The most dangerous ingredient
Hello, this is Katherine. Welcome to 00kidney.
There’s one single thing that’s damaging your kidneys MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
ONE. SINGLE. INGREDIENT.
It causes WEIGHT GAIN, because it makes you always hungry.
It increases your risk for heart disease and HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, because it damages the blood vessels.
It causes DIABETES, because it messes with your insulin.
It even increases your risk for cancer.
And don’t be alarmed now, but this ingredient is SOMETHING’S HIDING IN YOUR FOOD.
In many foods you’d never suspect, actually.
From the low sodium crackers you had as a snack to the dressing on your salad.
Yes, this poison is also hidden in many, many processed foods, because it makes them ADDICTIVE.
Now, if you have watched my videos about the worst foods for your kidney health,
there’s just one thing that all the number ones of my charts have in common.
Let’s see.
ok, for last number one, this is the most dangerous
ready?
energy bars
and we made it to the top
let’s se what our number one is
ready
energy drinks
Yes, you guessed it right, the SINGLE, MOST DANGEROUS INGREDIENT you eat every day, the poison that KILLS millions worldwide is SUGAR.
Sugar can be what’s keeping your blood pressure high and your kidney function low, DESPITE ALL YOUR EFFORTS TO IMPROVE.
Shocking.
Ok but, wait a minute now, because the interesting part is yet to come!
You know, it takes me up to 4 days to prepare a video for this channel usually, but this time it was different.
The things I’ve discovered about sugar… literally shocked me.
I had to postpone this video, it was supposed to be released last week, actually.
This never happens. I mean, I’ve been making videos here for years and it’s the first time I’m so shocked about something. So, I’ve decided to do an experiment on myself, ok?
I’ve decided that I wanted to see the effects of a diet with no added sugar.
This is why this video took me so long to publish.
I’ve decided to remove all processed sugars from my diet, starting from sodas and snacks.
Today, is my tenth day of this diet! But it’s not over, I’m doing another 3 weeks of this so I can show you what sugar was doing to me.
Now, this is some sort of no-sugar-challenge, but I’ve decided to take a more scientific approach to it.
Because not all sugars are created equal and not all of them are equally dangerous.
In its natural state, sugar is a relatively harmless carbohydrate that our bodies need to function.
It’s in fruits, vegetables, and dairy as a compound called fructose or lactose.
The problem comes when sugar is added to foods during processing.
It has many different names and it’s present in a multitude of different foods.
Now the very first thing I’ve discovered when starting this… let’s call it “challenge”… is that I actually was addicted to sugar.
I mean, this was really, really clear during the first days of my “challenge”.
I had bad, bad cravings.
So, what I want to tell you now is that if you are addicted to sugar too, it’s not your fault.
And there’s a silver lining to consider here.
There are 5 hidden benefits you can get from removing sugar, even not completely, from your diet.
Want to see what I’ve discovered during these first 10 days of no sugar challenge?
Here we go, the top 5 benefits of a diet without added sugar.
Benefit number 5 of a reduced sugar intake
Lowered blood pressure
There are several studies suggesting that sugar may be even worse than salt when it comes to high blood pressure.
Personally, I’ve seen this happen to me in just 5 days.
I check my blood pressure every day and in this last week it was always lower than usual.
How is this possible?
Consuming sugar increases insulin levels, and this is nothing new.
But this increase in insulin will activate the sympathetic nervous system, the area of the brain related to stress response, OK?
And this response from the brain will lead to an increase in BOTH heart rate and blood pressure.
And this is extremely bad for everyone but, let’s face it, it can be deadly if you have kidney disease.
The kidneys will get more damage the higher your blood pressure is.
The worst part is that I don’t see many doctors prescribing their patients a low sugar diet to treat hypertension.
Maybe it’s time to change this. Maybe it’s not too late.
Now, a very important thing to consider here is the source of this sugar.
For example, the sugar in fruit will actually help you lower your blood pressure, while the sugar present in sodas and sugar sweetened beverages can raise your blood pressure by a whopping 10%.
And these are not numbers I’m making up on the spot, alright?… this was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
As usual my sources are down in description, if you want to check them.
This last part about the various kind of sugar proven to be extremely important in my personal no sugar challenge, I’ll explain you why in a moment.
And guys, if you liked this video so far, share it with your family and friends. They may be unaware of the dangers of sugar.
Benefit number 4 of a reduced sugar intake
greater mental clarity and less cravings
Ok, this is something I’ve noticed already from day 3 of my personal challenge. Day one was the worst, actually.
But in just three days from starting to avoid added sugar I have found my body enjoys fresh fruits the way it used to enjoy candy and cakes!
Turns out added sugars was causing me a lot of up and downs in my mood and my energy.
You know the ‘afternoon slump’? I don’t really get that anymore since minimizing my sugar intake.
When you eat sugar, your body metabolizes it very quickly, which means you feel great… and then you crash, ok?
But when you eat nutritious meals that are lower in sugar, you can help to stabilize your blood sugar and metabolism so your energy isn’t all over the place.
Now when I really want something sweet, I just make myself a smoothie.
Again, the sugar from fruit won’t really cause any harm.
And another thing I noticed on myself is a clearer skin. Wasn’t expecting this, but now I cannot avoid to notice how much my skin changed in the last few days.
Now, the next benefit is even more interesting since a lot of people with kidney disease suffer from this problem.
Benefit number 3 of a reduced sugar intake
It can lower your bad cholesterol
Ok, this one surprised me too. When you think about cholesterol, the first thing that comes to mind may be red meat or eggs.
But and this is another benefit backed by science, sugar is a lot worse for your cholesterol levels than eggs and red meat.
Because while the association between cholesterol in food and blood cholesterol was never proven,
when you eat too much sugar, your liver pumps out extra LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Yes, there are studies proving this.
A sugary diet also lowers your HDL (good) cholesterol.
This is the worst combination possible, actually.
Together, high LDL and low HDL can lead to clogged arteries, increased risk for heart disease and a decrease in kidney function.
Remember that the kidneys need a steady flow of blood from the heart to be healthy, ok?
Now, the association between more sugar and more cholesterol is not something we can base on hearsay or on rumors.
No, as I was saying, there’s a review of studies published in October 2019 on the British Journal of Nutrition that’s proving this association.
Research has shown that women who drink lots of sugar-sweetened beverages have lower HDL, or good cholesterol levels than those who don’t.
Yes, sugary drinks are probably the number 1 kidney killer food in the world.
So, if you lower your intake of added sugars, you’re going to get the exact opposite.
Less bad cholesterol and more good cholesterol. That’s great for your kidneys.
Again, there’s science to prove this, ok?
I really think that you can get benefits just from avoiding sugary beverages, actually.
Fact, sugary beverage drinkers had a 98 percent higher chance of developing low HDL (good) cholesterol and a 53 percent higher chance of developing high triglycerides, according to the study.
Now, if this wasn’t enough, the number 2 benefit of a lowered sugar intake can actually save your life.
Benefit number 2
A reduced sugar intake can lower your risk for heart attack
Basically, the less sugar you eat, the longer you’ll live.
How is this possible?
Blocked arteries prevent enough oxygen-rich blood from reaching your heart and kidneys.
This is one of the causes of heart disease.
More heart disease equals a greater risk for heart attacks.
People who eat more sugar have a notable increase in heart attack risk compared with people with lower sugar intakes, ok?
This is what a randomized clinical trial published on the Peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine found out.
Now, I don’t know if you have noticed this, but I’m citing a ton of different sources for the benefits of avoiding sugar.
There are review of studies, there are studies published on the most important peer reviewed journals…
This is unusual. I really had no troubles, while writing for today’s video, finding sources for and studies about the negative impact of sugar.
This is really something that should make you think, ok?
Now, the number one benefit from a lowered sugar intake may seem the most obvious, but maybe it isn’t.
Let’s see why.
Benefit Number 1
Lower your risk for diabetes
Now, many people don’t know this, but eating sugar doesn’t directly cause diabetes.
This is because sugar is correlated to more type 2 diabetes risk, but it’s not a direct cause.
The truth is even worse.
A high sugar diet contributes to weight gain, which does increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The buildup of fat makes your body more resistant to the effects of insulin.
To compensate, your pancreas pumps out more insulin.
Eventually, your pancreas can’t keep up with your body’s increased demand, and your blood sugar rises.
So, if sugar can increase your insulin resistance, it also damages your kidneys.
A diet with lots of fast-digesting carbohydrates, like sugar, requires the pancreas to release lots of insulin, meal after meal, day after day.
That excessive demand may overtax insulin-producing cells, causing them to malfunction, eventually leading to diabetes and kidney disease.
Why am I telling you this? Because what many people don’t know about diabetes and insulin, is that this is an ongoing process.
So, it can be slowed down when you start to eat less sugar. It can be even reversed.
With the right diet.
Now, if you want to know what foods you can actually eat with kidney disease, what foods will actually help you improve your kidney health, watch this video here.
And my challenge will last another three weeks, and I’ll make an update, so stay tuned and subscribe.
This is all for today, thank you for watching.
About the Author
Michaelw Hi, my name is Michael and in this blog I'm gonna share the story of how I got off kidney dialysis for good. Getting off dialysis isn't easy at all, and that's why I'm trying to help people as much as I can.
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