Sugar Shake-Down
We all know that sugar can harm our teeth by causing decay and cavities, but did you know that eating large amounts of sugar can do similar damage inside our bodies, Sugar used to be critical to our survival -- thousands of years ago, our primitive ancestors used sweetness to guide them towards non-poisonous plants that were safe to eat (bitter-tasting plants were usually poisonous), which is why we continue to be genetically programmed to seek it out. However, since we no longer need to forage for foods or guess about their safety, this preference for sweet foods is not a necessity for survival anymore. In fact, the reverse is shaping up to be true. Feasting exclusively or excessively on sweet foods in our modern food environment could actually be threatening our health. The science of sugar
Sugar, specifically a type of sugar called glucose, is our body’s primary fuel for normal activity, work, exercise and brain function. When carbohydrates, like starches and sugars, are eaten by healthy people, they are converted into glucose (which is a type of sugar, hence the interchangeable term “blood sugar”). When carbohydrates are converted into glucose, our blood sugar level rises and the pancreas reacts by secreting a hormone called insulin, which picks up the glucose and delivers it to cells in our muscles, liver, brain and other organs so that they have the energy to function optimally. Most of the cells only take as much glucose as they need, with any leftover glucose being stored as fat and, to a lesser extent, glycogen (the body’s limited storage form of carbohydrates). When insulin has delivered all of the glucose that your cells need, blood sugar levels return to normal. If too much glucose is delivered or if you wait too long to eat your next meal, glucose levels can dip too low. If this happens, the pancreas secretes a special hormone called glucagon that helps bring glucose out of glycogen storage and into the blood. Glucagon also stimulates your appetite for sugary and carbohydrate-rich foods, like candy, soft drinks, juice, bread and other sweets.
This system works beautifully if it is not abused, but if highly refined foods are constantly forcing your body to secrete insulin and take up glucose, the sugar-processing engine starts to wear down, in a sense, and insulin loses its potency to reduce glucose in the blood (a condition called insulin resistance). When sweet goes sour
The medical community used to believe that eating a lot of sugar did not cause diabetes and that sugar was only an issue for people who already had diabetes, but now we are learning otherwise. Research is showing that people whose regular diets are high in sugar and refined carbohydrates have an increased risk of diabetes, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease and obesity. Furthermore, excess sugar in the blood can affect your vision, make your skin saggy and wrinkled, make it harder to breathe, blunt your memory, make your joints swell and ache, cause impotence, and stiffen your arteries. Many people who are sensitive to sugar’s effects on their system report mood swings, lethargy, drowsiness, brain fog and sugar highs. Other people find that eating excess sugar exacerbates their asthma and arthritis if they have those conditions.
Blood sugar spikes will accelerate the aging process and cause inflammation, so limiting added sugars and highly refined foods (which act like sugar in your body) can help slow down the aging of your cells. Think of highly refined foods as foods that have been partially digested by a factory. When you eat them, your body has to do very little work to convert the carbohydrates in the food into glucose, so your blood sugar and insulin levels rise quickly after you eat them. Conversely, minimally processed foods will make your body work harder to convert them into glucose, so you get a slow release of sugar into your bloodstream, resulting in a slower release of the correct amount of insulin. The sweets we eat
Cutting back on sugar may be easier than you think, since there is so much of it in our food supply. Most Americans are eating 50% more added sugar in their food today than they were 50 years ago—that’s an average total intake of 23 teaspoons of sugar per person per day, approximately 370 extra calories. With that huge increase in calories, you can easily see how excess sugar can lead to fat storage and obesity.
Fructose is a particularly sticky problem. This sugar is naturally found in fruit and honey, but those are not the main dietary sources of fructose for most people. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is taking over as one of the major sources of sugar and calories in the American diet. HFCS is found in highly processed, empty-calorie foods because it is the least expensive way to sweeten foods. We eat between ten and 20 percent of our total calories in HFCS. This is a big change for the human body, which just 40 years ago never had to process any HFCS and only very little fructose (the fructose content of fresh fruit is low). Our bodies are not handling this huge influx of fructose sugar well; rates of insulin resistance, heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, obesity and other inflammation-related diseases have all been rising steadily as our HFCS consumption has swelled. I encourage you to search ingredient lists for “high fructose corn syrup” and avoid foods that contain it, since it is a sign of a highly processed, low-quality food. Don’t rely on artificial sweeteners to help you “clean up” your diet, either. Processed artificial sweeteners are no better than white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and recent studies have shown that they do not aid in weight control or disease prevention. Scientists speculate that the extremely sweet taste of foods or beverages containing artificial sweeteners stimulates the pancreas to make insulin (even though there technically is no sugar in these foods or beverages), and increased insulin levels are correlated with a stronger appetite and a higher risk of diabetes. This makes sense if you consider that our tongues, where our taste buds are located, are not just connected to our brains but are also part of our digestive systems and communicate with all of our digestive organs. Therefore, when sweetness hits our mouths, a signal is sent to the pancreas to prepare for insulin secretion. If insulin is secreted and it has no glucose to act upon, however, not only might this lead your body to stimulate your appetite so that it is provided with the glucose it wants, but it also can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, the goal of making dietary changes should be to dampen your preference for all sweet tastes and to cut back on the amount of added sugar that you consume.
Sweet ‘n natural
Sugars that are found naturally in plant foods – like fruit, some vegetables and grains – are not harmful and there is evidence that they are actually helpful for controlling blood sugar when eaten in moderate amounts. When you eat foods that naturally contain sugars, you also get fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidant phytonutrients, which are rarely ever found in processed foods that have added sugars. These naturally healthful foods also tend to be filling and low in calories, unlike sweetened processed foods. As I mentioned before, glucose is our body’s primary fuel, so it is good to eat some sugars so long as you eat them in the right forms—especially if you exercise.
Kicking the habit
Most experts cannot agree if sugar can be addictive or not, but I have worked with many people who claim to be addicted to it. If you struggle with intense cravings for sweets, there are a few things you can do to help break free from those strong hankerings. Even if you don’t think you’re addicted, it’s a good idea to take a look at the amount and sources of sugar in your diet. Remember that your goal is to limit your preference for intensely sweet tastes and to cut the quantity of sweetened foods you eat.
Learn where the sugars are. Read ingredient lists on packaged foods and become aware of added sugars in foods. Key words to look for are sugar, brown sugar, cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, invert sugar, molasses and honey. You will be surprised to find sugars added to many non-dessert type foods, like bread, tomato sauce, beverages, salad dressings, lunch meats and canned soups. I also recommend that you avoid artificially sweetened foods that contain acesulfame potassium, sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, sorbitol, maltitol and isomalt.
Begin with breakfast. Start to break the cycle of sugar cravings in the morning instead of at the end of the day. This way you can start fresh and have a chance to get your blood sugar under good control at the beginning of the day.
Choose the “right” carbs at the right time. Eat a hearty breakfast within one hour of waking up since, if you wait too long, your blood sugar can get low and cause you to crave sweets. Make sure your breakfast contains little to no added sugars or artificial sweeteners and emphasize protein, good fats and minimally-processed carbohydrates. A good breakfast would be scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes cooked in extra virgin olive oil with a slice of flourless sprouted whole-grain bread, or a bowl of plain oatmeal with nuts, blueberries and unsweetened soy milk.
Stall sweets until later. Delay eating anything sweet for as long as possible, mid-afternoon at the earliest. You may notice that once you start eating sweets, you can’t stop, so by waiting until the end of the day there will be fewer waking hours during which you can overindulge on sugar.
Balance sugar with protein and fat. If you are going to eat something that has been sweetened, eat it with other foods as part of a meal instead of on its own. A meal that contains fat and protein will help slow down the conversion of the sugar that you eat into glucose, so that the sweets will be less of a shock to your system.
Time your treats. The best time to eat a concentrated sweet, like a cookie or some candy, is in the hour after a workout, while the worst time to eat it is right before a workout. Eating sugar right before exercising inhibits fat burning, while eating it right afterwards can help shuttle nutrients to your muscles quickly so they recover faster after you use them.
Think of sweets as treats, not as daily foods or dietary staples. For instance, a muffin should not be what you eat for breakfast every day, but if you eat a muffin for breakfast once a month, that is fine. If you start making those types of changes, you will be amazed at how much more you savor and appreciate these treats. You may also be surprised to notice how your preference for highly sweetened foods diminishes—some foods might become too sweet for your tastes!
Practice portion control. When you do eat sweets, don’t make up for lost time by eating huge quantities. Limit your portions to appropriate serving sizes and work on being satisfied with small portions of sweets. It may be helpful not to bring containers of ice cream, bags of cookies or whole cakes into your home. Instead, go out to eat those things and order only the quantity you want to eat (such as a single cookie or scoop of ice cream).
Consider the types of sweets you like most. If they tend to be things like cake, pastries, cookies and ice cream, then you have extra motivation to minimize their presence in your diet. These double whammy foods are also high in unhealthy saturated fats and possibly trans fats. Try switching to dark chocolate (which is not very high in sugar), dried fruit, fresh fruit or fruit ices instead.
Remember that moderation is the key to dealing with sugar (and other unhealthful foods). Sugar in large quantities is linked to obesity and many preventable diseases. If you cut back on foods that contain added sugars, you will likely replace them with more nutritious, lower-calorie foods, which will inevitably improve your overall diet, lower your weight and protect your health.
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ttention, America! Our collective sweet tooth has a big, gaping cavity and we must act quickly to stem the damage and prevent future complications!
too? Research on sugars’ negative health effects is accumulating and the results are not looking good for the sweet stuff. I want to help you be proactive about your sugar habits before any (or much more) damage is done, so read on to learn why sugar can be harmful and how you can protect your body from its not-so-sweet effects.
