Some days are blue

Today my eyes are blue.

Even though my eyes are normally hazel "cat eyes," they occasionally turn blue. Word is hazel eyes really do change color from light brown to green and gray. I say it's the mood that changes them, but Wikipedia says it's the current lighting in the environment. Wiki-whatever!

I didn't dream of giraffes or cupcakes last night, but I am feeling better today and the eyes are not representative of the mood. Although I have read that sugar causes mood swings. This implied causal relationship got my little curious mind thinking and at Amanda's request, I did a little sleuthing on this month's bad boy: refined sugar.


The Proof's in the Sugar

Some say sugar causes cancer, others say it makes kids hyperactive, another reports eating refined sugar is "like pouring jet fuel down your throat." In our consumptive world, I believe we may be missing the point here. It's not the sugar, per se, that's so evil, it's our bodies' reactions to the sugar that could perhaps be termed "bad." We're biology blobs and chemistry experiments. Sugar is simply a chemistry experiment for our blob. So why all the bad press about the sugar? It's all about the wrong fuel for the wrong bio blob.


It turns out my body knows the difference between a Snickers bar and a satsuma--both of which I love to eat. The deal is, the moment that Snickers hit's my tongue, my body yells, "It's white sugar" and immediately there are alarms and everything starts moving. Enzymes start breaking down that chewy caramel and sugary nougat. That immediate digestion dumps the sugar into my blood stream pronto which freaks out the pancreas.

The pancreas then pumps out a bunch of insulin to help lower the blood sugar rate, but it's hard for the pancreas to judge the right amount and then there's too much insulin, hence the "sugar crash." Then the adrenals kick in with a deep desire to pump things up again and so the cycle goes. There's also some who say this cycle of processed sugar actually robs you of vitamins and minerals, but that site also claimed a huge conspiracy theory by the sugar industry. I LOVE conspiracy theory, but I'll have to investigate more.

So why doesn't this panic happen when I eat a satsuma? Because my biology blob knows mother nature's sugar and takes it's own sweet time (and less alarms) to process it.

So what's the verdict? I'd say the verdict is still out. I need to see if there really is a conspiracy theory. Is there a secret room where the CEOs of C&H, Hershey's and Starbucks all get together to ensure we keep our pancreas' on alarm?

Stay tuned. And by the way, for my financial friends, the market took a tumble on Friday, but sugar's been up 20 basis points for the last week!