This article says that women who drink 2 or more sugary drinks per day, even if they are at normal weight, are at increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. It is commenting on a recent abstract presented at the American Heart Association’s conference by Christina Shay et al.
Drinking sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) has been associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and abnormal lipid or fat levels in the blood. The researchers undertook a study to quanitfy the associations between drinking SSBs and heart disease in a multi-ethnic study.
They studied over 4000 multi-ethnic adults between 45-84 years, who did not have heart disease at baseline, over 5 years and used food frequency questionaires and risk factors for heart disease like waist circumference, weight gain, impaired fasting glucose, type 2 Diabetes and levels of lipids in the blood.
They found that for women consuming 2+ SSBs per day this was significantly associated with increased waist circumference, high fat levels in the blood and impaired fasting glucose level. They comment that because women have lower energy requirements to men, they experience higher cardiovascular risk when a greater proportion of their calories is consumed as SSBs.
From an esoteric perspective however, it is important to understand not just that certain foods are harming for the body but what it is that makes us consume these foods in the first place. It is not just a case of stopping drinking the sugary drinks but coming to an understanding of why we were seeking the excess sugar in the first place. Some might say they just like the taste of sweet food or drinks but there is much more to it than that.
We are all energetic beings and how we live over the course of a day affects our energy levels depending on our choices. If we are rushing around not taking care of ourselves, not speaking our truth, giving our power away to others, doing things just to please others yet feeling resentful inside, living according to others expectations rather than what we truly feel, looking after others and ignoring our own requirements, becoming emotional – frustrated, angry, irritated and much much more besides – all of these drain us and deplete us energetically – thus it is not surprising we end up seeking sugar!!
We seek sugar in some form or other to give us a boost, to keep us going a bit longer. For some this might be chocolate, biscuits, cakes, crisps, alcohol, sugary drinks or even apparently healthy food like very sweet fruits like mango. So to truly heal, it is important to not just stop drinking the surgary drinks or eating the sweet food but to develop a way of living and being that does not deplete us in the first place. Where we remain true to ourselves, speak our truth, honour what we are feeling in the body and develop a way of living that is self-caring, nourishing and nurturing.
This might seem like too big a task to undertake but I was someone who consumed all sorts of sweet foods and drinks when I lived in total ignorance to the fact that we are energetic beings and the factors that influenced my choices. Over the last 4 years I have taken steps to address my reasons for needing excess sugar such that I no longer eat chocolate or consume cakes or sweetened drinks etc Also I can now recognise that if I am seeking sugar I know I have not been truly with myself that day and have perhaps taken on too much at work or allowed other things to impact me and can address the root cause of it. Thankfully as I develop a more consistent way of living and being those times are becoming less frequent. If I can do it – anybody can – just take it one step at a time. What is inside you is already amazingly sweet and glorious – no need to add anymore!
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