Interesting Information: April 20, 2010
Culturing Dairy Uses Up Its Sugars
Sugar is bad news for human health.
A little sugar does hurt–especially the highly-processed, white, refined sugars. And, on average, we aren’t eating a “little sugar” daily. A lot of sugar is hidden in our foods.
Jen Allbritton, in “Zapping Sugar Cravings: Hair-Raising Stats on this `White Plague’ and How to Reduce Your Need for Sweets,” in WISE TRADITIONS, Winter 2010, 53-59–the journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, notes that “our ancestors likely indulged in around one tablespoon (60 calories) of honey per day (when available), which is stunningly low compared to today’s average sugar intake of one cup (774 calories) per day!” And, I’d add that our ancestors didn’t eat fruit out of season, unless they dried it, and the fruit they ate had not yet been bred to be big and very sweet. Also, the honey they ate was unheated, raw honey.
I’m a lover of whole, real/raw milk, and we can buy it in local markets and our coops here in Maine. Between the chickens, the dogs, and John and me, we go through about 2 gallons a week and 2 pints of heavy cream. I don’t worry about the fat or protein in the milk, but it also contains sugars. So, I was very interested to read in Allbritton’s article that culturing milk (yogurt, kefir, pima, etc.) uses up most, if not all, of these milk sugars. Yeah!!! We’ll now move toward eating even more of the yogurt I make and keep on hand and drinking less of the milk form. (Look in the recipe section of this blog to see how easy it is to make your own yogurt–and it’s light years better than anything you buy., most of which as added junk like pectin, seaweed, and dangerous dried milk). This morning we had big bowls of fresh yogurt topped with a mixture of “crispy” nuts, seeds, dried fruits, bits of chocolate!, and dried coconut. (See the blog recipes for how to make crispy nuts.) It’s 1:37, and I’m still not hungry. Tomorrow or the next day, I’ll make us yogurt smoothies with added raw egg yolks, unrefined coconut oil (it doesn’t stick to your body), and some of the fruit I froze last summer.
By the way, Allbritton has a nice chart with the sugar content in some common products. You know that labels split up the sugars by using separate names for them, right? If industry didn’t play this kind of game, they’d have to show that sugar is often the first ingredient in a product. So, note that 6 ounces of 99% fat-free flavored Yoplait yogurt contains 8 teaspoons of sugar !!! Isn’t that the yogurt that’s advertised on tv as a weight-loss tool? I don’t think so. All that sugar is going to have you hunting for more food in short order, especially since there’s no fat to satisfy and sustain hunger. You’ll end up eating MORE and feeling guilty. And, if you eat more sugar, it becomes a vicious cycle.
Much of that 1-cup daily average is not immediately detectable simply because it comes in bits and pieces added into our foods, which is why home-cooking whole, nutrient-dense foods is a good thing. (Remember that the 1-cup average means that many folks are eating way more than 1 cup of sugar a day.) And, Allbritton is just dealing with processed sugars, she isn’t dealing with the further sugar load of the increased use of grains, starchy vegetables, and so forth.
Allbritton points to the work of Nancy Appleton, PhD, who wrote SUICIDE BY SUGAR. She has a blog: www.nancyappleton.com where you can find details of how lethal sugar consumption is. For starters, it both si connected with cancer development and feeds cancer cells. It disturbs the balance in your body in countless, disease-causing ways. It causes obesity. It also contributes to destructive, aggressive, restless behavior. It is addictive and can, Allbritton writes, “rival cocaine in its addictive strength” (55).
We mostly confine daily sugar ingestion to honey, which we both love. I do, occasionally, make a really good cake with loads of butter and our fresh eggs and, hopefully, limited amounts of sugar and white flour. They are a real treat, but not something either of us craves these days.
Louisa Enright's Blog 
Great website. A lot of helpful info here. I’m sending it to
a few friends ans also sharng in delicious. And of course, thanks in your effort!