EPISODE 24: Sweet Poison - Why Sugar Can Make the Climb Worse
- autoimmunesisterho
- Jan 27
- 14 min read
ALYSIA: Hey everybody, welcome back to Autoimmune Adventures. Today we are going to be talking about that sweet poison we call sugar and how it can make your autoimmune disease worse. We're gonna talk a little bit about how sugar affects our body and in turn how that affects our autoimmune diseases and why it's important to be mindful of what you are eating.
But before we get started with that discussion, we're going to give you our good bit minute. Researchers from the University of Nottingham have made a pretty cool discovery about a compound called cordycepin. You might have heard of cordyceps in mushrooms, right? Those are kind of a buzzword that I've been hearing a little bit about on social media.
Lots of mushroom supplements out there. They have found this compound called cordycepin. It is found in the cordyceps militaris fungus, which grows on caterpillars. And while this compound has been used in traditional Asian medicine for years, scientists didn't really understand its effects until now.
The team's led by Dr. Cornelia D'Amour, and they found that cordycepin works by disrupting the signals that lead to uncontrolled cell growth, and that uncontrolled cell growth is a key characteristic of cancer. So this means that this cordycepin, um, compound might provide a gentler alternative to cancer treatments, which is kind of cool because we know, I mean, if you've ever known anybody going through cancer treatments, it's not uncommon for it to harm the healthy cells along with the cancerous cells.
So, although there's a lot more research to still do, this discovery could pave the way for more targeted cancer therapies in the future. Back to sugar and why this topic matters, autoimmune diseases are becoming more common and they can be pretty tough to manage. Sugar is also becoming more common. It's in everything, right?
But conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus or type one diabetes, they all involve the immune system attacking the body. And what you might not know is that what we eat, especially sugar, has a huge impact on how and when those conditions flare up. So let's take a little bit of a look at sugar and how it can make things worse, and what we should try to do to take control of it in our diet.
STACY: One of the things that we know is that a big part of autoimmune system diseases is inflammation. Inflammation is when the immune system mistakenly triggers in part of the body that doesn't need to be triggered. So, your body sends out these impulses that say something is wrong, something is wrong, when something maybe isn't really wrong.
And that is caused by inflammation within the body, and that leads to pain and stiffness, fatigue, and it can even lead to organ damage. It can be very, very detrimental. And as we're about to get into diet, especially sugar, can make this inflammation worse. Now, before I get into this, I just have to say - it's my drug of choice. I hate that I have to say this, even knowing very well what we're going to be talking about today, it is a struggle. So I don't want it to sound like, as we dive into this today, that we're not very well aware of how delicious it is.
ALYSIA: We don't want to demonize sugar here, but we do want to make it very clear that it has a real effect on us.
STACY: So in order for us to truly understand it, let's talk about what happens when you eat it. When you eat sugar, it enters your bloodstream. It causes a blood sugar level, your blood sugar levels to spike. And then in response to that, your body is going to release insulin to help bring those levels back down to where they should be. And while this is a completely normal process for most people, frequent sugar consumption can overload your system, leading to insulin resistance, which then leads to weight gain and increased inflammation. Now, why does sugar cause inflammation? Well, it's because excess sugar in your diet promotes glycation.
Now, let me explain what that is. Glycation happens when sugar attaches to the proteins and fat in your bodies, and it forms harmful compounds called AGEs, which are Advanced Glycation End Products. Now, I know that's a lot of science words here, but the basic jest is that AGEs are going to cause the inflammation to be even worse than it would be. So excess. AGEs equates to damaged tissues, making things worse for your autoimmune disease, and in general just upsetting the entire body's system.
BECKY: So work with us for just a few minutes. We're going to get a little sciencey because we want you to have a better understanding of the actual chemical process that sugar causes in your body. In addition to increasing the inflammation, sugar can also directly affect how well your immune system works. High sugar intake can suppress your immune system's ability to fight off infections, which any of us that know when we have autoimmune diseases, we're already immune compromised. Having problems fighting off infections is the last thing we need, because that's something we're already struggling with.
It can also increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. And again, that's a nice sciency word, but pro inflammatory cytokines. are molecules in your body that play a key role in your immune system response to infection, injuries, or other harmful stimuli. So, you should probably think of them like messengers that signal or alert your body when something is wrong and it needs attention.
While they're essential for fighting off infections and healing injuries because they're kind of the body's call to arms as it were, problems arise if their levels become too high or if they're there for prolonged periods of time, excessive amounts. Chronic inflammation caused by an overproduction of these cytokines is linked to conditions like autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, and even some cancers.
So in short, these pro-inflammatory cytokines are like your body's alarm system signaling that something's wrong. triggering inflammation to help fight the problem. But if your response is out of balance, it actually causes harm. This means that if you have an autoimmune condition, consuming too much sugar can lead to more frequent or more severe flare ups.
ALYSIA: So I think it's interesting because our body really is just trying to do what it's supposed to do when it is put in the, in these situations with these high, high sugar foods that we are putting into us. The thing is, our bodies have not adapted over the years for the huge increase in sugar in the standard American diet. They haven't adapted to that. They're trying. It's making us sick.
There is a lot of research behind sugar and autoimmune disease. Actually, there are studies that link them, and there's actually some solid research showing that sugar does make autoimmune disease worse. For example, people that have rheumatoid arthritis, high sugar intake has been linked to more pain and more stiffness. Studies on conditions like lupus and MS, they show similar patterns. Too much sugar ramps up inflammation, which makes your symptoms harder to manage. We have to talk a little bit about the role of gut health in all of this. If you have an autoimmune disease, you have impaired gut health.
We can't ignore bringing that into play here in this discussion. We know that it is a big player in autoimmune disease management. And so when you consume a lot of sugar, it can throw off the balance of that good bacteria in your gut, which just leads to more problems in your gut, especially a condition we would call leaky gut, it essentially makes your gut more permeable and it allows those harmful substances to leak into your bloodstream, which then just further triggers your autoimmune system and leads to worse inflammation.
It's a nasty little cycle and it also can lead to yeast infections, candida overgrowth. That's something that can happen in our gut and it can happen all over our body and it is uncomfortable. And sugar really is just like throwing gasoline on a fire if you have, um, candida overgrowth.
STACY: Let's talk about some practical tips for ways to reduce our sugar intake, because it's hard when it's everywhere. So we need to understand we've got hidden sugars. There's a lot of tricky things that people who are making food and making the different products that we bring home into our kitchens filled with sugar and us not knowing that it is. There's things like condiments. Unless you get sugar free ketchup, for instance, it has an obscene amount of sugar in it.
Salad dressings have sugar. And then even the protein bars that they tell you are healthy for you are sugar laden. So it's important to get into the habit of reading labels and looking out for those sneaky names for sugar. Things like 'high fructose corn syrup', 'cane syrup,' 'corn syrup' of any kind. And then 'agave nectar.'
There has long been a belief that agave is actually fairly healthy for you. It's been proven by science that it spikes your blood sugar exactly the same way that refined sugar does. You can say it's natural and that's great, but it doesn't change the fact if you're diabetic, it's just going to be as dangerous for you as if you were to use table sugar, so you've got to be very careful.
There are several healthy sugar substitutes. For instance, if you've got a sweet tooth and you don't want to spike your blood sugar, there's a few options out there. You've probably heard of stevia. There's monk fruit and erythritol, which is also sold by Swerve. Those are some popular options because they don't raise your blood sugar levels and they have a minimum impact on your insulin.
You notice I'm saying minimal impact because anything that tastes sweet is going to trigger the body to release insulin. So you still have to be careful even when you're using sugar substitutes. I use allulose because I think it's the closest to sugar and I try to change things up because I do have a sweet tooth. As I've already said, sugar is my drug of choice. I've been patiently working with myself to try and greatly reduce the amount of sugar and switch over to a more healthy alternative.
ALYSIA: I do think it's something worth mentioning that there are a number of sugar substitutes. that are actually really unhelpful to your gut health. We're talking aspartame, sucralose...Aspartame's in everything that's, and sucralose is huge now. A lot of the sugar free products that you find are going to be made with those because they are more affordable. They are more readily available. Those have been found to have a negative impact on your gut health. They're still doing studies on erythritol. The studies are promising for erythritol, but obviously the more natural sweeteners, stevia, monk fruit, those things I would say lean towards those. There's like date sugar and coconut sugar and there's all kinds of things you can look into, but really be wary of those chemically derived man-made sugar free sweeteners.
BECKY: I have done a lot of experimenting recently with date sugar, and I kind of love it. Anything is going to impact your blood sugar in some form and fashion, but a lot of these are just much, much better than processed sugar. The date sugar, it's just like if you're eating dates. If you look at the ingredients, it's 100 percent dates, and they've dried it down and made it into a sugar.
And I've found that I can make cookies for my family. I can make things out of that date sugar that my whole family will eat and enjoy. There's ways that you can adapt it and make it a little healthier. If you've got a little bit of a sweet tooth, if you want to treat yourself occasionally, find ways that you can treat yourself and just do it in a more healthy way.
ALYSIA: And I think that when you start using those more natural sugars, you will notice you just don't have that sickening sweet that you sometimes get with processed sugar. I think until you try to eliminate the processed sugar, you don't really notice that sickening sweet. And then when you reintroduce it and you're like, Oh my gosh, that is just over the top sugar, like too much, too much.
So I think it's good to experiment with using some of those other products. I'm still not great at sugar free baking. That's a tricky thing to figure out with all these different and new ingredients, but look at it as an adventure. And when you buy them, just going to give you a heads up guys. a little bag of coconut sugar, pretty expensive in comparison to a big old bag of white sugar.
But keep in mind the amount that you are consuming. Do you really need a big old bag? Do you need a 10 pound bag of sugar that you're going to be consuming in, in things that you're making? I think that buying a small bag, even if it's expensive, you get bang for your buck there because it is better for your body.
STACY: Yeah, I think we'd all agree that really what it comes down to is that we need to just manage how much sweetness we are consuming at all. So we've got to manage our sugar cravings because if we're just replacing all of our sugar with allulose all the time, And we're still eating like we did when we were eating sugar. That's still not healthy for us because that's still not what our body needs. We all get sugar cravings from time to time. It's normal, but there are ways that we can manage those cravings and make sure that our meals are more balanced.
If we're concentrating on getting things like fiber and healthy fats and lean protein, that's going to regulate our blood sugar. And when our blood sugar is stable, we crave less sugar. It's about stability and trying to stabilize that blood sugar in our bodies, and then that prevents those mid afternoon sugar crashes where you're completely in a coma at 3 p.m.
BECKY: So I find those first couple of weeks when you say you're going to go off process sugar can be challenging, but after you're off it for three or four weeks, the sugar cravings diminish incredibly. And I find that even if I use some of these things like the date sugar or the coconut sugar and make things with them, I still don't get the same kind of cravings that I did when I was doing the processed sugar.
Because as Alysia does mention they're more expensive, which is true, but the benefit of that, which sounds like how could there be a benefit? Is that if you get the smaller bag and it costs a little more, but I'm very careful about what I choose. If I say, I got this little bag here, I want to make sure I save some so that if I want to make chocolate chip cookies in two weeks, it's there for me or whatever it is. It makes me more conscious of the sugar I'm taking in when I have less to put in things.
STACY: I would agree because I think that then it leads us to look for more healthy snacks. So instead of eating a brownie, maybe I have a handful of nuts, or instead of downing a really sugar filled smoothie, I eat a piece of actual whole fruit.
You stop reaching for something sugary and that helps. A lot of that is because we live in a world that is filled with refined foods and those refined foods have sugar in them. And so if you take a whole food approach the best way of reducing sugar honestly is to focus on whole nutrient dense foods - leafy greens, fish rich in omegas, berries, nuts, a good lean steak, or grass fed beef, if you can afford it. Chicken is, is a great option for people who are trying to calm down those sugar cravings.
If you're eating a diet full of anti inflammatory foods, then you're less likely to crave sugar as well. That will help you balance your immune system, and that, of course, in turn, will help you manage your symptoms that you would normally be having.
ALYSIA: Can we just talk about sugar cravings for a second? Because you guys, sugar is also my drug of choice. And those cravings are like no other craving I have. They are not easy to ignore. So really quickly here, here are a few other little tips. I mean, Stacy mentioned to reach for those protein rich snacks and make sure you're getting your omega 3s, having those omega 3s in your body it's going to make a difference in your sugar cravings. I don't know how, I don't know why, there's science behind it somewhere. I don't have it to give to you today, but I will tell you it makes a difference. Stay hydrated. Again, don't quote me on this, but supposedly if you add lemon to your water, that also can help you curb sugar cravings.
Anything tart or tangy can help you curb those cravings. Don't skip meals. Don't let yourself get too hungry because when you have your stable blood sugar levels, you're going to have less of those sugar cravings. And then like we always say with our big six, make sure you're managing your stress. Make sure you're getting enough sleep, limiting those processed foods, mindful eating, herbal tea.
There's a million things guys do your research. Because if you are like me and you have a very real sugar addiction, you can't just one day say, I'm done. It's not that simple. I am done. And then I'm back and then I'm done. And then I'm back. And instead of beating myself up mentally, every time I eat sugar, I have already concluded that this is a journey, and sometimes I will indulge and I try to mindfully indulge, and I try to make it so that most of the sugars I am putting in my body when I choose to are natural sugars or lower sugar content product.
This is a huge struggle and we're recording this right now, a few weeks before Christmas guys, and I'm a candy maker. All of us are candy makers like our mama taught us. We love. our candy. Food is love and sugar is right at the top of that list. So it's an emotional thing as well as a mental and physical thing. Don't feel bad if this is a struggle for you emotionally as well.
BECKY: We all three have celiac disease too. And we were talking one time about how is it that we can give up gluten so easily knowing how it damages our body. Huge part of it, knowing how we feel when we eat it. Sugar isn't quite as extreme.
When we eat it, you definitely notice the inflammation, but it's not the same as the reaction you have when you eat gluten, when you have celiac disease, but still it's enough of a reaction. Our question to ourselves was why is it that we can give up gluten so easily, but we have such a hard time with sugar and we're back to the being vulnerable again.
And it's very clear this is an addiction. And it's a very common addiction in today's world because there is so much sugar, so much processed sugar and so many things. And so I think the key is to remember it's a journey. Because there are so many places it hides. And we don't want to demonize sugar because there are times and seasons.
ALYSIA: We live in a society where sugar exists and I can easily say, I will never eat gluten again. And that's realistic. I can realistically do that. Can I realistically say I'll never eat sugar again? I don't think I can realistically say that.
BECKY: Yeah. So guys, if you've been struggling with sugar, we challenge you to start making some small changes today. We are not going to be hypocrites and say, "Oh, just kick it to the curb all the way out." If you can do that, Awesome. I am so, so proud of you. Like, seriously, I'm so proud of you. But, if you can't, take it out a little bit at a time. Choose some better choices. Choose those whole foods. Cut out your processed snacks. Swap your sugary drinks like sodas. For water or for herbal tea, focus on foods that fuel your body instead of harm it.
ALYSIA: And I would add to that that it would be not a bad idea to do a little bit of mental work on this. I know I went through a phase where I was visualizing what sugar was doing to my body when I ingested it.
This was a little bit creepy actually, but it was very effective when I, I imagined sugar going into my body as little shards of glass. Damaging, cutting up, causing inflammation, causing pain, like difficult for my body to manage that. Watch some documentaries about it. If you are not already aware of how damaging sugar can be, read a book, do some visualization, mindfulness, whatever you need to do, put this on your radar.
BECKY: Absolutely. And we would love to hear from you guys. If you're on a journey where you're trying to stop sugar, you're trying to improve it. Let us know what your successes are like what you do and what helps you share with our community because we would love to know. We'd love to hear about your journey.
You can visit us on social media. You can visit us our website at autoimmuneadventures. com. We'd love it if you liked and subscribed. Thank you for joining us today. Remember that you're worthy of joy. Your disease does not define your life you do.
HELPFUL LINKS:
University of Nottingham's study on how cordycepin can help with cancer treatments:
Studies on impact of sugar on autoimmune diseases:
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