7 Things you NEED to Know About Sugar

“Sugar is public health enemy number one. The worst toxin we expose ourselves to daily in the conventional American diet. It’s capacity to disrupt and degrade your body’s natural balance is notorious.” – Frank Lipman, How to Be Well

If my mic drop introduction didn’t convince you to keep on reading… I don’t think you’re on the right site. I’ve been thinking a lot about how I want to continue to approach this blog in an effort to continue to educate myself and others on some of life’s most misunderstood health and wellness fundamentals. To do this, I’ve decided that I need to start at square one. The biggest, baddest topics that are critical building blocks to a healthy, balanced life. I did a lot of research on this one and boiled it down to 7 Things you Need to Know about Sugar..

1. Sugar alters your hormones so you don’t register hunger the way you normally should, making you eat more.
2. It spikes your dopamine, requiring you to eat more sugar to get that “sugar high” effect
3. When it’s in the form of fructose, it effects your liver the same way that alcohol does
4. Ingesting sugar consistently is directly tied to inflammation and weight gain, leads to insulin resistance (the precursor to diabetes and heart disease), and creates a runway for just about every variation of modern disease: cancer, dementia, depression, infertility, acne, and more
5. Combined with the underactive modern lifestyle, sugar changes your metabolic function … FOR THE WORSE
6. Sugar feeds candida – an unwanted fungus that can colonize the gut and throw it (and as a result, many other bodily, hormonal, and neurological functions) out of balance.
7. Liquid Sugars are the WORST: fructose in juices and sweet drinks goes strait to the liver, where it is metabolized in a way similar to alcohol and converted to fat.

Sugar is Everywhere

Nobody can control your intake but you. Even if you don’t identify as a “sugar lover” or think you have a “sweet tooth,” you’re not off the hook… you’re likely ingesting more sugar than you think. It’s used not only as a sweetening agent but also as a preservative in many processed foods. OH! Did i mention that big food companies hide added sugar in the majority of processed/packaged food because… dun dun dun … it is addictive. The more you eat, the more you need.

Added Sugars

You should begin reading ingredients for “added sugars” disguised as: fructose, high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, cane sugar, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, beet sugar, date sugar, grape sugar, glucose, sucrose, maltose, maltodextrin, dextrose, sorbitol, corn sugar, fruit juice, barley malt, caramel, carob syrup, and sorghum syrup. Look at the ingredient list on your food labels, if sugar is one of the first three ingredients, back away.

Healthy Foods Could be adding to your Added Sugar Count

Eat these in moderation because the sugar count adds up before you know it!

• Protein Bars
• Date-filled Smoothies
• Peanut Butters / Sweet Nut Butters
• Ketchup, BBQ sauces, and other sugar laden condiments (lower sugar options are available: I like Sir Kensingtons or Tessames)
• Honey
• Maple Syrup
• Coconut Water
• Fruit Juices
• Fruit Yogurts
• Granola
• Any other major offenders that you know of? Comment below!

What’s the Right Amount?

The average American consumes 77 lbs of cane and corn-derived sugars a year!

Your bloodstream has about 2 teaspoons of glucose (blood sugar) circulating in it to maintain equilibrium before you eat; anything else must be either burned or stored – first in your liver and muscles as glycogen and then, when those max out, all over your body as fat.

Four grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar.

On average we are consuming 22 teaspoons of added sugars a day. I’m defining added sugars  any sugars not naturally occurring from whole foods and bound by fiber. Example: carrot – no, honey – yes.

To keep your self in check, avoid packaged foods and drinks with more than 4 grams of sugar per serving and don’t use recipes that go above that either.

That said, the recommended amount of added sugars in a day should be closer to 12-16 grams or 3-4 teaspoons per day if we follow this 4 grams of sugar per serving guideline. I don’t count calories or sugar but according to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are:

• Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons).
• Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

In conclusion, ADDED sugars are the enemy and are far worse than those natrually occuring in whole foods. Avoid as much added sugar as you can, it’s the BEST piece of advice I could give you for your health and something I constantly watch.

 

Any questions or comments — mention them below!

xx, Jess