I ate so much sugar during the last couple of weeks that I need a break and a big one. I think it is going to last until February until those "European carneval donuts" become popular again. My addiction to them is one of the reasons February is such an awesome month. Since I am going on a break until then and giving my body some well-deserved sugar break, it is important to remind myself (and you) what sugar is doing not only to my body but to my brain too.
CC0 image, Unsplash, author: rawpixel Some exercising is in order too because all that sugar somehow magically transformed to fat, all of it. My genetics has once again shown who is the boss in our little relationship and there is going to be some serious workouts if I want to get back in shape again. This kind of article might just be the motivation I need. Hopefully, it will help you too.
First of all, there is a huge difference between natural sugar that is found in fruits and vegetables and added sugar that is, well, added to foods that would not normally have it. Added sugar is one of the main ingredients in candy, processed foods, soft drinks, and baked products. Yes, there is sugar in even the bread. It is everywhere. According to the American Heart Association, the amount of added sugar you should eat per day is 150 calories (37.5 grams) if you are a man and 100 calories (25 grams) if you are a woman. Here comes the plot twist, one regular-sized Snickers bar contains 120 calories from sugar. The math is simple, we are screwed.
The biggest problem lies is high-calorie beverages that do not make us feel full when we have them as we would if we took the same number of calories in food and keep in mind that those calories do not include fiber and other important nutrients from food. When we drink sugary drinks, our bodies respond to that sugar by producing triglycerides and some of them get stored in the liver while others get exported into the bloodstream. Research has suggested that our bodies process liquid sugar differently than sugar in foods. The lack of fiber makes the journey from liquid sugar to blood sugar much faster
You should be careful with sugars because unlike salt and fats that are added to foods, not all nutrition labels provide you with a daily reference value. If you skip that homemade cake, there is still lots of sugar in the rest of your food. Manufacturers add sugar to more than 70% of packaged foods that are sold in supermarkets. There are more than 60 names for sugar you can look for listed on packaging such as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, barley malt, dextrose, maltose, rice syrup, etc.
Consuming too much added sugar over long periods of time affects the natural balance of hormones in the body. Levels of glucose in the bloodstream get increased which leads the pancreas to release insulin. Those higher levels of insulin cause the body to store more food calories as fat and they also affect a hormone leptin. Leptin is important because it is our natural appetite suppressant. It tells the brain we are full and should stop eating. High consumption of certain sugars has been linked to leptin resistance where the brain no longer gets the message that a person is full which leads to weight gain and obesity. To make things even worse, those with leptin resistance feel sluggish and it is more difficult for them to be active which continues the weight gain.
Addictive properties are scary similar.
When we eat too much sugar, it leads to chemical changes in the limbic region of our brain (reward center) and characteristics of craving and withdrawal are produced just like with any other addictive substance. Yup, that's right, most of us are addicted to sugar and not even aware of it. Scientists at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse were first to show that sugar causes changes in peoples' brains that are similar to those in people addicted to drugs. There is plenty of research now on the potentially addictive properties of sugar. You can check one of those here:
Evidence for sugar addiction: behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake by Avena NM, Rada P, Hoebel BG.
The research confirms the presence of neural adaptations including changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens. Too much sugar can lead to cravings and even MRI scanners showed how the same areas of the brain are activated when people crave either junk food or drugs. When the brain gets flooded with dopamine, a protective mechanism starts and the brain reduces its number of dopamine receptors (downregulation). This produces tolerance and like with any drug, a person needs progressively larger and larger doses. This is why I urge you to check these studies too:
Natural Rewards, Neuroplasticity, and Non-Drug Addictions by Christopher M. Olsen, Ph.DSucrose sham feeding on a binge schedule releases accumbens dopamine repeatedly and eliminates the acetylcholine satiety response by Avena NM, Rada P, Moise N, Hoebel BG
Keep in mind that sugar addiction is diagnosed based on a set of behavioral symptoms and the official criteria used by medical professionals is called DSM-V. Some of the symptoms include the inability to cut back despite wanting to, cravings and urges, physical problems, guilt, excuses, hiding from others etc.
There was a study by Duke University researchers that showed how a sugar habit changes specific brain circuits which produced cravings that reinforce the habit. A vicious circle indeed. They got a group of healthy mice hooked on sugar and compared the brains of the sugar-dependent mice to another group of healthy mice not hooked on sugar, focusing particularly on basal ganglia. That brain network is traceable along two main pathways: the first one that carries a “go” signal which triggers action to pursue the object of the addiction and the second one that carries a “stop” signal which puts the brakes on the pursuit.
Not only did the mice addicted to sugar have a more active go and stop signals but the go signal consistently appeared before the stop signal. Their brains lost the braking capacity to regulate their behavior. The brain circuitry changes were so strong that the researchers could predict which mice became hooked on sugar just by examining samples of their brains. Changes in their brains produced a strong signal to get more sweets and the mice continued pursuing sugar even when it was gone portraying a craving behavior. You can read the full study here:
EPathway-Specific Striatal Substrates for Habitual Behavior by Justin K. O’Hare, Kristen K. Ade, Tatyana Sukharnikova, Mark L. Palmeri, Henry H. Yin, Nicole Calakos
The problem with sugar is that it produces the same addictive behavior like alcohol or drugs but is still not considered as dangerous as those substances because a person addicted is not damaging to her surroundings like alcoholics or drug abusers. Unfortunately, society still turns a blind eye to those addictions that are damaging only the addicted person and not the people around her.
According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, fructose may be doing a widespread of damage to our genes. More than 20,000 genes were examined to find if they get affected by fructose which results in changes to brain function and metabolism. More than 200 genes in the hippocampus and 700 in the hypothalamus are sequenced. According to Xia Yang, co-senior author of the study and a UCLA assistant professor of integrative biology and physiology, “Parkinson’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder, and other brain diseases” are all potential outcomes from gene disruptions caused by fructose.
Previous research already found that fructose increases levels of toxic molecules in the brain that damage communication between cells but now the UCLA researchers reported that they were able to identify the mechanism by which they were damaged. It is done by altering one of the four nucleotides that make up DNA. Diets high in fructose trigger the genes’ “on” or “off” switch, altering their function. Remember the on and off thing from the previously mentioned research? Yup, that's it. They had a control group that drank only water and one that drank water with fructose. The rats were then trained to run a maze, and the results showed that it took the fructose-consuming group twice as long to navigate the maze as the water-only group despite the same level of training which indicates impaired memory. The fructose rats had higher blood glucose, triglycerides and insulin levels. You can read the studies here:
‘Metabolic syndrome’ in the brain: deficiency in omega-3 fatty acid exacerbates dysfunctions in insulin receptor signalling and cognition by Rahul Agrawal and Fernando Gomez-PinillaSystems Nutrigenomics Reveals Brain Gene Networks Linking Metabolic and Brain Disorders by Qingying Meng, Zhe Ying, Emily Noble, Yuqi Zhao, Rahul Agrawal, Andrew Mikhail, Yumei Zhuang, Ethika Tyagi, Qing Zhang, Jae-Hyung Lee, Marco Morselli, Luz Orozco, Weilong Guo, Tina M. Kilts, Jun Zhu, Bin Zhang, Matteo Pellegrini, Xinshu Xiao, Marian F. Young, Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Xia Yang
Even though experiments that I was talking about were conducted on rats and more research is needed, the majority of the sequenced genes are comparable to those in humans and we can conclude how all of these findings hold a great value to our understanding of fructose and added sugars in our diet.
My advice? Avoid it.
Yeah, yeah, I know, it is delicious, you do not have to tell me. I am well aware of how amazing some things taste and am struggling to avoid it myself. The problem is, we all fail as soon as we start because we avoid those things that are obviously filled with sugar such as cakes, cookies, and chocolate but continue drinking sodas and juices and eating processed foods. Whenever you see a label "light" or "low-fat" on your food, read the ingredients, it always has more sugar. We have become more conscious about fats than we are on sugar and often forget how it is hiding in plain sight.
You should always choose whole fruit instead of fruit juice, avoid sugar-sweetened beverages, limit your consumption of sweets and refined carbohydrates, eat fresh fruits instead of those canned in syrup and start being creative in the kitchen. Have you heard of stevia? Look it up, you may be surprised by what you find. Remember that if something has a sticker on it that says "healthy" it may not be, the creator of that product wants you to buy it so be careful and READ the packaging. If there is sugar in the first 3 listed ingredients (any of its names) or if there is more than one type of sugar in it, it is safe to say that you should avoid it.
If you are interested in learning more on this subject, check out these REFERENCES:Over time, too much liquid sugar can lead to serious diseases from ucsf.edu
Added sugar is hiding in 74% of packaged foods from ucsf.edu
Too much fructose can damage your liver, just like too much alcohol from ucsf.edu
Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health-A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association from ahajournals.org
The growing concern over too much added sugar in our diets from cell.com
10 Similarities Between Sugar, Junk Food and Abusive Drugs from healthline.com
Why Breaking Habits Is Even Harder Than We Think from forbes.com
Diets Heavy In Fructose Damage Genes Related To Memory And Metabolism, Says Study from forbes.com
Daily Intake of Sugar — How Much Sugar Should You Eat Per Day? from healthline.com
Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!
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I dread to imagine how much Sugar I used to take in when I was bad for drinking Sodas, I think since giving them up I do not have to much sugars at all, other that when I visit the kids and grandkids when buying donuts is a habit we do but onoly one or two over. Along weekend isnt to bad but they are just to hard to resist
Oh yeah, donuts are one of my guilty pleasures and when I start, there is no stopping me hahahaha. That is why I have cut back now because I know February is all about donuts in my country :)
Those February ones do sound interesting and same for me donuts are so hard to resist
Have a great day
It is scary just how damaging sugar can be to your body. I have had to conciously cut it out because I keep having dizzy spells after I heat refined sugar. I know use honey in my porridge and some hot drinks and where only sugar would normally do, I have replaced it with canderel which is fine once you get used to it. the funny thing about sugar is just how addictive it can be! Once you start having it, you crave it even more! After about a week of no sugar (except natural sugars) I didn't crave it at all! In fact my usual sweet tooth, seems to have all but disappeared!
Great article, as always! :D
Cheryl xx
I have found that COCOA and natural sugars from fruit help when you are trying to get that addiction off you back. I am happy to hear you found your substitute and it works for you and good job for doing it in only a week!
Great article!!
Wow! I mean, I knew sugar was bad. We ALL know sugar is bad. I am very aware of its affects on our immune system! The more sugar you eat, the more difficult it is for our bodies to fight germs.
I didnt really know about all the scientific reasons for all the subtle things it is doing in our bodies and in our brains though! Thanks for the brain food!
Yup, I was surprised with what it does to our brains too. It just shows how our entire body is at risk from it. Thanks for the feedback! 💚
I'm the worst sweet tooth ever, I know it's bad for me but cannot resist it especially buttery caramel toffees!!! I really must start cooking and baking like @birdsinparadise, she never uses sugar! I know it's an addiction and must heed this warning! Excellent post as always @zen-art.
I wish you all the best with cutting sugar from your recipes, I know it can be really hard. 💚
We use brown sugar or honey or maple syrup when possible. The less refined a sugar is, the less harmful. It's still sugar but more tolerable. Most calorie-free sweeteners are equally bad. I have heard good things from a lot of people about stevia. The absolute worst sweetener, I believe, is high fructose corn syrup.
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Thanks for the reminder. I'm pretty good about staying away from sugar, and I sure notice when I forget. Last time I got sick, I believe the final straw was caving in and having dessert—it lowers the immune function for sure.
The good news about stuff like this is every time we eat, we have a new chance to make better choices. Crucial not to beat ourselves up for making mistakes, but keep moving forward and do the best we can. Good luck with those workouts. ;)
Mistakes are part of life and great learning opportunities. Yes, as long as we move forward, we will be fine. Thank you for your lovely words 💚
I want to shout this from the rooftops. In fact I've written about this subject myself (when I first joined Steemit and had barely any upvotes!) - and it's great to read more scientific research on the subject. I have weaned myself off sugar in the past, with enormous difficulty, and I just become addicted again.
The one thing I disagree with is that we should "only" consume 25g of added sugar a day. No. We should not eat any added sugar! The human race evolved without any added sugar for hundreds of thousands of years before refined sugar came along! It serves no purpose except to make us fat and sick!
I say this as a total hypocrite - I'm addicted to the stuff.
Ugggghhhh. I do so good about 6.8 days per week :) I go to a meeting on Monday morning that always features donut holes. I just can't seem to let them be...
I quit on sugar several years ago. I don't have a grain of sugar in my house, if you come to visit and need sweetener in your coffee it's going to be honey or Steevia. I haven't bought a loaf of bread or even a donut in most of a year. But those Monday donut holes trigger my addiction something awful.
I'm going to have to try a substitute. I come home from the meeting and am lethargic and sleepy for the rest of the day. What a waste.
Thanks Petra. I certainly didn't need all the studies to let me know about my cravings but it didn't hurt anything.
6.8 is better than me, soooo much better. I am so bad when it comes to avoiding sugar and I need to be reminded constantly that it is bad for me. My head starts hurting and I really get nasty mood symptoms. I just have to stick it out because after a couple of first days things get better but those first days without it are a real pain in the .... :D
Good post, the real gateway drug....Sugar!
Doing my yearly 60 day cleanse of all sugar and starches soon here, feels so good.
Great article @zen-art. It explains a lot I have been wondering about. I don't eat high volumes of sugar. I do go through a sweet craving, my downfall is soda. I don't have any other vices just soda. I find when I get more stressed out the more I drink and the more I crave sugar. I'm pretty good at keeping it under control, but then I stop eating too.
I am glad you enjoyed the article. Yeah, a lot of people have soda as their guilty pleasure. For me, it is chocolate with everything and homemade cakes but I am doing my best to avoid them :)
I can do well with moderation IF I am tracking what I eat on a regular basis. Otherwise it always seems to be feast or famine when it comes to sugar. I don't do well cutting foods from my diet completely, though, so I have to keep that in mind or it will trigger major bingeing.
At the moment, I get my 'sweets' from frozen grapes. They're like individual popsicles that I can eat slowly and still get that 'treat' without eating the candy-sweets that seem to just always leave me wanting more and more!
I have never heard about frozen grapes before, I will have to check that out, thanks. Good luck and keep tracking what you eat 💚
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Very interresting, thank you
You are welcome.
Nice post :) I honestly haven't read it all cuz of the time restriction on the internet in my current traveling situation buut sugar is for sure a poiisen..I try to avoid it as much as possible hah...good luck on your back to shape journey haha, Christmas always destroy our bodies haha :D and yupp softdrinks are the issue...u drink two or three just like nothing and its a huuuuuge insulin spike what comes next
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Yup, holidays are all about eating sometimes and it takes extra work to get to your normal self after them, hope it will not be too hard for me :D
Hello very interesting post very well detailed. Im trying to avoid sugar as much as possible but sometime enjoy a little treat:).
I am glad the post was interesting to you and I understand your treat love, I have it too ;)
Never been a big sugar fan..and then i intentionally did a 3 month sugar detox and realised about all the HIIDDEN sugar... ugh. Mind you that wasnt too bad as I mostly buy things via the 3 ingredient only rule lol. Its definitely addictive, toxic and inflammatory! Great article..
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That rule is awesome, I have heard about it and tried it, works great. Yeah, it is not until we do a detox and read the labels that we learn about sugar being in almost everything :D
Another really informative article, @zen-art. I kicked sugar a couple of weeks ago, in favour of natural sweeteners such as monk fruit and erythritol, and sometimes Stevia. You still need to be careful even with these - Stevia that has been made less sweet so it can be used as a sugar substitute 1:1, has had dextrose and other sugar-based additives to tone it's sweetness down, which makes it, once again, as problematic as sugar.
I remember completing a book study with a Year 8 class about 10 years ago now, and the novel we studied was an Australian one, about the problems with junk food, and the sugar it contains. Effectively, the students in the book went on a school camp where junk food was banned, and the story followed the antics they went through to 'smuggle' sugary treats into the camp, about the withdrawals they went through. It painted a pretty bleak picture, actually - pretty much aligned sugar cravings with that of drug addiction, as you mentioned in your post. Scary stuff really.
Scary stuff indeed. When it comes to stevia, do not buy stevia products. The plant is not expensive and very easy to have at home. I used to have it and now I get it from friends who still have it and dry it themselves.
Hey, that's a great idea. I didn't even think of that. Stevia products are actually quite expensive, so if growing the plat is easy, then that might be a better option.
I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip.
Hi I am Britt I am an Addict ....
hahahahahahahaha. Hi Brit! :D :D :D
hi dear, i relate so much to your blog, last year i had a liquid tumor behind the eye in my head.... guess what it was growing of and feading from.... SUGAR really scary! But i am an addict i really am but i want to live so ASA anonymous sugar addicts it is hahaah
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I am totally addicted to sugar
Would you believe it, earlier I was looking for posts to read, saw your name, was ready to click and then saw the title and I was like..... Noooooo
You are going to tell me it is bad for me hahahaha
I didn't want to knowwwww
This is how addicted I am to sugar
Well I did read it ... and you see even research says it is hard.....boohoohooo
But might explain why I am sooooooo forgetful....
Working on already cutting back.... not tomorrow... right now
Wow.... this is really ramblings of a sugarholic right? hahaha
Thank you for sharing this with us @zen-art
I wrote the post thinking that it will push me to kick the sugar, nope. It did not :D I was writing the post and am writing this comment while still eating candy BUT I do have plans, big big plans :D
This "Sugar" is the Devil hahaha
All the best @zen-art
I am also working on it
I feel like I'm your worst case. Except that in truth I am my own case. And wise words may still help. Who knows...
Well, that was my way of saying 'Thanks!'
I hope it helps us both, I am still trying and failing :D
I don't drink fizzy drinks (well rarely) but I do eat chocolate and biscuits. It is scary how much sugar is in those energy drinks you see kids drinking.
#powerhousecreatives
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You know, this sugar addiction thing is real, and this makes such interesting reading. If ever anyone was going to need a reason to advocate cooking from scratch, this is one of them. That said, and you allude to it, all things in moderation. Also, there are reasons one would use sugar, e.g. in pickles and preserves because it is actually a preservative. That said (she says again), one uses pickles and preserves in moderation, too (I would hope).
On the issue of low fat products: it must be going on 15 years ago, I started looking at the ingredients/dietary % in low fat fruit yoghurt and compared it with the list for, wait for it, not just full fat, but DOUBLE CREAM yoghurt and found the fat content not too high, but the sugar content more than double on the low fat one. That, for me was a turning point. People forget that in addition to sugar addiction (which was not known about then), sugar is a carbohydrate and any excess carbs are turned into the fat in the body.
I should stop now, because I'm preaching to the converted! LOL
Be well
Yup those "light" and "low fat" products are very sneaky and you should always read the label with ingredients. Thank you for such a lovely and quality comment 💚
Great article and information.
It's so right that sugar is in everything that we put into our mouth.
It's scary especially once we start to cook ourselves and then we realized just how much sugar is used in those food or drink that we buy over the counter.
That's why if and when I cook at home i don't use sugar in any our food or drinks but if i do it's always brown sugar to the least. Even salt is at the minimum. I wish I could cook daily at home but due to tight work schedule, I rely on my parents to cook for my kids.
Thank goodness that they too use minimum sugar and salt.
You are lucky your parents cook with a minimum amount of it. I know that some of the old recipes especially for cakes have lots of it. I usually cut sugar in every recipe in half :)
Love reading your posts. I've decided to not eat dessert this year...and your article on sugar helps strengthen my resolve. Thanks!
Kudos! That is a great decision! Good luck! 💚
Thanks! I'm going to need it. I'm 11 days in right now and so far - no dessert. That doesn't mean no sugar though. I add plenty of sweetened creamer to my morning cup of coffee, and I also enjoy using juice as a mixer in my adult beverages. I'll work on it.
Just by reading the title I already can foresee how bad it is.... Drugs..... For the brain! 😅
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Hahaha, yeah, the title says it all :D
Sugar (Diabetes Mallitus) is the biggest problem in my area, but thank good we have lots of herb to help out with that staff. Thank for sharing it with us @zen-art. #steemitbloggers (powerhousecreatives) and #naturalmedicine family. Wish you all the best for this year
Herbs are wonderful and nature has amazing things for us 💚
The mini ones have become so prevalent that I feel the need to ask: you are talking about the ones that are larger than a thumb finger, right?
As usual, a well-written post with an actionable summary of the research, plus a lot of tantalizing photos to break even the strongest among us! :P
Snickers has around 47 g of sugar in every 100 grams of the candy so naturally, smaller size has less but it is still pretty high. The photos were a bad thing to do, I know. I am talking how bad it is and then showing you the good stuff :D :D :D
Great read! I fortunately do not have much of a sugar craving, except in my coffee, which I limit. I also use cauliflower, rutabaga and butternut squash as subs for a lot of starchy foods. Do you know if much research has been done on the safety of Stevia? I was using it, then something made me question continuing. Cannot recall what it was.
Too much of anything is bad. Our bodies love balance. Even too much water can hurt you but substituting sugar with stevia is a good decision.
I don't know if you ever saw "That sugar film" It is sooooo worth watching it. I think it is available on YouTube and it is absolutely fascinating to see the effects of sugar on the body.
Found it...it is worth watching it.
Oh how lovely of you, thank you! 💚
Have you watched it? it is long but really worth it.
Sugar is in almost everything. I try to minimize its use. Lately, I have been indulging in it. :)
Lately, I have been living on it lol, that time of the year I guess but now I have to stop and give my body a rest.
Ohhh...I totally binged last night lol (cringing) thank you for this sobering & timely reminder Petra 💖 I will keep cheering myself on to walk away when temptation lurks me again 🙌
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Good luck to us both 💚
Great post and thanks for sharing all the research. I watched a few BBC programmes that dig deeper in to the science of food (sugars and carbohydrates etc) and covered the same topics as you did here. I stopped eating chocolate in the summer and started doing work outs/walking and running and found that the pot belly I developed drastically reduced in size and now my body shape is no longer "skinny-pear" (still skinny though haha).
I do feel better for it as well - now I just have things in moderation (although over Xmas is always tough on the old discipline and always get gifted chocolate haha). But discipline is key, you can change brain patterns, just need to make things a habit so you end up "not missing" sugary and added sugar things.
Discipline really is the key. Luckily for both of us, Christmas comes only once a year :D
Haha I know, only allowed to let our hair down for a small amount of time so why not at Christmas 😀
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It's good that someone is telling about the evils of sugar. I gave it up years ago along with TV and newspapers, but I do still have chocolate
Chocolate, the dark one is actually very healthy. We just have to make sure we eat the right kind.
Nicely done. I am always blown away by your formatting. We know how much I love a nice formatted post! I am not sure if I enjoyed the post for that, the photos, or the information. Maybe it was all of the above, to be honest.
Hello. My name is Ren and I'm a sugarholic. I am not joking. I can tell you for sure that sugar is as bad as alcohol or any drug out there. I have lied, I have cheated, and I have thrown full-blown toddler fits because I wasn't able to get any sugar. It's ugly and it's truly sad what this chemical has done to our society.
Thank you for such a great ARTICLE! You really should look into submitting this to some of the health magazines out there. This would be a great one.
Love ya "sweets"
Ren
#powerhousecreatives
Thank you for such a nice feedback, it really means a lot. As for the health magazines hahaha, how do you even do that, send them an email and say "hey, you should publish this" :D Thanks for the idea, I will think about it 💚
I actually think you do. I wiil see what i can find out.
I seriously think my kids are addicted to sugar after reading this. Especially my eldest. After eating a full meal, he said he is hungry again but he doesn't want anything else except junk food or those fruit juice. Or fructose drink.
I hope when I substitute with honey, the organic honey, it is not sugar again.
Thank you for sharing this informative piece with us.
Oh a lot of kids are little addicts :) Try lowering the amount of sugar your kids eat little by little so it is not too much of a shock to them. Good luck!
sooo addictive, yet when you change your eating habits it does not take long and all the cravings stop!
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That's an upvote from me! :)
Sounds like sugar is a bigger problem than I even believed it to be, thanks for sharing. Congrats on the the success of this very well done piece.
Very well deserved.
I got a stevia plant last year, but it died during the winter... Thank you for this informative post!!
I just love your post!
I don't have anything to add to it but I think this is something people should be more aware of. I want more eyes on this, so I resteemed it and was wondering if it is ok that I post it on fb as well? I have family members there that could give to read this.