The Scary Things About Sugar #6 - #10

Continuing our scary things about sugar blog series, today we are covering reasons 6-10. We grouped these together because they all are interrelated.

SUGAR…

#6: Increases total cholesterol

#7: Increases triglycerides

#8: Increases bad cholesterol levels

#9: Decreases good cholesterol levels

#10: Increases the amount of fat in the blood stream, thus increasing the chances of these fats to begin clogging arteries.

Some of you may be shaking your head saying, “wait, sugar increases cholesterol? I thought eating fat increased your cholesterol?” We have to say that you were taught this (and probably still are) by every “nutritional authority” you ever heard from. Unfortunately, um, they were wrong. VERY WRONG. In fact, so wrong, that this guideline to eat a carbohydrate dominated, low fat diet is the single most culprit in the greatest epidemic of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in American history. Don’t believe me? We suggest you read up on all the amazingly shockingly sad details in the following books. You will learn all about the insane scandals that lead to this American tragedy of suffering and early death and how the drug industry is capitalizing on just a part of this tragedy with their cholesterol medications. Don’t even get me started on Insulin medications….but I digress…..

Those with the highest sugar intake have a 400% increase in their risk of heart attacks compared to those with the lowest intakes. That’s 400%! Just one 20-ounce soda increases your risk of a heart attack by about 30%. Yet more than 70% of Americans consume 10% of their daily calories from sugar. And about 10% of Americans consume one in every four of their calories from sugar. (https://drhyman.com/blog/2014/02/07/eggs-dont-cause-heart-attacks-sugar/)

How the heck does sugar turn into fat in my bloodstream you ask? Again, I refer you back to the books above and I can recommend several others (you can go to our must read books section on our website) but I will provide a “sugar for dummies” summary here to save time.

When we consume carbs and sugar, our body releases insulin. Insulin’s job is to gather up the sugar floating around in your blood stream and push them into the cells so they can be used for energy. The problem is, our cells don’t need very much sugar, and the average person consumes about 75% (or more) OVER the amount of sugar the body needs as energy. So what happens? The cells get “full”. They cant take in any more sugar. So insulin is stuck with a passenger with nowhere to go. The fail safe is to go ahead and transport it into the organs and muscles to be stored as fat, so it can be used later when the body runs out of sugar and needs more energy. Great system right? We have an internal hard drive to save all that extra we ate for later!

Problem is modern society. Most people rarely get into a state where they need to tap into that stored fat. Cause you know, the fact that most people eat all day long and consume drinks with sugar in them, so the body never runs out. So the storage gets more and more and more filled up with fat. All this fat just waiting for the day that we can use it. The problem is, those fat storage areas get full too. And sometimes, they release some of that fat to make room. So fat starts floating around, looking to be useful. And because of this high insulin state the body is in most of the time, the body starts getting inflamed and irritated. And these fats bump around on the arterial walls. These fats are being transported around by some not so nice vehicles. Think of Max Max times 100. They are spikey and hard, like little shards of glass. They create cuts and injuries. Then this makes your arteries more inflamed. Then some of these fat cells get lodged in these little cuts and bumps and scars. Then more get lodges. Like a 10 car pile up in your arteries, building, and building until one day it clogs completely and things get blocked. These clogs create serious damage and can even lead to loss of limb, paralysis, brain damage, and death. Basically, those areas that are clogged lose fresh blood cells and the oxygen they need to “breathe” and live. So the cells die. This is seen in diabetics at neuropathy, numbness, tingling, pain, and circulation loss to the extremities. This 10 car pileup in your arteries and blood vessels can lead to large-scale cell death, stroke, blood clots, and heart attack.

Scary huh?

Here is the deal. I know this stuff is pretty nerdy. I am talking about insulin and VDLD and LDL and glycogen and neuropathy….all words that most people don’t really know or care to know. The problem is….we all have bodies and we all have these things and we all can get very, very sick if these things are not functioning correctly. So the bottom line is ignorance or a lack of desire to learn how your body functions will not save you from a stroke. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is suffering and dying much too early.

You don’t have to be a scientist, or to learn all these terms but you do need to get your head out of your ass and do something NOW about it. Not after the holidays, not January 1st, NOW. Time is not on your side. The longer you go damaging your body, the longer it’s going to take to heal. There is no such thing as a “quick fix”. But the great thing is that you could start feeling remarkedly better than you have felt in a very long time in just 30 days of effort. Not half asssed effort. Not “only when it’s convenient” effort. Real dedication to an eating plan and a fitness routine and some serious education and coaching with one of our Fire Team Whiskey Trainers.

Meet Coach Billy. He is one of our Fire Team Whiskey contributors. He had so much success with our programs that he became one of our Trainers. Not only are his before and after pictures amazing, here is one crazy thing you need to know about Billy. He has had 3 heart attacks. He is a father of 2 little girls and a husband. It wasn’t until the 3rd heart attack that he actually decided to go all-in and devote his efforts 100% to healing his body. His little girls almost lost their father, a wife almost widowed because of his inability to get his head out of the sand and do anything he needed to do in order to heal his body. This included cutting out all sugar and carbs cold turkey. Billy has a long road of healing to go and he was so lucky to have survived his heart attacks. He got not only a second but a third chance at life.

What we don’t want for you is to wait until a catastrophic health event to make you finally wake up and smell the keto coffee shake. What is sad is that most don’t even have that, they just become slowly sicker and fatter one small step every day for years, and never actually see the slow spiral to an early death they are on. It’s not about abs (although I have to admit, it’s pretty damn nice to have sexy abs). It’s not about vanity. It’s not about being a certain size or number on the scale. In fact, I promise you this, when you work with our Fire Team Whiskey Trainers, we won’t even make a weight goal with you! All we focus on is daily nutritional, lifestyle, and fitness goals, one day at a time, to get you healthier and heal your body as much as possible every day.

We know that if you have reached this part of the blog you are in one of two camps:

#1: You really need this and you have a lump in your throat and you are feeling very nervous because you know you need this, but also every cell in your body is telling you to not to commit to making any kind of change in your life right now.

#2: You are a health and fitness nut already and you are already in our choir and you are just reading along and saying “Amen” aloud and nodding your head every so often.

That’s it.

Person #1: Shit or get off the pot. Ignore those excuses. Sign up now. Change your life. Be around for your kids to get married and have kids of their own like Billy did.

Or if you are in group #2,

Fist bump brother or sister and live long and prosper my friend!