An amazing new study

   has found out just exactly what is wrong with the American diet. A diet, by the way, that the whole world is signing up for. Its principle ingredient happens to lead to numerous health issues including diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome.

Drum roll!! Who would have guessed? Yes, it's sugar...

And what "sugar" is this study talking about? If you read my earlier blog post, the 5 Steps To Eliminating Sugar From Your Life, you already know. It's the sugar that is ADDED by the shovelful into the ultra processed "foods" to which people have become addicted.

These "foods" comprise about 58% of many American's total energy (caloric) intake. If you're wondering, that 58% of your calories contains 90% of all of the added sugar in your diet.

These "food" items might constitute 90% of your added sugar.

What exactly is "ultra processed" food? As before, we simply must return to the label on the "food." The study used this definition: (Foods with...) "formulations of several ingredients which, besides salt, sugar, oils and fats, include food substances not used in culinary preparations, in particular, flavours, colours, sweeteners, emulsifiers and other additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations or to disguise undesirable qualities of the final product"

Yum, yum! Gimme some!! Whose mouth wouldn't just water at the thought of ingredients like "Potassium carbonate, Hexameta, Cottonseed oil preserved with TBHQ, Disodium inosinate, and thiamine mononitrate?" Just like grandma used to make. Ah the childhood memories of fresh pork shoulder, her manual grinder, and her pantry of chemical food additives.

But most importantly all of these additives were nestled in a cozy web of added sugar. Because no one eats disodium inosinate without a stiff sugar chaser!

The study points out (emphasis added), "... foods higher in added sugars are often a source of empty calories with minimum essential nutrients or dietary fibre, which displace more nutrient-dense foods and leads, in turn, to simultaneously overfed and undernourished individuals."

TRANSLATION: Eating "ultra processed" foods does little more than pump empty calories into your stomach.

Like others before it, this study sends a clear message: If you want to reduce your sugar intake, remove "ultra processed foods" from your diet. You are getting virtually nothing from them but calories, with a side of diabetes, coronary artery disease, obesity, strokes, and high blood pressure.

Avoid the sugar and processed food "deathzone" in the center of every grocery store on the planet. Stick to the produce, meats, and dairy.

Article citation - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/3/e009892

The supermarket Map. It may vary from store to store, but the "deathzone" is always the same.