Why is my favorite meal anything that contains sugar? I am totally addicted to sweets, and I am not alone: The average American consumes an astounding 2-3 pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, cereal, peanut butter, ketchup and a plethora of microwave meals.

My weakness is probably chocolate. And wine. And cupcakes. Perhaps I can add strawberry cake as well? The really fake, bright pink kind. Even the lighter pink one is good too and it smells deliciously fake. Moving on.

In the last 20 years, sugar consumption in the U.S. has increased from 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year. But I’m a sugar addict, so I totally understand the need for sugar, especially when that mid-afternoon sleepiness kicks in and you just have to have a fix.

There are 4 classes of simple sugars which are regarded as “harmful” to optimal health: sucrose, fructose, honey, and malts. (I say harmful because refined dietary sugars lack minerals and vitamins, so they must draw upon the body’s micro-nutrient stores in order to be metabolized into the system).

Surprised to find honey on the list? Although honey is a natural sweetener, it is considered a refined sugar because it’s 96% simple sugars: fructose, glucose and sucrose. Also, that cute honey bear is the only animal found in nature with a problem with tooth-decay (honey decays teeth faster than table sugar). Honey has the highest calorie content of all sugars with 65 calories/tablespoon, compared to the 48 calories/tablespoon found in table sugar.

Also, sugar in general, is devoid of minerals, vitamins and fiber, and has such a deteriorating effect on the endocrine system, that major researchers and major health organizations agree that sugar consumption in America is one of the 3 major causes of degenerative disease.

One would think that after writing that sugar makes you old that I would put away this piece of chocolate that I enjoy while writing, that I would just stop sinking my teeth into this delicious substance, that I would just discard it, but discard it I will not. I am having a good time, and is there anything wrong with having a good time?

And is there anything really wrong with eating a lot of sugar?
The answer makes me sad: yes.

One of sugar’s major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system. This is not something you want to take place if you want to avoid disease.

An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease. Complex carbohydrates tend to be absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels.

Sugar depresses the immune system. We know that glucose and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so what happens when the sugar levels go up? They compete with one another upon entering the cells. And the thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell.

So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl.

Simple sugars have been observed to aggravate asthma, move mood swings, provoke personality changes (this has happened to me without the sugar), muster mental illness, nourish nervous disorders, deliver diabetes, hurry heart disease, grow gallstones, hasten hypertension, and add arthritis.

I won’t stop eating sugar, but I will certainly cut back.

Million dollar smile. Not just any cute kid, but the cutest kid ever, my niece.

When I was a kid I did seriously dumb things. Take for example the time I stole $20 out of my dad’s wallet, because I had to have candy. When pulled aside and questioned, I didn’t deny it. I told him my dead grandmother returned from the grave and told me to steal it.

This was 1980, so I was 5, but if that makes me sound old, let’s pretend I wasn’t born until 1985, which would make me younger, not old, certainly not in my 30′s where I am spending endless days researching the latest greatest plastic surgery options that will be available to me when I need it. That’s right, plastic surgery will be a need someday, not a want.

But if I had known that my love for candy would leave me where I am today, if my father had told me what candy does to your teeth, if I had done the research back when I was 5, if, if if….

If only.

My dentist told me yesterday that I have 3 cavities that needed attention asap. As if, had she not said asap it would somehow seem less urgent. Oh, I get it. It’s either get the fillings now, or wait a year and lose my teeth.

I like my teeth, I think I’ll keep them.

While I brush and floss at least once a day, as oppose to say, my boyfriend with the Colgate smile that never flosses and somehow seem to never get cavities, I had three. *sigh*

The dentist wanted to examine my oral hygiene, which I admit, made me chuckle.

* I wake up and brush and use some teeth whitening thingy.
* After lunch, I brush.

Night time was questionable, and after further examination, we found a few issues here.

See, I don’t brush my teeth at nights unless I am sure I am done eating. In other words, food taste bad when mixed with toothpaste, so I don’t brush my teeth at nights because I don’t want have to stop eating. Or drinking wine. When Love Monkey* (*real name has been changed to protect identity) announces bed time, I get up from my computer, take my wine with me and place it on my night stand, just in case I want more. Oh, let’s not forget the Costco case size of Ferrero Rocher stocked in the refrigerator. I grab one too, because you know, wine pairs well with chocolate.

The first obvious, and rhetorical question was: how am I not fat? Oh yeah, I’m a meat-head gym rat. Do I drink too much? No, I don’t get drunk, nor do I have blackouts. Could the candy and wine have contributed to my three rotten teeth? Sadly, yes.

Unlike my dad who gave me a good beating for stealing, instead of say, educating on me what sugar would do to my teeth, I am here to share my tips (straight from the dentist), and how to preserve your pearly whites.

It’s your money, and your teeth… find a way to keep them both.