sugar and the immune system

[mammom]

Can anyone offer a link or source about "HOW" sugar lowers the immune system? DH and I were just talking about it and he didn't know that sugar can have that effect on the body - I have kept ds away from sugar for the most part aside from an occasional cookie or other small treat.

I have mentioned to two family members in recent weeks that sugar lowers the immune system and they have said sarcastically, oh yeah? How do you know THAT??

Anyway, just looking for info to back up my claims!

TIA!

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

WEll, to be honest, I've never looked on line for a link by doing a google search, because I have the immunology text by RK Chandra that talks about it, on my bookshelf, so never had the need to mouse hunt.

http://www.thebody.com/bp/dec02/food.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t042500.asp

http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/immune/immune1.htm

[Guest*]

I love this article about sugar. It's called: Sugar, The Sweet Thief of Life. So true!

http://thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr....theif_life.php

[snugglebug14]

I was actually just reading about this in my herb book "natural cures for the common cold" here's what they have to say about sugar and the immune system:
"All forms of sugar-sucrose, fructose, glucose honey and others- intered with the activity of the infection-fighting white blood cells (the neutrophils). As your cold-infected cells die, they attract these white blood cells to digest the invading microorganisms. But, if you've been wolfing down sweets, the white blood cells become lethargic. Even a couple of cans of soda cuts their effectiveness in half"
then they go on to talk about how milk and alcohol also negatively effect the immune system. hope this answers your question!

[mammom]

Thank you all for your links/info. I guess I could've googled it myself, but in doing that I didn't see the articles you posted, so I'm glad you responded...

It's funny - my sil is the vp of public relations for a hospital nearby and she is one of the people I discussed this with recently (last night, actually). We spoke today and I mentioned that I had looked it up after our conversation just to confirm that I was right (since *she* should know, working in a hospital) and she said, "well, sugar isn't *good* for you, but it's not that bad for your immune system." (not her exact words, but that's what I took from what she said!) She was also very concerned a few weeks ago when ds had pink eye - she said, you ARE taking him to a doctor, aren't you?? (We didn't tell her about the breast milk that cleared it right up!)

Her husband has terrible arthritis in his hands, has had surgery and is on all sorts of drugs to help with the pain/inflamation. I mentioned once that his diet might be part of the problem, but they don't want to hear anything like that. Drugs are always the answer.

[mammom]

Oh! I forgot this amusing little story... Saturday ds and I went into our town hall where they were offering free cookies along with holiday festivities. The woman at the entrance offered us a cookie for ds and I said, "oh, thank you, but we're not really "doing" sugar." She said, oh, how awful! He has diabetes already?!" I said no, that he was perfectly healthy, it's just not that good for us. I was so surprised at her response!

[Gitti]

This is from thedoctorwithin from the above link:

So let's bring this twisted puzzle into focus. With sugar and dairy, we're talking about immune compromise.

The main part of the immune system is the white blood cells. Their job is to circulate and locate foreign stuff. Once they locate something alien to the body, the white cells attack it, destroy it and carry it off. A slight oversimplification, but generally this is a big part of how the immune system works.

Refined sugar interferes in many ways. First of all, refined sugar blocks digestion, allowing undigested food to get into the bloodstream, thus slowing circulation way down. If the white cells can't make their rounds, they can't do their job.

Appleton cites two university studies (p 52) which demonstrated that sugar suppresses the immune system by decreasing phagocytosis. Phagocytosis refers to the Pac-manlike activity of white cells munching up foreign stuff. Sugar greatly reduces the activity of the white cells' little 'flippers' (pseudopods), which are for reaching out to locate foreign debris.

Secondly, the immune system gets sensitized to refined sugar. That means it freaks out at first, trying to normalize the blood. But after awhile, the immune system adapts to the abnormal levels of sugar, and accepts the idea that it will operate at a sub-normal level.

The sugar no longer triggers such a violent response, and as a result, neither do other foreign agents. The immune system gets more and more lenient about what level of contamination it will allow the blood to maintain. Overall health declines. This is right out of Hans Selye, the guy who discovered and studied stress.

A third way sugar depresses the immune system is by sticking to protein. In the early part of the 20th century, Louis Maillard proved that refined sugar has a particular capability for sticking to protein foods, like meat, and forming a strange new complex called glycenated protein.

Food chemists call Maillard's discovery the Maillard Reaction. We lack enzymes for these weird proteins, and so they don't get broken down very well in the digestive tract. The immune system is then exhausted by trying to attack them year after year, since they are foreign material.

[shanagirl]

the two ways in which I remember my reading referring to how bad sugar is from you are:

1. Bacteria/viruses thrive in a high-sugar environment. I can no longer remember where I came across this.
2. Sugar interferes with your body's ability to absorb other nutrients --that is from Dr. Wootan's book, he has a whole chapter about it. I will dig it up and quote more. It made a huge impression on me.

[Pariah]

Thanks for the links to those articles. I've been reading a lot about this, as we're trying to eliminate sugar as much as possible. My husband has ADD and whenever I look up information about it, eliminating sugar is the first thing I read as a way to help it.

Are sugar substitutes any better? I tried stevia and it tastes like the chemical substitutes to me. I've read about people using pure maple syrup, molasses, etc., in place of sugar...are they actually any better for your body? Or at least an improvement on the refined sugar?

[rabrog]

Two questions:

- if you've been having a high sugar diet, what can you do to "reverse" the damage? Obviously you start eliminating sugar, but what else?

- a PP's quote mentioned dairy's effect on the immune system. Can anyone elaborate or give links on that?

Thanks!
Jenn, mommy to Bekah (21m) and unvaxed

[babybugmama]

Originally Posted by jlpolzin

I love this article about sugar. It's called: Sugar, The Sweet Thief of Life. So true!

http://thedoctorwithin.com/index_fr....theif_life.php

great article, thank you.

[hpienkos]

organic sugar

what about organic sugar? Is sugar plain sugar, even though it is organic? And if we must use sugar, use organic kinds?

[Jen123]

I confess to still using white sugar.

When I can I use raw sugar.

As long as you don't go and start using the chemical sweetners...splenda/sucralose , nutrasweet/aspartame , saccahrin , etc.....

I've tried stevia and disliked it. As my kids say "It was gnasty with a capital G".

[Guest*]

Originally Posted by hpienkos

what about organic sugar? Is sugar plain sugar, even though it is organic? And if we must use sugar, use organic kinds?

Sugar is not good for you, no matter the form or whether or not it's organic.

Instead try natural alternatives life xylitol, raw cane sugar, honey, molasses. These still aren't good for you, but they still have some nutritive value.

No matter the type of sugar, though, it should be used sparingly or not at all. It affects the system the same way.

[shanagirl]

Dr. Wootan says sugar is a drug, pure and simple: highly addictive, having a major effect on our bodies and our moods. I've got to dig the book up because the section on sugar is really interesting--it's the first time I saw the reference to the fact that it disturbs your body's ability to absorb nutrients from other foods. And to the earlier question about organic sugar-- it's all sugar. And I too found Stevia to just be awful, totally changing the taste of whatever I put it in.

[babybugmama]

I don't want to take over this thread, but would love some advice about giving up the sugar habit.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=387671

[Guest*]

Originally Posted by babybugmama

I don't want to take over this thread, but would love some advice about giving up the sugar habit.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=387671

I replied to you.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Sugar also seriously impacts the uptake of Vitamin C as well... which is why even if you are eating some vitamin C, if you eat sugar, then its possible to absorb no vitamin C.

[mattemma04]

//

[mammom]

Babybugma, you can take over! I'm curious too... Janna, do you want to post the info you sent?

Also curious about the dairy connection that has been mentioned. Anyone have info on dairy and the immune system?

Thanks everyone for all the links!