Sugar! How Can Something So Sweet Be So Bad for Your Marriage?

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Is sugar harming your marriage? It was trying to harm mine!

My unexpected journey and how it has blessed my marriage!

Do you have a sweet-tooth? Do your breakfast cereals come in two varieties (pre-sweetened and “post-sweetened”)? Can you sometimes relate a bit too easily to the “Buddy the Elf diet”? I had such a sweet-tooth as a child that I would sometimes sneak into the kitchen, open the fridge and drink Hershey’s syrup from the container. Though that particular practice ended during adolescence, I continued to find many other exciting ways to get my “sugar fix.” And, because I was able to largely avoid putting on unwanted pounds (mostly because of my exercising), I didn’t realize how much I was harming myself – and even my family.

More about that in a moment….

Did you know?

As recently as a few years ago I mistakenly thought the two largest risks associated with sugar consumption were cavities and hyper children. However, with help from medical professionals and some of my own subsequent research, I am beginning to understand how uninformed I was regarding my “sugar addiction”. Consider the following statistics:

• In the US, we now consume 3 times the amount of sugar than we did just 50 years ago.¹
• While estimates vary, this equates to 65 – 150 pounds of sugar consumption per individual each year. Crazy! If your jaw isn’t on the floor, you need to read this stat again.
• Sugar consumption contributes to diabetes (1 million Americans as of 2012) and pre-diabetes (86 million Americans as of 2012).

While the list goes on, let me quickly share my unexpected pre-diabetes diagnosis from 2013 and how my wife and I have actually benefited from this “bad news”.

**Note** – In addition to the term pre-diabetes, my condition is also referred to as hypoglycemia and insulin resistance.

My unexpected journey

I have spent much of my life exhausted! Many of you can relate! Let me give you a brief sampling:

1. I fell asleep while on a date with my wife. We had just started dating at the time and we were playing board games with other couples. Before long, I had fallen asleep. Classy, right!?! I am lucky that this sweet girl still consented to marry me.

2. Years ago, when we were newlyweds, a neighborhood couple invited us to watch a movie at their place. I was asked to go to Blockbuster (do you remember those movie rental stores??) and pick out a movie. I returned to their place, popped in the movie and promptly fell asleep during the opening credits.

3. A few years later I thought I would be a good brother-in-law and took my wife’s younger brother to a movie. Our bonding hit a snag when I fell asleep in the theater and again slept through the whole movie.

I could go on, however, you get the point. During those years I was earning my Bachelors, Masters,and Doctoral degrees. Likewise, we were raising five young and energetic children. I attributed my constant fatigue to simply having a busy life!

Further, in addition to my constant sleepiness, I had other health concerns. For instance, I was increasingly becoming light headed, I began experiencing positional vertigo whenever I would bend down, and I even began to frequently use a portion of my lunch hour to take naps in my car – simply to have enough energy to make it through the day.

Finally, even though I was an avid distance runner, I consistently had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides.

The Diagnosis

In October of 2013 I was tested and subsequently received my diagnosis of prediabetes. I was also told that the fatigue, light-headedness, high blood pressure, etc. were likely all symptoms of my condition. I left the doctor’s office fairly devastated as I quickly realized that many things would need to change! For someone who had previously quipped that my two favorite hobbies were eating and running, this was going to be quite a change indeed (and least for one of my favorite hobbies).

Unexpected Blessings

My initial “pity-party” quickly gave way to immense gratitude. Just days after greatly reducing sugars from my diet (i.e. rarely eating desserts, eliminating sugary drinks, etc.), reducing simple carbohydrates, and increasing the amount of vegetables, I began to feel better than I had felt since childhood.

My vertigo immediately disappeared and I no longer needed to take “emergency naps” to make it through the work day. Further, my blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides had all improved. In fact, I began to feel so much better that I no longer viewed my dietary changes as much of a sacrifice. This had turned into an incredible blessing! As is so often the case, “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven” – it really does!

And, while my wife and I have always had a good marriage, my improved health also began blessing our marriage in a variety of ways! I am now less fatigued when I return home from work. We are able to spend more time together in the evening. I have more energy to give to my wife (as well as my children) throughout each week. Further, this improved health also increases the likelihood of me being a part of their lives for decades to come.

How does this apply to you?

Clearly your genes are different than mine. You may never be afflicted with pre-diabetes or diabetes no matter how much sugar you consume. However, in my research, I have noticed that some social scientists and medical professionals are now referring to sugar as an actual toxin – and one that we consume in dangerous quantities. Yikes!!

So, while I am no doctor (well no medical doctor anyway), I wonder if your health, and even your marriage, may also benefit from reducing your sugar intake. I’m guessing that it would!

Your Challenge!

If your life would benefit from improved health or increased energy, I invite you to join me in a quest during 2016 to reduce sugar intake.  Other than sleepiness, grumpiness, and maybe a few pounds, what do you have to lose?

 

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