritional Practitioner (CNP)