Humans are generally attracted to the taste of carbohydrate sweetness. In the early years this worked well because most of the things in nature that are sweet are non-poisonous, but unfortunately, thanks to technology, we have now learnt how to extract the sweetness and leave the rest.

It's the 'taste inflation'. If new-born babies were able to analyse their chemical taste sensors, they'd experience a broad range of various tastes, the bitters in green leafy vegetables, natural fruit sugars and even the sweetness in tomatoes or cashews. Although when they're introduced to standard foods like infant formula, candy bars, soft drink etc they're natural taste senses are basically obliterated, desensitising them to flavour subtleties found in natural foods. What you end up with is people who can only taste sugar and salt, hence why most prepared or processed foods are overloaded with these two ingredients. If you were to bight into a doughnut and not be repulsed by the excess sugar taste, you are suffering taste inflation. Some people also think that this process actually makes people stupid! By impairing the tongue's sensitivity and by taking away the brain's full scope of possible taste sensations, it's actually impairing their own judgement, making them less aware!

Taste inflation is also a problem in the perfume and cosmetics world and Bubble Jam Health are issuing another full report on this on our website where you can read about it.

Are you prepared to let the sugar giant companies and others keep doing this to you? Will you let them do it to your children?

In America, the contributions made to congressional parties leading up to changes in food laws around sugar is disgusting and sugar barons in America alone pocket over £1 billion in excess import taxes every year. During the period 1997-1999, a company called Flo Sun Sugar made over 21 donations ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 to campaign committees and these numbers have only gone up over the last six years (sourced from www.newstarget.com). Is it any wonder that 'law makers' are overlooking regulations around sugar. This is a whole other issue and one I will not delve into too much here, but please be aware of this, and consider doing some research of your own.

Apart from the other results of eating sugars listed in part one, it is a fact that sugars and refined carbohydrates are directly linked to diabetes. Sugars are detrimental to the health of those without Diabetes and devastating for those with it. Excess sugar in our blood can also lead to Type 2 Diabetes.

In a nutshell, the sugar in our bodies is known as blood sugar or blood glucose and all the cells in our body must have a constant source of glucose to fuel metabolism. Our cells use the power created by the glucose to process growth and repair. When we eat, our digestive system converts most of our food to glucose and releases it to our blood stream. Our pancreas gland secretes insulin and this insulin moves the glucose from the blood and into the cells for fuel. If the cells can't get enough glucose they literally starve to death and as they do our tissues and organs begin to degenerate. When too many fat cells crowd the other cells in the body it's hard for the insulin to reach its destination. And too many fat cells are caused when we? Eat excess sugars and refined carbohydrates – prepared or processed foods, and don't eat enough natural fibre and exercise regularly. This is Diabetes and because Type 2 Diabetes takes several years to form and doesn't have any 'dramatic' symptoms, most people aren't even aware they have it. Type 1 Diabetes can cause severe complications such as heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, which will usually start to appear 10-15 years after diagnosis.

Nutritionists regard four classes of simple sugars as detrimental to our health when prolonged consumption is in amounts above 15% of the carbohydrate calories. These are sucrose, fructose, honey and malts. You may be surprised to hear that honey is included here. You may have been under the impression that honey was a natural sweetener from the bees right?

Well from the bees it is, but 95% of the dry matter of honey is fructose, glucose and sucrose. Honey has the highest calorie content of all sugars and is not much better than white or brown sugar once it has been treated and ready for commercial use. Honey is not a recommended substitute when you are making an effort to cut out sugars. Use only raw, unheated honey, and only on occasion.

Eating small organic (if possible), natural meals regularly, with a low sugar content, every three to five hours can help keep a balance and prevent any increase or decrease in blood sugar levels. Natural sources of sugar like fruit are very healthy in moderation as they still contain all the original vitamins and minerals. By keeping our blood sugar levels balanced, our metabolism and our appetite is also maintained. The more sugar and refined carbohydrates you eat such as commercial cereals, sweets, cakes, buns and biscuits, the harder it will be for you to maintain an even blood sugar and your body will be confused as to whether it wants to rest, move, gain weight, lose weight, process or store!

Substitute that chocolate biscuit for some organic oatcakes with goats cheese, or a snack of berries, olives and nuts. Invest in a juicer and make yourself delicious freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices. Not only does this food look better and taste better, your body will love you for it. Make an effort to re-educate your brain and bring your bodies natural taste sensors back to life! There really are plenty of healthy, alternative options to choose from and there's something for everyone's taste. Even the biggest of sugar addicts can reform!

Kicking sugar should be done gradually and it's easy to set small goals for yourself, be it week by week or day by day. Set yourself a goal to be free of sugars in one year. Try replacing the normally sugary snacks you have with healthy alternatives and you'll soon realise how dependent you made yourself on the artificial energy boost and how you no longer suffer the afternoon sleepiness in the office. Get off your butt and get into some regular exercise. Find something you enjoy doing be it running, the gym, swimming, squash. You'll find something you love and you'll feel more energised, healthy and alive.

Of course it's a lot to take in and the realisation is that you must make quite a large life change, but it is possible! It may be more of a challenge for some but those few are probably more overweight than the rest and have more mentally and physically to gain from making such an important change in their lives. You can do it!

Start off by thinking about what you're going to eat before you eat it. Look at it and ask yourself, is this natural? Is this loaded with sugars and refined carbohydrates? Am I going to put this in my mouth and kill more taste buds? Will the amount of sugar literally make me feel ill?

Read the packaging and look carefully for all ingredients and all the different ways that sugar can be listed.

Start to go for things on the shelf that aren't pre-prepared or packaged and try shopping at a market or organic food shop instead of your local, convenient supermarket.

Some reference books that you will find useful are "Lick the Sugar Habit", Nancy Appleton PhD, "Food Politics", Marion Nestle, "Green Tea", Nadine Taylor, "Blended Medicine", Michael Castleman, "Prescription for Dietary Wellness", Phyllis A Balch. You can also carry out your own research on Google and find many other books and websites to help you.

An extremely healthy sugar substitute is Stevia. It is an all natural sweetener from the sweetleaf herb that has almost zero calories and won't alter our blood sugar like sugar does. It is safely used all around the world and has been for thousands of years with no reports of toxicity or negative side effects (sourced from
www.newstarget.com) Why then have we not heard of it and/or are unable to purchase it easily? Just another way the sugar giants protect the profits of the Aspartame market. Without being aware of what is the healthy alternative and what options you have, Aspartame will be your first choice for a sugar substitute and instead of suffering obesity, diabetes or any of the other sugar related illnesses, you'll suffer migraines, blindness and nervous system disorders! Try your local health food store for liquid or crystal Stevia or search the web!

Molasses is also another suitable option initially as it is relatively unprocessed and contains vitamin K, B6, PABA, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chromium, copper and iron which all have their own beneficial qualities. Again, try your health food shop and look for blackstrap molasses.

One of THE most important things to remember when you're making the effort to cut down on sugars is that artificial sweeteners are not an option!

I mentioned briefly above that it was important NOT to use artificial sweeteners when trying to cut down on sugar and I was originally planning to outline the risks of using Aspartame in this section, but after doing some research I found that there are just too many facts I feel obliged to tell you about.

Please join me in part 3