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The average American is over ten times more likely to contract diabetes today compared to fifty years ago. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke continue to increase in epidemic proportions. In 2006, the United States was number 1 in terms of health care spending per capita but ranked 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for adult female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality, and 36th for life expectancy. So why do we spend so much to get so little?

Chinese documents confirm that on at least two missions to India, beginning in 647 AD, the technology for sugar-refining was obtained. Before that, sugar was not part of the human diet. When you consider our human species is about 250,000 years old, that means that for roughly 245,997 years, homo sapiens man has consumed a sugar-free diet.

Today, the average American consumes about 140 lbs. (a dumpster full) of sugar annually. This, compared to an annual consumption of only 4 lbs. in 1750 means that our annual sugar intake has increased by 3,500% in 260 years. When you consider that this time period is a mere 1/10 of 1% of the age of our species, you begin to question whether the human physiology has a defense against this type of onslaught.

Refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup (a main ingredient in all processed foods) are only the tip of the dietary carbohydrate iceberg. We are being taught by nutritionists and the FDA that starchy foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, legumes, and corn, are healthy enough to be the foundation of our diet. The truth of the matter is that all nonfibrous forms of carbohydrates (not just refined sugar) is always metabolized by the body as sugar. Sugar is sugar is sugar. Your body can’t tell the difference between a teaspoonful of honey or a teaspoon full of refined sugar or a handful of potato chips. Obviously the honey will be a little better for you because it’s not processed. But that’s where the advantage ends.

Before the advent of agriculture, our grains were very scarce and were consumed rarely by our paleo ancestors. The paleo diet consisted mainly of grass-fed wild game and cold water fish, wild plants and fibrous vegetables, and on occasion, some nuts, seeds, and seasonal (low fructose) fruits. And that was it.

So, this is our genetic history whether we like it or not. The body of homo sapiens is not meant to be dependent on sugar or starchy carbohydrates. If it were, our bodies would require it to maintain perfect health, but they do not. In fact, not one crumb of sugar or starchy carbohydrate is required by the body to be in optimum health. Not one. We do, however, need saturated and unsaturated fat, protein, and high amounts of fiber. You can’t argue with nature. In her bestselling book, “Primal Body Primal Mind,” author and nutrionist, Nora Gedgaudas says that “it is literally astonishing that the obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease (to name a few sugar-related diseases and conditions) epidemics aren’t far worse than they are. Our ancestors wouldn’t even know how to begin to comprehend this sort of insanity.

Jason Lincoln Jeffers is a Wellness Coach, Spiritual Life Coach and the founder of The Art of Transformation, a company devoted to teaching Self Realization to the masses. His Spiritual Life Coaching practice uniquely synthesizes mystical wisdom with self transcendence, holistic wellness, life path astro-analysis, heart-based intention, the power of presence, and the law of attraction.

Our paleo ancestors maintained a diet where blood glucose levels were consistently low. This allowed the body to depend on ketones, rather than blood sugar for fuel. Ketones are the energy units of fat and are a much more steady and abundant source of energy for our brain and other organs to rely on. Only the red blood cells require glucose for fuel instead of fats.

Recent human longevity studies have shown that by not allowing glucose levels to spike higher than 40 mg/dL over a normal fasting value of 70 to 85 mg/dL following meals has a favorable effect in activating sirtuins (our longevity genes). In other words, by reducing or eliminating sugar and starch from your diet, you will allow your body’s longevity genes to be activated. Two slices of bread contains about 6 teaspoons of glucose — six times what is normally allowed in the bloodstream. Cereal, pasta, and potatoes also raise blood sugar levels faster than a candy bar!

Excessive glucose and lactose in the bloodstream auto-oxidizes, which produces free-radical activity that damages arterial walls and forms cross-links with proteins called AGEs (advanced glycosylation end products). AGEs are known to cause genetic mutations. They also combine with receptors (RAGEs) that results in inflammation, leading to cardiovascular disease.

Glucose is what ages the body. It’s an irony that what we require to fuel anaerobic process and feed our red blood cells also degenerates and eventually kills the body. Some glucose is required for our body with the exception of the brain. The brain actually performs much better on ketones. The lower we maintain our blood sugar levels, the slower the aging process occurs and the healthier we live along the way. Furthermore, chronic diseases associated with aging and mental decline (such as Alzheimer’s), may be directly related to blood sugar metabolism.

Another consequence of our collective addiction to a high-carbohydrate diet is candida yeast overgrowth. Unfriendly or yeast-producing bacteria in the gut in a healthy body should be about 15% of the total bacteria population. Candida overgrowth is caused from antibiotics, chronic stress, and/or a diet that consists mostly of sugary, starchy foods. High cravings for starchy foods such as chips, alcohol, pizza, pasta, breads, as well as sweet foods such as candy, cookies, doughnuts, and pastries, is indicative of an unnatural balance of candida in the gut. Complete avoidance of all of these foods is necessary to bring candida overgrowth under control.

Jason Lincoln Jeffers is a health Coach, Spiritual Life Coach and the founder of The Art of Transformation, a company devoted to teaching Self Realization to the masses. His Spiritual Life Coaching program uniquely synthesizes spiritual wisdom with self transcendence, holistic health, life path astro-analysis, heart-based intention, the power of presence, and the law of attraction.