Crave less for sugar

An average Nigerian consume about 1500 calories per day. How is that possible? One Pepsi, Coke, Fanta or any of those soft drinks contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar. Many kids drink 3 or 4 cans of soft drink per day. These food are nutritionally depleted.
  Many people can not do without adding sugar to their foods and yet they seem unaware of the amount of sugar they take in from hidden sources including large amount in ketchup and cereals. Canned fruits containing syrup is another source of sugar. Drugs in syrup form is also a source of sugar. Well, you may think it doesn't say sugar on the label. You are right. Looking at the nutritional label can be confusing. Manufacturers will use the terms "corn syrup" or "glucose" instead of "sugar". What you are consuming is sugar.
  If you walk through any major grocery store, you will see beautifully packed processed foods- chock full of sugar.
  Many people believe that a little sugar wont hurt them but continuous eating of sugar over and over can render serious results. Here are some major problems associated with sugar:
1. Decreased immune system- sugar weakens our immune system by affecting the T-cells which protect us against viruses. It impairs white blood cells called phagocytes which protect us from bacteria and also temporarily impairs the B-cells which produce antibodies. Eating 100g of simple carbohydrate (e.g. few cookies) can reduce the ability of white blood cells to engulf and destroy micro organism. As a result, we are prone to bacterial and viral infections.
2. Insulin resistance- Insulin is a very important hormone in the body. It allows glucose (blood sugar) to enter cells from the bloodstream and tells the cells to start burning glucose instead of fat. Having too much glucose in the blood is highly toxic and one of the reasons for complications of diabetes. One feature of the metabolic dysfunction that is caused by the Western diet, is that insulin stops working as it should. The cells become “resistant” to it. This is also known as insulin resistance, which is believed to be a leading driver of many diseases including metabolic syndrome, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and especially type II diabetes.
  When our cells become resistant to the effects of insulin, the beta cells in our pancreas make more of it.
This is crucial, because chronically elevated blood sugars can cause severe harm. Eventually, as insulin resistance becomes progressively worse, the pancreas can not keep up with the demand of producing enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels down. At this point, blood sugar levels get increased and a diagnosis of type II diabetes is made.
  Sugar is a leading contributor to obesity in both children and adults. High insulin levels which are caused from excessive sugar intake will trigger the body to store fat. That's the reason most diabetics gain weight when they begin taking insulin. Insulin tells the body to store fat and sugar triggers the pancreas to release more insulin. Elevated sugar can also lead to low blood sugar and craving for sugar. Thus, the cycle starts over with the consumption of more sugar to prevent the symptoms of low blood sugar.
  The evidence is mounting that sugar, NOT fat, may be one of the leading drivers of heart disease via the harmful effects of fructose on metabolism. Studies show that large amounts of fructose can raise triglycerides, small, dense Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and oxidized LDL (very, very bad), raise blood glucose and insulin levels and increase abdominal obesity. These are all major risk factors for heart disease.
  Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is characterized by uncontrolled growth and multiplication of cells. Insulin is one of the key hormones in regulating this sort of growth.
For this reason, many scientists believe that having constantly elevated insulin levels (a consequence of sugar consumption) can contribute to cancer. In addition, the metabolic problems associated with sugar consumption are a known driver of inflammation, another potential cause of cancer.  Multiple studies show that people who eat a lot of sugar are at a much higher risk of getting cancer.
3. Yeast problem- Yeast is one of the problem we face in our colon. Remember that yeast loves sugar. Everyone has some yeast in their intestines, but when we take in a great amount of sugar we may develop yeast overgrowth in the intestinal tract which might make our abdomen swell like yeast roll. When alcohol is added to the mix, we become like brewery. A person with a " beer belly" is usually a product of sugar, yeast and alcohol.
  Yeast infections experienced by many women are compounded by high intakes of sugar.
4. Teeth problem- When people eat up to 10-20% of calories as sugar (or more), this can become a major
problem and contribute to nutrient deficiencies.
  Sugar is also very bad for the teeth, because it provides easily digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the mouth.
5. Sugar addiction- Sugar can be addictive for a lot of people. Like abusive drugs, sugar causes a release of dopamine in the reward center of the brain. People who have a susceptibility to addiction can become strongly addicted to sugar and other junk foods because they can cause massive dopamine release much more than we were ever exposed to for food found in nature.
World Health Organisation recommended that sugar intake should not be more than 10% of an adult's total caloric intake per day. i.e. 50g of sugar per day which means between 12 and 13 cubes of sugar. Total recommended amount from both natural and refined sugars.
  For people who can’t tolerate it, added sugar is incredibly harmful. Crave less for sugar!