#66 Processed Sugars & Focus

The Focus Cast

If you want to accomplish your dreams or grow your company to $100M, being aware of your sugar intake may be a critical step. Sugar has a major impact on our brain function, and overall mental health. And it turns out, we are at war with the sugar industry. Today we will share with you some dirty little (not so secret) tricks the sugar industry played on the narrative, our over consumption of sugar, and what we can do TODAY to increase our focus.

01:20 Stats on Sugar
04:30 Effects on Brain
06:45 Sugar & Mental Health
09:22 At War w/ Sugar
13:30 Sugar Subsidies
20:00 Solution
SUGARS & OUR FOCUS

• We eat too much sugar:
• According to AHA guidelines, most men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons (tsp) of sugar.
• AHA - Estimated 17 teaspoons of sugar every day
• Can of Coke - 10 teaspoons
• Iced Tea – 6 teaspoons
• Orange Juice – 6 teaspoons
• Sports Drinks – 3.5 teaspoons
• Sugar & Brain Function
  • Verywell Mind stated, "Even a single instance of elevated glucose in the bloodstream can be harmful to the brain, resulting in slowed cognitive function and deficits in memory and attention."
  • Sugar consumption causes inflammation in the brain, leading to memory difficulties.
• Sugar & Mental Health:
  • 23,245 individuals enrolled in the Whitehall study—found higher rates of sugar consumption was associated with a greater incidence of depression.
  • Journal Scientific Reports, found those with the highest level of sugar consumption were a 23% more likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder

WE ARE AT WAR WITH SUGAR

• Sugar Manufacturing/Processing Market - $56B
• The U.S. Sugar Program:
  • Agriculture and Food Act of 1981, the U.S. Sugar Program maintains a minimum price for sugar with the goal of protecting sugar-industry growers and processors.
  • Tax payers pay $3-$4B each year in sugar subsidies.
  • According to Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times, the sugar industry—led by United States Sugar and Florida Crystals—gave $57.8 million in direct and in-kind contributions to state and local political campaigns between 1994 and 2016.
  • “the sugar guys win votes because they are better at politics than anyone else.” the industry has retained a core of lobbyists, experts, and other advocates that could ‘fill a stadium,’
• Trust the Science (maybe)
  • Pro Market.org - Historical documents were released showing that the sugar industry paid Harvard scientists in the 1960s to produce research that downplayed the connection between sugar and heart disease, and instead laid the blame on saturated fat.
  • According to The New York Times, the documents suggested that five decades of scientific research into the interconnection between nutrition and heart disease “may have been largely shaped by the sugar industry.”

SOLUTION/HABITS

• When you are feeling hungry for a snack drink water.
• Reduce mindless snacking
• You're on a blood sugar roller coaster, and it's hard to get off it. So STOP the craving before it starts by eating healthy sugars, proteins, fats, etc

Stress causes you to be hungry, "Stress causes the hormone cortisol to flood your body, releasing glucose from your liver, which in turn raises your blood sugar." Practice healthy stress reducing activities.
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