MANILA - If there's anything you absolutely can't take away from many people in developed and developing economies, it's their passion for sugary food and drinks.

In the Philippines, for instance, many Filipinos, both young and old, are suffering from diabetes, heart diseases, or uncontrolled weight gain, according to licensed acupuncturist and wellness expert Liza Pascal.

"It's a very serious addiction, and people don't understand that. It's very hard to take sugar away from Filipinos because they love their white rice, corn, white flour products like bibingka or enseymada. But then again, there's so much diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease here. You have to do something," she said.

Pascal, a health advocate and active distributor of USANA Health Sciences, a quality-certified US company that specializes in health products that keep cells healthy, believes sugar is the root cause of most lifestyle diseases.

"Over 50% of people who have heart attacks don't even have high cholesterol, so it's really caused by artery inflammation that is hastened by high blood sugar," she said.

Sugar stability

Pascal added that there are more young people (about 30 to 50%) aged 9 to 19 nowadays who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. "Usually because parents don't have education of what not to feed or what to feed their children. Or you inherited the tendency so you have the cravings," she said.

She explained that starting the day with white rice and some sugary drink would make blood sugar spike. In response, the body would trigger insulin to control the blood sugar rise, eventually doing its job so well that the sugar level crashes - prompting the person to refill with more sugar.

"So this is not the time when you're going to say, 'I'm going to cut up some vegetables.' No, you're freaking out so you'll grab whatever's quick. You'll get a muffin or like a Coke, and then the blood sugar spike starts again. So that's how the rest of your day will look like, spikes and crashes, and this will show in your mood," she said.

The key in managing sugar levels and preventing the onset of disease is eating right (especially at breakfast) and avoiding food or drinks that break down into sugar fast. Instead, a sugar addict could increase their water intake or find food alternatives - like Kalinga red rice instead of white rice. (see related story:8 ways to manage your sugar level.)

Pascal has conducted hundreds of seminars on health and sugar control in Manila and Cavite since late January this year. As a health education advocate, she has lectured to a variety of audiences from Senate employees to housewives.

USANA Health Sciences will soon be introducing a health program in the Philippines that aims to address blood sugar, cholesterol, insulin, or weight problems. The "Reset Program" is a group of shakes that provide protein, fiber, healthy fats, and carbohydrates in one.

Originally meant as breakfast replacements, the shakes were included in a 5-day cleansing program where people can "reset" their blood sugar, insulin, or cholesterol levels by substituting certain meals with shakes during certain phases of the program.

Health and consumer advocacy

Pascal became a licensed acupuncturist after attending the Swedish Institute in New York. She was also trained in the art of Classical Chinese Medicine, a forbidden practice in China that was severely punished during Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution.

Under this type of healing, Pascal was taught to "treat the person, and not the disease." She also honed her skills as an intuitive healer, who could figure out energy blocks in a person's body, just listening to her patient's life story.

After this, she linked in with Team Northrup, founded by obstetrician gynecologist and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Christia Northrup. Here, she was taught how to manage her personal finances along with managing her health.

"Team Northrup is about finding the health-wealth connection. How financial stress can lead to unhealthiness. People don't give it enough energy - talking about money - but if you don't start looking it straight in the eye, then it will start to take a toll on your health," she explained.

She is also part of ConsumerLab, an organization that conducts independent studies on various drugs in order to raise consumer awareness on pharmaceuticals.

The group has found many pharmaceuticals out there which either provide less than what they promise on the label. Some drugs, the lab found, are contaminated with more than 0.5 lead content, a toxic level.

Some multivitamins also promise extra iron content, Pascal said, but this would mean inhibiting calcium absorption. "People think they're getting more value for their money, but they're not," she said.

Pascal said she only trusts USANA Health Sciences, whose foundation product was "The Essentials" (P2,400 for 2 bottles), a set of pills that keeps cells healthy through an antioxidant formula. The pills are pharmaceutical-grade (meaning you can trust what is on the label) and is NSF International-certified (meaning it is safe for athletes).

Before selling USANA products, Pascal makes sure consumers understand how the products work, what it can do, and how consumers can be smart about choosing the best pharmaceutical products for their health. Report by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.