By The ROLLIN RN, Patty Kunze, RNC, BSN
When I strive to come up with articles of interest
to the folks with limited mobility population, I obtain my inspiration from
various sources…..magazines, TV, friends, family. When I research and write these articles, I
learn new ideas as well, along with you all that read them. And this one is no different. SUGAR, I love it as much as the next but how
much is too much and what are the consequences of this precious sweetener on
our bodies?
The first site I investigated stated ‘sugar has no
nutritional value. In fact, the
sweetener provides extra calories but none of the vital nutrients your body
needs to stay healthy’. Duh…..we all
know this but here are the hard facts, and yes, I have my listening ears on
too. The average American consumes 3
pounds of sugar a week and 130 pounds a year. This is equal to about 3,550
pounds of sugar in a lifetime. The consumption of added sugar accounts for an
intake of 500 calories per day, which can cause a weight gain of 1 pound per
week. Oh my goodness!! But how much sugar should be consumed per
day? According to the American Heart
Association, 30 grams of sugar is recommended per day…..MAX. Let me put that into perspective: A 12 ounce
soda with sugar contains about 40 grams of sugar or 1 medium order of French
Fries equal 1 hour and 12 minutes of swimming.
Take a gander in your pantry, like I did. Look at the sweet contents of the food you
have already bought. Start there and
once you feel comfortable reading labels at home then transfer that habit to
your grocery shopping. You will be
amazed at the sugar content you are already ingesting. I can bet most of you are consuming more than
the recommended daily allowances.
You may wonder “why am I chatting about sugar?” There are so many, many effects of sugar on our
body, weight gain, decrease in healing of wounds, risk of diabetes, UTIs……the
list is endless. An elevated blood sugar level stiffens the arteries and causes
narrowing of the blood vessels. The effects of this are far-reaching and
include the origin of wounds as well as risk factors to proper wound healing. We already have decreased circulation from limited
mobility but now narrowed blood vessels lead to decreased blood flow and decreased
oxygen to a wound. An elevated blood sugar level decreases the function of red
blood cells that carry the nutrients to the tissue. This lowers the efficiency
of the white blood cells that fight infection. Without sufficient nutrients and
oxygen, a wound heals slowly.
Let’s take a minute to absorb this
statement……narrowed blood vessels → decreased blood flow → decreased oxygen to
promote wound healing. Mmmm,
interesting, isn’t it!! Sounds like the
idea of a simple precious sweetener leads to many other problems. Remember, sugars are also referred to as
sucrose, fructose, dextrose, lactose, and many other names.
Urinary tract infections can be an additional concern
with increased sugar consumption. Higher blood sugars may cause a spilling of
sugar into the urine which acts as food for bacteria and makes it much easier
for bacteria to grow and replicate thus leading to urinary tract infection. Sugar or glucose allows the bacteria in the
urine to reproduce much easier. We are
already trying to remedy the urinary system of issues associated with limited
mobility. Ingesting increased amounts of
sugar is a cumulative, evolving issue.
The last issue being addressed in this article is
weight gain due to increased sugar consumption.
I am not spending much time on the subject because we all understand
that increased sugar leads to weight gain.
A statement from the Christopher
and Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center booklet reads, “extra
pounds cause risk to the skin: As people gain weight, the skin traps moisture,
greatly increasing the risk of skin sores.
Inactivity can also result in loss of trunk control, shortening or weakness
of muscles, decreased bone density, and inefficient breathing.” Inactivity – huge word for us in wheelchairs
or with limited mobility. I read that
for every 30 minutes of pushing a wheelchair 272 calories are burned. Not bad but what about us in electric power
chairs? We don’t even burn the 272
calories quoted for pushing a wheelchair for 30 minutes.
Helpful hints for decreasing sugar consumption:
ü Read
the labels.
ü Choose
fruits and vegetables for snacks or desserts.
ü Do
not add extra sugar to coffee, tea, cereal, or other foods.
ü Add
protein to each meal – protein helps stabilize blood sugar.
ü One
other suggestion was to choose sugar-free or low sugar sodas but I’m torn about
supporting that for various reasons. I
suggest substituting sugar-free sodas for water. All of us limited mobility individuals need
increased water for many reasons.
This article is merely providing fact information in
the consumption of sugar and the folks with limited mobility issues. As a nurse I have always provided facts to
increase the learning process and this article is only providing the realities
of sugar consumption. I have vowed to
decrease my daily consumption of sugar.
Raise your hand or nod if you take the vow with me. Sugar addiction has been proven by science to
be a real addiction and changes are difficult to maintain. Stopping cold-turkey is one way or just
decreasing your sugar intake on a gradual basis. The choice is yours.
Reprinted with permission from PushLiving.com
References:
Diet containing too much sugar can
quickly cause weight gain.
Obtained September 27, 2014 from http://www.womenfitness.net/deit_sugar.htm.
How diabetes affects wound healing. Obtained September 23, 2014 from http://www.woundcarecenters.org/article/living-with-wounds/how-diabetes-affects-wound-healing.
Maddox,
S. (2nd Ed.) (2009) Health management
and wellness. Paralysis Resource Guide. Short
Hills, NJ. 110.
Recommended grams of sugar per day. Obtained September 26, 2014 from http://www.livestrong.com/article/474832-recommended-grams-of-sugar-per-day/.
Urinary
tract infection. Obtained September 26, 2014 from http://www.urologyteam.com/node/359.
PATTY
KUNZE is a Registered Nurse with more than 30 years of
experience in clinical nursing. She
graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Nursing from Old Dominion University and began
working in the Spinal Cord Injury Unit of a V.A. hospital immediately after
graduation. Later she trained to become a
neonatal transport nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and progressed in
that field for over 15 years. Following
that, she was a Labor and Delivery manager for 8 years, and a successful nursing
instructor prior to her accident.
In 2009, Patty and her husband moved to a new home
and while relocating they were involved in an auto accident in which she
sustained a complete T3-4 spinal cord injury.
She experienced life as a patient instead of a nurse during her
hospitalization and rehab, which proved challenging for a seasoned nurse with
experience in spinal cord injury.
Patty has been married to her husband for more than
26 years and they are proud parents of two sons, ages 24 and 20. She works a part-time job as a nurse for her
local hospital, as a nurse paralegal for local legal firms, and fulfills her
need to help others by writing helpful medical articles for individuals with limited
mobility and spinal cord injuries as The RollinRN. She enjoys being the family
supervisor, gardening, reading, research, travel, and spending time with their
two dogs.
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