A new investigation reveals
the sugar industry successfully blamed fat for heart disease using skewed
science, when sugar is the main culprit. This corporate deceit triggered more
than 50 years of a nutritional “low-fat” policy that helped make Americans the fattest and most
chronically ill population on the planet, thanks to diets high in sugars and
processed carbohydrates. The blood sugar instability this diet causes played a
role in the rise of autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism.
Using tactics similar to those of
the tobacco industry, the sugar industry funded research that downplayed the
role of sugar consumption in raising levels of fat in the blood and did not
disclose findings that linked sugar with heart disease.
The industry’s own animal studies
showed high-sugar diets increased triglyceride levels, thus raising the risk of
heart attack and stroke, and also increased the risk of bladder cancer. They
pulled the plug on the study before it could be completed.
The same mechanisms that cause
heart disease and other disorders also raise the risk of autoimmune diseases
such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism. This is because a high-sugar diet causes
chronic inflammation.
The Washington DC-based Sugar
Association said the study was stopped because it was over budget and coincided
with restructuring of the Sugar Research Foundation. It also said scientific
recommendations to limit sugar to no more than 10 percent of daily calories are
“out of bounds.”
Had the study been completed, it
could have led to further research and policies that put the welfare of
American citizens — not the sugar and processed food industries — first. This
could have saved millions of Americans and their families from the heartbreak
and devastation of sugar-related diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart
disease, Alzheimer’s, and increased risk of autoimmune diseases such as
Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism.
Additionally, healthy fats are
vital to brain function; the brain is made predominantly of fat. People with
Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism have an increased risk of brain degeneration and
brain disorders and need to pay careful attention to brain nutrition.
Another telling example in a 2018
European study shows a
significant correlation between the amount of processed foods people keep in
their homes and obesity and related diseases. Though Americans and Europeans have,
surprisingly, eaten roughly the same number of calories over the decades,
significantly more Americans than Europeans are obese and ill thanks to corrupt
marketing and nutritional policy.
While the policies of the last several
decades have steadily made Americans fatter and sicker, including skyrocketing
rates of Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, they have also been fuel for the
multi-billion-dollar weight loss industry. Sugar content simply replaced fat calories in
fat-free foods dominating the shelves.
The trouble with foods high in
sugar and processed carbs (which are essentially sugar once ingested) is not
only do they make people fatter, but they also trigger a hormonal cascade that
increases sugar cravings while turning off the satiety hormones so that one
feels constantly hungry. Diets have been shown to fail most people in sustained
weight loss and even trigger eating disorders.
The low-fat, high-carb diet sends
you on a downward spiral that ends with a foundation for chronic disease based
on high inflammation, accelerated brain degeneration, and metabolic imbalances. This is a situation that primes the immune system to
fall prey to an autoimmune disease such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism.
In functional medicine, we often
see significantly ameliorated or even reversed simply by stabilizing blood sugar,
eliminating inflammatory foods, addressing chronic infection, repairing gut
health, and adopting a whole foods diet.
Ask my office for advice on the best diet for your Hashimoto’s
hypothyroidism. Or Better yet, call for a consultation: 610-558-8920.
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