Shopping list:
Super hero fruit snack- 11g sugar
Orange juice- 8 oz 22g sugar
Soda- 8 oz coke 24 g sugar
Gatorade Frost- 20 oz 34 g sugar
Milk- 8 oz 15 g sugar
Frosted Flakes- ¾ cup dry 11 g sugar
Pop Tarts cinnamon- 1 pastry 15 g sugar

Does some of this look familiar? What do these all have in common? If you guessed……. immune system inhibitors you are CORRECT. Have you ever noticed sugar content NEVER has a % of daily allowance??? We as consumers, are not likely to do the math on what percentage of our daily sugar is in a particular product. Compare the above products with the numbers below and you’ll quickly see……Americans are too “sweet”……..

American Heart Association guidelines on ADDED sugar:
36 g for Males
24 g for females

Added sugar is not healthy….DUH…What about the consequences to our immune system??? Have you ever wondered why kids get sick around “candy seasons”……? Drum roll….Phagocytic index! That’s the topic of the day. Here is the cliff note version…. white blood cells need Vitamin C for full bad guy destroying power. The problem is that Vit C and sugar have similar structures. Picture a brother and sister fighting over the front seat. Only one can have that spot. When the body carries around too much sugar the WBC pulls in the sweeter sugar (sister), which then inhibits the WBC ability to “eat” up the viruses and bacteria. Studies showed that having a 120 blood sugar level reduced WBC killing power by 75%. The study also indicated that it would take 4-6 hours for WBC to return back to normal fighting levels afterward. EEK! Long story short we need to be aware of these added sugars not just due to our waist line but, how it weakens our immune systems.

I said a lot here but I’m not saying don’t have a fun family night out at Culvers or cake at a birthday. In order to keep your immune system strong keep EVERYDAY blood sugars LOW. To be clear I am talking about added sugars and not those found naturally in fruits and veggies. Fruits and veggies contain fiber and phytonutrients (antioxidants, anti-cancer, reduce chronic disease).

Is your child’s blood sugar running too high?

Cheers to Health

Dr. H