We might as well make cocaine legal

I mean why not? Yes it is a drug, that is addictive, and detrimental.  Sure, it is a toxic substance and it would seem a travesty to allow it into our bodies – legally.

And of course, it would scare me to no end to think how our brains and our bodies would be high jacked (so easily) because of the use of this addictive substance. It does take over our brain, leaving us no ability to decipher what our body really needs and wants.  That is all true.

So of course it shouldn’t be legal.

But something 8x as addictive as cocaine is legal.  It’s “allowed” in our cookies, cakes, pretzels, breads, sodas, juices — virtually all packaged and processed foods. It literally has the power to high jack our taste buds and our brain leaving us intellectually with an ability to understand why it’s bad but with virtually no power to stop our consumption. It is, of course, refined and processed sugar.

8x as addictive.  When I heard that statistic – how truly addictive it is – that scared me.

The scariest part about it for me is the purposeful nature of sugar’s hold on us.  It is about this that I want to stand on a soap box to shout to the masses.

We are mindlessly unaware of our addiction to the need for it because we are addicted! It literally is a drug. And our over consumption of it is associated with inflammation in the body, obesity, brain atrophy, dementia and Alzheimer, depression, ADD/ADHD. And this is actually not an exhaustive list of the serious issues which contribute heavily to the state of unwell in our country — and world.

There is hope, of course.   Not only can we beat sugar’s hold on us by simply not consuming the processed, added versions found in virtually all of our packaged food, we can aim to eat the natural forms of sugar that actually deliver some nutrition to our bodies and brains!  Yes, there are “sugars” that do that.  I am talking about the raw and unprocessed forms of honey, maple syrup, and coconut palm sugar. It’s these 3 forms of “sugar” that have been around for the long haul! They aren’t “new”, processed, and pumped up in any way. Which means our body can use them to do it’s job of staying in balance.

And let’s not forget about the fiber-filled fruits and vegetables that deliver wholesome energy to our body and brain.  The body is programmed genetically to process and use these foods.  Why not give it more of that and less of the stuff that leaves us in a state of oblivion, addicted, and always needing more?

Sugar is sugar and I am not saying we should eat a lot of natural kinds of sweeteners.  I am saying we should aim to kick the processed-added-bad-sugar habit. Eat real food.  And give your body half the chance to heal, recover, and be there for you long into old age.

I do not wish for cocaine or any other mind altering drug to be legal.  And I know I can’t make refined, processed sugar illegal.  But I can continue to talk about the detriment of it.  And hope people start to listen – as if their life depended on it.

Because in fact, I believe it does.

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