If you’ve ever wondered about the impact that sugar has not only on your physical health but also on your cognitive functions, then Dr Demartini has some profound insights to share with you.
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You know, it can cause
glycation in the skin.
Speaker:It can cause some gumming up in the brain.
Speaker:It can cause problems with the pancreas.
Speaker:From when you're a little child
you probably had been rewarded at
Speaker:least once with sugar. If you're
a good little boy or girl,
Speaker:they might give you a sweet, and so
you ended up developing a sweet tooth,
Speaker:some people call it. But what is
the impact that sugar has? I mean,
Speaker:without a doubt, our brain requires sugar.
Speaker:It's the primary nutrient of the brain.
Speaker:But excessive or deficient amounts of
sugar going into the brain can cause
Speaker:cognitive dysfunction, or
let's say cognitive impairment,
Speaker:let's put it that way.
Speaker:So I'd like to talk about sugar for a
moment and the impact that sugar has.
Speaker:First, I'd like to talk
about taking sugar. There are
different types of sugars.
Speaker:There's complex carbohydrates
that break down into sugar slowly.
Speaker:There are simple sugars that go right
into the bloodstream and spike it,
Speaker:and then usually have it fall.
Speaker:And then there's also natural sugars
from eating fats and proteins that body
Speaker:metabolizes and creates back into
sugar. The brain requires sugar.
Speaker:So I don't want to say that sugar's
bad or good, but like anything else,
Speaker:even water, too much water or too
little water can cause problems,
Speaker:and the same thing with sugar.
Speaker:If we eat more sugar than ideal,
Speaker:it definitely impairs our cognitive
function. We get a spike, we get manic.
Speaker:When we get manic, we tend to
see positive and optimistically,
Speaker:and we're basically blind
to some of the downsides.
Speaker:And then when we fall
and the spike goes down,
Speaker:we tend to be more
pessimistic and irritable,
Speaker:and therefore we are not thinking
clearly and not centered and not pros.
Speaker:So anytime we eat spikes of sugar,
Speaker:it affects our cognitive function,
it causes a spike and then a decline.
Speaker:And what's interesting, if
you eat sugar more than ideal,
Speaker:you can create a leptin
resistance and as a result of it,
Speaker:you can then lose the feedback mechanism
that the hormone leptin normally does
Speaker:to let you know when you're satiated
and you can tend to overeat.
Speaker:So excessive amounts of
sugar also has an impact on
Speaker:leading to overeating and then
obesity and type two diabetes
Speaker:and cardiovascular conditions. And
eventually, if we gain some weight,
Speaker:it can affect our hips and our
joints and our knees and our overall
Speaker:energy levels,
Speaker:which makes us more vulnerable to
emotional vicissitudes and emotional
Speaker:volatilities. So the question is,
Speaker:is are you overeating sugar
If you're going and having a Starbucks,
Speaker:you might want to go and do a little
research on how many sugar teaspoons are
Speaker:sitting in a Starbucks. I know for myself,
Speaker:I learned from Paul Bragg when I
was 17 years old not to eat white
Speaker:sugar, white flour or white salt.
Speaker:So I haven't added salt to my diet or
eating sugar in my diet or eating white
Speaker:flour in my diet for 51 years.
Speaker:I try my best to try to fill
my body with food that's real.
Speaker:That's not empty calories. But
in the process of doing it,
Speaker:I do eat fruit, fruit sugars. I do
eat vegetables that have sweet in it,
Speaker:that's like carrots and beets.
And I also do eat breads.
Speaker:And that breaks down as
complex carbohydrates to sugar.
Speaker:And my brain has adequate sugar.
Speaker:But I noticed that if for some reason
there's a little bit more sugar than
Speaker:normal, that's why I don't
drink a lot of fruit juices,
Speaker:I'll have just a sip of one,
Speaker:because it's too much sugar and it spikes
and then you go down and when you do,
Speaker:you're volatile and you're emotional
and your brain doesn't, you know,
Speaker:it doesn't have stability. In fact,
Speaker:if you end up with too much
sugar spikes and then let downs,
Speaker:you automatically tend to get your brain
focusing on your amygdala response.
Speaker:You tend to be a more
emotional and volatile.
Speaker:And instead of getting into your
executive function where you have
Speaker:self-governance and executive
functions where inspired vision,
Speaker:strategic planning, executing plans,
self-governance, you tend to lose that.
Speaker:You tend to be irritable and you'll
tend to bite and spite and react.
Speaker:So I tell people that you might
moderate your sugar intake.
Speaker:It really does make a difference.
Speaker:It's not hard to prove and see if you
just moderate it for a week and see the
Speaker:impact. But you might
want to stop and ask,
Speaker:is the coffee with the sugar,
the tea with the sugar,
Speaker:the desserts with the sugar,
the foods, without realizing it,
Speaker:that's fast foods that has
sugar in it, are you really,
Speaker:even the yogurts out there,
I I eat plain Greek yogurt,
Speaker:I don't eat anything
that has sweets in it,
Speaker:so I'm a very much a carbohydrate
Speaker:calm down carbohydrate person. You
know, it affects your your teeth,
Speaker:it affects your immune system, it
affects your cardiovascular system,
Speaker:it affects your emotional volatilities,
Speaker:it makes you decrease your probability
of having cognitive centeredness and
Speaker:mastery by overeating
sugar. But at the same time,
Speaker:if you are fasting and you don't have
any sugar that's released in the brain,
Speaker:then you end up with problems
too. So too little is not wise,
Speaker:it's just the right amount of food.
And my experience is that, you know,
Speaker:I don't add sugar and I don't add
honey and I don't add sweetening,
Speaker:I don't eat anything with sweets
like that. It's just not my thing,
Speaker:other than fresh fruit. That's
the sweetest thing I eat.
Speaker:And I don't have volatility.
I have stable energy and it's,
Speaker:and my brain function keeps
alert and sharp because of that.
Speaker:So I'm just letting you know that it
might be wise to stop and take a look and
Speaker:do an inventory about your
sugar intake. You know,
Speaker:it can cause glycation in the skin. It
can cause some gumming up in the brain.
Speaker:It can cause problems with the pancreas.
Speaker:When you do you get feedbacks in
the brain and back in your feedback,
Speaker:as I said to leptin and ghrelin,
it throws off your eating patterns.
Speaker:It also, if it's eating too much
sugar and creates a need for insulin,
Speaker:because your blood
sugar's so high, it's got,
Speaker:it's like stimulating it with
glucagon, it now needs some insulin,
Speaker:you can eventually burn out your pancreas
trying to create that much insulin
Speaker:and overdo it.
Speaker:And there's definitely signs that it
affects the brain when it does it.
Speaker:The brain has to have a stable,
steady centeredness of sugar.
Speaker:And if you spike it and then,
you know, go the other direction,
Speaker:sometimes you overeat on sugars and sweets
and stuff and then you end up having
Speaker:a high, as you know,
Speaker:and get manic and do crazy things and
set too big a goals in too short of
Speaker:timeframes, then crash and then feel
like you can't accomplish things,
Speaker:and all these things impair the executive
function and stop you from mastering
Speaker:your life. And the other way around,
Speaker:I found out that people who are not living
by priority, not bringing the blood,
Speaker:glucose, oxygen into the forebrain,
not having executive function,
Speaker:not moderating their behaviors,
Speaker:allowing themselves to go
back into their amygdala,
Speaker:which requires a little less sugar
than the executive functioning areas,
Speaker:then what happens is that area starts
to make us impulsive and instinctual and
Speaker:make us, you know, avoid and seek
and be distracted and emotional.
Speaker:And we're not centered and focused.
So if we don't, it works two ways,
Speaker:if you're not living your life
by highest priority actions,
Speaker:you tend to go in and activate your
amygdala. And at the same time,
Speaker:if you're eating sweets,
Speaker:you tend to also activate the amygdala
and not the executive function.
Speaker:So cognitive impairment is going
on when you overeat sugars.
Speaker:And I tell people just to be
moderate on it. Like I said,
Speaker:if you go to the Starbucks and you go
there and they put a load up a bunch of
Speaker:syrup in there, corn syrup and
things of this nature and sugar,
Speaker:and then you add sugar to it,
this to me is insane. I mean,
Speaker:if you look at how many,
Speaker:just go look on the line and go look
at how much the average person consumes
Speaker:sugar, the amount of tablespoons or
pounds of sugar that people eat in a year,
Speaker:it's ridiculous.
Speaker:And they wonder why they have health
problems and cardiovascular and over,
Speaker:you know, obesity. I mean,
Speaker:if you go look at pictures in
the: Speaker:America, you didn't see
the obesity we have today.
Speaker:And part of it's because of sugar intake.
Speaker:We have complex and simple sugars that
we're overeating and we're not being
Speaker:told, we're not being educated, or if we
are being educated, we're ignoring it.
Speaker:And I'm just very grateful I learned
from Paul Bragg when I was 17 that that's
Speaker:not the thing to feed your body with.
Speaker:You're either living to eat or eating
to live. And I'd prefer to eat to live.
Speaker:I'd rather ask myself what's the highest
priority things I can be filling my
Speaker:body with and to help me have
the most cognitive function.
Speaker:I have an important function of
educating and researching and learning.
Speaker:I want my brain working. So
that's why I don't eat sugars.
Speaker:I don't add sugars to my diet other
than simple fruit and in moderation.
Speaker:And I have steady stable
energy because of that.
Speaker:So I tell people to moderate their sugars.
Speaker:And I didn't say eliminate them, I
just said moderate them. Eat wisely.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:think about what you're actually feeding
your body and think about the amount of
Speaker:sugars that you're consuming, because
it's going to pay a price. You will,
Speaker:like I said, type two diabetes is
not necessarily caused by the sugar,
Speaker:but it does wear down the pancreatic
function if you just consume
Speaker:sugars constantly and eventually it
is a factor in diabetes. And again,
Speaker:with the leptin resistance, that's
another factor of overeating.
Speaker:And both of those conditions we know are
leading to problems and we don't even
Speaker:realize we're doing that. So be moderate,
Speaker:stop and reflect and look
at what you're eating.
Speaker:And stop and reflect and look
at what you're prioritizing.
Speaker:If you're not prioritizing your day
and living by your highest values and
Speaker:getting your executive function
to govern your behavior,
Speaker:and if you're not prioritizing what you're
eating and making sure you're eating
Speaker:to live and perform and not just
eating for immediate gratification,
Speaker:which is sugar, because
people want a reward,
Speaker:and it's one of the most addictive
compounds you can find on the planet is
Speaker:sugar. I mean, people think,
oh my God, I love you,
Speaker:I'll give you chocolate
and sugar and sweets,
Speaker:and that's a crazy message to give
somebody because it's not to their
Speaker:advantage to overeat sugar.
But a little moderation,
Speaker:I'm not against having
your sweet occasionally,
Speaker:but just be aware that the content of
what you're feeding your body is affecting
Speaker:your psychology.
Speaker:And if you want to maximize your mental
function and your cognitive function,
Speaker:eat wisely. Prioritize what you're
eating, prioritize what you're doing,
Speaker:prioritize what the actions you're taking,
Speaker:prioritize who you're associating with.
If you're not prioritizing your life,
Speaker:other people are going to infiltrate it,
and impulsive behaviors will take over.
Speaker:If you're not, I always say
that impulsive, addictive,
Speaker:and compulsive behaviors and immediate
gratifying behaviors are compensations
Speaker:for unfulfilled highest values.
Speaker:That's why I tell people to make sure
that they prioritize their life and
Speaker:prioritize their actions and
prioritize their food. If you do that,
Speaker:you're more likely to keep yourself stable
and steady and focused and energized
Speaker:and vital and help have wellness.
Speaker:Without a doubt there's
effect of gaining weight.
Speaker:If you've gained any weight and
you've added too much sugar,
Speaker:you're paying a price. And I could
go down the list, I mean from tooth,
Speaker:as I said, cardiovascular, weight, I mean,
Speaker:I've seen people that gain a little
bit of weight and they're only 10 to 20
Speaker:pounds overweight, but every pound they're
overweight it affects their joints,
Speaker:it affects their cardiovascular
function, I mean,
Speaker:it just goes on and on. So take the
time to prioritize what you eat.
Speaker:Take the time to prioritize what you do.
Speaker:Take the time to prioritize what
actions you're taking every day,
Speaker:who you're associating with every
day, how you're living your life.
Speaker:If you're not living for an inspiration,
Speaker:you're probably going
to fall for desperation.
Speaker:And eating sugar is not the
way to maximize your potential.
Speaker:Eating excessive sugar. Eat
moderately. Sugar has its benefits,
Speaker:it has its drawbacks. Your
brain must have it for fuel,
Speaker:but it doesn't require you to eat sugar
all day long. Eating natural foods,
Speaker:fats and proteins and other foods,
Speaker:your body knows how to
convert that into sugar.
Speaker:It has sugar metabolism to do that
to make sure your brain is stable.
Speaker:But just know that if
you eat simple sugars,
Speaker:stuff that you see in
quick foods or whatever,
Speaker:you will end up having spikes and troughs
and you'll increase volatility and
Speaker:you'll be more emotional and you'll be
less stable and your cognitive function
Speaker:will be impaired. You'll be manic
and then depressed and you know,
Speaker:hyper and then eventually
irritable. And if you want that,
Speaker:then I guess that's fine,
but you'll pay a price.
Speaker:It's wiser to eat moderately and
think about what you put in your body.
Speaker:So I just know that that's one of the
reasons when I teach the Breakthrough
Speaker:Experience, I teach people
how to prioritize their
life, prioritize their doing.
Speaker:Imagine this, if you have
something really, really,
Speaker:really important to do and
you know it's happening,
Speaker:you're about to get married or you're
about to go and put on that wedding dress
Speaker:or you're about to go on a beach holiday,
Speaker:and you know you're going to
have to be looking your best,
Speaker:you will very discipline yourself
because you have something meaningful and
Speaker:priority that you're focusing
on. As a result of it
Speaker:you don't tend to go into volatilities
and you don't tend to overeat sugars,
Speaker:because you're more disciplined,
because you know better.
Speaker:But if you don't have anything that's
filling your day that's inspiring to you,
Speaker:you're more vulnerable to engage,
Speaker:that's why most people will blow their
diet on Friday night and Saturday night
Speaker:and Friday and Saturday afternoon and
evening or whatever and then they'll get
Speaker:back in discipline again by Sunday
night because they know they've got
Speaker:accountabilities and responsibilities
on the following day.
Speaker:That's why I'm a firm believer in keeping
yourself busy in high priority actions
Speaker:so you're not as vulnerable to your
immediate gratifying amygdala's responses.
Speaker:Because that's when you tend
to want to overeat sugar.
Speaker:And then the sugar then
has a vicious cycle,
Speaker:it's affecting executive function
and you get into a vicious cycle.
Speaker:That's why prioritizing what you do
and prioritizing what you're eating is
Speaker:important.
Speaker:That's why in the Breakthrough Experience
I teach people how to take command of
Speaker:their priorities, take command
of what their values are,
Speaker:prioritize what they're doing,
Speaker:asking themselves really what's
priority as far as eating,
Speaker:prioritizing who you're hanging out with,
Speaker:if you're hanging out with people that
are very inspired by what they're doing
Speaker:and going places in life, you'll
tend to move in that direction.
Speaker:If you hang out with people
that are victims of history,
Speaker:you'll hang out in that direction,
you go in that direction.
Speaker:So prioritize what you do in your
life and watch the difference.
Speaker:That's why I teach in the Breakthrough
Experience every weekend to help people
Speaker:take command of their life and be masters
of destiny, not victims of history.
Speaker:And sugar in excess does not help you
become master of destiny. In moderation,
Speaker:like many things, moderation
and consistency is one thing,
Speaker:but excesses will, you pay a
price for that. So compensate,
Speaker:maybe stopping and reading and reflecting
Speaker:and thinking, is this really the highest
priority thing to feed my body with?
Speaker:It's your body. It goes by
quick. Your life goes by quick.
Speaker:I'm nearly 70 years old
be 70 in a few months and here I am you
Speaker:know, I realize how fast that goes.
Speaker:So you want to feed your mind and
feed your body wisely. Anyway,
Speaker:that's my message for today and I hope
to see you at the Breakthrough Experience
Speaker:so I can teach you how to prioritize
your daily actions according to your
Speaker:highest values and to prioritize what
you're eating so you can take command of
Speaker:your life and get the most out of life,
Speaker:because life goes by pretty quick and
you might as well do everything you can
Speaker:with everything you were given.
Speaker:I look forward to seeing you at the
next little weekly presentation.