Inflammation can come in many different forms; arthritis, tender muscles, sore ligaments, swelling in the tissue,stiffness, gout, slow recovery after exercise…etc.   While there is no quick fix for inflammation, you certainly can find relief.  The first place to look is your diet.  The average person generally eats 3-5 times per day.  It is important to consider the type of foods you are consuming.  Are these foods nourishing your body, or simply filling your stomach and pleasing your taste buds? One of the most common culprits to inflammation is the over-consumption of sugar.  Sugar comes in many disguises so don’t be fooled!  Two of the most common are lactose found in milk, and fructose found in fruit. But did you know that all grains also convert to sugar in the body?

A typical all American breakfast usually includes one of the following; a bowl of cereal and milk, a bagel with cream cheese, a bran muffin with jelly, oatmeal and fruit –  and any one of those are washed down with a big glass of pasteurized orange juice.  If that’s you, then you’re starting your day with quite a bit of sugar.  Although it’s hard to know the exact grams of sugar in grains and dairy, OJ alone provides about 8 whopping teaspoons!  Consider that your body can only handle approximately 1 teaspoon of sugar in the blood stream at any given time.  So what happens when you eat too much?  In a nutshell, the pancreas has to work on over-drive to produce enough insulin to regulate the amount of sugar entering the blood stream. The body interprets this constant demand for insulin as an internal stress and alerts the adrenals to get involved. The adrenals are the glands that respond to “fight or flight” situations,and produce the hormone cortisol to help your body deal with stress. In normal amounts, cortisol acts as an anti-inflammatory and natural pain reliever. The problem is, when this hormone is being produced on a consistten basis and in high amounts, it has the revers affect. It starts to cause fatigue, and sometimes inflammation and pain!   In addition to creating this stress response in your system, too much sugar will also cause an acid ph in the body… adding additional inflammation and pain! YIKES!

Once you’ve started this cycle it can be hard to get out of because your body craves the very thing that is causing the stress response… MORE SUGAR! Do yourself a favor and cut out the sugar!  Remember, sugar is present in dairy and fruit so try to eat fruit with some nut or seeds, and avoid eating pasturized milk products.  Instead look for raw dairy, (this can be found in the specialty section at Whole Foods Market or a local farmers market).  Instead of cow’s milk try switching to coconut milk.  Starchy vegetables and grains will convert quickly to sugar in the body.  See the chart below to review a list of carbohydrates and the best ones to choose from if you’re trying to address inflammation or an over acidic condition in the body. In general it’s best to avoid refined grains altogether and choose from the low or medium glycemic vegetable categories as your first option.

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN ANNUALLY CONSUMES NEARLY 130LBS OF SUGAR AND SWEETENERS!

Sugar Content of Fruit Juices and Soft Drinks:

Note:  There are 96 Teaspoons of Sugar in 1 pound.

1 can of coke per day = 35lbs of sugar per year

12 ounces of grape juice per day = 52.5 pounds of sugar per year