Sweet, Sweet Poison

Did you know that one 20 ounce bottle of Mountain Dew contains 19 teaspoons of sugar?
There are 48 teaspoons in a cup.

For the last few years, while I was happily drinking my six 20 ounce bottles of Mountain Dew a day, I was drinking close to 2 and half cups of sugar a day! Or just over a pound of sugar a day! Or almost 9 pounds of sugar in a week!

Sad.

When I started the Plexus Slim Little Pink Drink last Saturday, I was hesitant to say the least. I didn't know how it was going to taste (I don't like chalky or anything with an aftertaste). I was afraid that I would have both caffeine and sugar withdrawals. I was worried that I would be tired all day and not be able to function. I couldn't have been more wrong. I have had none of the withdrawals from caffeine - no headaches, no shakiness, nothing. I have felt great, have had plenty of energy and have felt good enough when I got home from work that I could play with my kid instead of praying for bedtime. I have not felt cranky or deprived.

I have also not been starving when I get home. Normally, I would graze the entire time I was cooking dinner because it had been hours since my last meal. I have noticed this week that, while I am interested in eating dinner, I am not so famished that I have to munch on chips or snacks to get me through making dinner.

I have had chronic pancreatitis for the last 4 years. A drunk old man's disease, but I am neither a drunk, old, or a man and they had chalked me up to being one of those rare mystery cases. I have been to digestive disease specialists at the Mayo Clinic, Shands Hospital as well as two different gastroenterologists here at home. None of them could figure out why I had this disease. I have never had high cholesterol (a risk factor) and am not diabetic (another risk factor).

This week, I went to a appointment with the nurse practitioner at my pain management doctor's office. I told her about the change from soda to water and about how good I was feeling. I told her that I had none of the normal abdominal tenderness, bloating or pain that I have come to know in the last few years.

She looked me square in the eye and back at my giant folder that documents this awful journey. "None of these men told you to stop drinking soda?"

I shook my head no.

She explained that our bodies are not meant to take in this much sugar at one time. Our tiny little pancreas is the only organ in our entire body that regulates our blood sugar. When you load in this much sugar all at once, it shifts into hyper drive trying to keep up. The problem with sodas is they cause a double whammy on your pancreas because at the same time it is revving into hyper drive to control the blood sugar the caffeine is counteracting it by constricting blood flow and robbing the blood of water molecules that it needs to be able to carry out the job. Explains the sugary rush that sodas give you. In addition, new studies show that increased soda consumption carries an increased risk of not only pancreatitis (which is devastating and extremely painful) but also pancreatic cancer (which is almost always terminal).

She also pointed out a few things about myself that I hadn't noticed or didn't think were related.

I have Tinea Versicolor on my chest, shoulders and back. It's especially bad in the summer because it gets crazy itchy when it is humid and hot. It developed in my mid-20's (around the time I started drinking soda more than anything else) and I have been prescribed expensive creams, anti-fungals, the gammet all to have them fail.

Tinea Versicolor is caused by a yeast that lives in every one's body. When the yeast becomes so predominate within the body, the body attempts to expel it in any way possible. For people with Tinea Versicolor that way is through the skin. Yeast feeds and duplicates itself with sugar. By dumping enormous amounts of sugar into my body, I have been inadvertently feeding this skin disorder that has plagued me for the last 15 years.

She also told me about probiotics and some other home remedies I can do to help get rid of the excess yeast. I am researching Candida Overgrowth as well and will let you know what I learn about that next week.

That craving for Mountain Dew that I woke up with this morning? It's not so strong anymore.