Halloween: Taming the Holiday Sugar Monster
Written By: Steven Horne

For most of us Halloween marks the beginning of a long and enjoyable holiday season that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. It's a wonderful time of year, but the temptation is there to overindulge in desserts, candies and other treats.

It starts with millions of children roam the neighborhoods at the end of October, trick or treating. The effort is to collect as many sugar-laden treats as possible. It's fun to play the role of goblins, ghosts and monsters, but drowning our bodies in refined sugar is what's really scary.

It ends with New Years, when many people decide they need to diet to lose all the pounds they've gained from eating all the holiday goodies. It's also a time when people get more susceptible to infections-the cold and flu season. And, the excess consumption of sugar does weaken the immune system, making us more vulnerable to wintertime illness.

Part of the problem is that candy and desserts are so easily accessible to us. This was not the case for our grandparents and great grandparents.  In the old days, people had to go outside to pick berries or other fruits, collect honey from beehives and risk getting stung, or collect tree sap and boil it down for hours to make maple syrup. This discouraged most people from making candy and desserts except on special occasions such as holidays and birthdays.

Today, we've learned how to refine and concentrate the natural sugars in certain foods-stripping them of their vitamin and mineral content to create empty calories. Sugar is now isolated, cheap and plentiful, and what was once an occasional treat is now a daily staple for many of us. This has had a devastating effect on human health, particularly in the form of diabetes.

Diabetes - Epidemic and Increasing

Diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States and is affecting an increasingly large portion of the population.  It is directly linked with the excessive consumption of refined sugars and other simple carbohydrates. Sugar consumption and a pre-diabetic metabolism also play a role in the development of heart disease and cancer.

Excessive consumption of sugar and simple carbs has also led to an epidemic of obesity, learning disabilities and behavioral problems, as well as tooth decay and gum disease. For all the "fun" and "comfort" they provide, sugar and simple carbs often end in horror stories.

According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes affects 23.6 million people in the United States-nearly 8% of the population! Another 51 million people are pre-diabetic. Diabetes is also becoming more prevalent in children, along with obesity from high carb diets.

Unfortunately, the diabetes epidemic has spread beyond America's shores and created a global health crisis. According to the International Diabetes Federation, diagnosed cases of diabetes have increased from 30 million to 246 million in the past twenty years.

Breaking our addiction to sugar isn't easy, but if we really want to enjoy better health we can do it. Fortunately, herbs and nutritional supplements can help in our battle to balance our blood sugar. 

Main Formulas for Balancing Blood Sugar

Pro-Pancreas     * Helps the liver control blood sugar. * Helps tone the pancreas. * Enhances digestion. * Builds immunity. * Encourages urinary, prostate and glandular health. This product supports several body systems—digestive, glandular, urinary and immune—simultaneously. These systems interrelate to control blood sugar levels, aid blood cleansing and provide protection from toxic or microbial attack.

SugarReg     SugarReg contains the minerals chromium and vanadium in a base of herbs that help overcome insulin resistance. One of these herbs is gymnema, a plant that has been used for thousands of years in India for treating diabetes. When chewed, gymnema blocks the sugar taste buds, making sugar taste like sand. In the intestines, gymnema blocks the absorption of sugar, reducing blood sugar levels.

Blood Sugar Formula     Since India is the birthplace of diabetes, no system of medicine has been treating diabetes longer than Ayurveda. Ayurvedic Blood Sugar Formula is a traditional diabetic formula from Ayurvedic medicine. Like SugarReg, the key herb in this blend is gymnema, which inhibits sugar absorption in the small intestines. It also helps regulate sugar metabolism in the liver.