Before sugar became widely known, our ancestors ate honey, dates and other sweet foods, which they also used as sweeteners. Sugar cane arrived gradually in  Europe after the Crusades in the 11th century.   

Process sugar was known as "white gold." Wealthy people actually stored sugar as a form of savings. Processing remained costly. The wealthy class, who considered obesity to be a sign of wealth, began to show signs and symptoms of diabetes, depression and schizophrenia that according to some doctors of the day could be related to sugar consumption. (see this Dr. Mercola article for more information on this.)   

By 1662, consumption of sugar in England had risen from near zero to 16 millions pounds, according to Sugar Blues by William Duffy (1975). Three years later the plague hit London, and in September of 1665, 30,000 people had died. Those living in the English countryside, where sugar was not readily available, seemed to escape the plague.

The immune system is a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend the body against attacks by "foreign" invaders. And our immune system does a remarkable job of defending us against bad microorganisms that can cause diseases. But when a germ invades successfully it will make us ill. To function well, the immune system needs balance and harmony.

In order to support the liver we have to be sure it's able to detoxify as effectively as possible. Just as with a garden, or a home, the soil, and the foundation count. The immune system needs to be a good healthy environment for the cells to thrive.

There are many things we can do to keep our immune system operating at an optimum level such as eating healthy organic foods, and taking mushrooms (reishi, shitake, cordyceps), monolaurin, oregano leaf and andrographis supplements.  

But just as important are the things we should not do. Simply put, consuming too much sugar suppresses the very immune system cells that are responsible for attacking bad bacteria.  

With Halloween soon upon us, NourishMe has some ideas to help handle the overload of sugar to which you and your children might be exposed. Remember, until the late 1940s kids ringing a stranger's doorbell were more likely to receive coins, nuts, fruit, cookies, cakes, and or even toys.  

We carry many treats for the holidays: ginger chews, bags of nuts, organic pops, xylitol gum and mints, cacoa, hemp hearts, tasty bars, macaroons and honey sticks. These might seem out of the ordinary, but if you choose not to poison your neighbor's children these are acceptable, and parents are appreciative.  

 If however, the the candy thing is just too traditional and tempting, how about employing the Switch Witch maneuver? The way this works is that when you child returns after trick-or-treating with friends, they put their bag of candy at the end of the bed. The switch witch sneaks in and- like the tooth fairy -switches the bag for a present. Then, Switch Witch throw away the candy! No cheating.  

Another alternative is that you let your child take out a handful of favorite pieces then the rest of the bag goes away. On a space ship. For good.  

When considering what might look like curmudgeonly behavior think about what sugar does in our bodies.

Sugar:

• Suppresses the immune system
• Causes weight gain
• Leads to insulin resistance
• Promotes inflammation
• Contribute to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease-livers process fructose very similarly to the way they process ethanol. Fructose has been called "alcohol without the buzz."
• And acts like a fertilizer for cancer cells. 
• Has been attributable to mental illnesses.