Saturday, June 2, 2012

Sugar


We all know (or should know) that sugar is bad for you, but do you know in what way it affects you? I wouldn’t say I'm an expert on this topic, but what I’ve learned reading lots of articles and personal experience is these following things:

1. There is a huge correlation between high sugar intake and type 2 diabetes, especially from soda. Those who drink soda in considerable amounts have around an 80% increased risk of developing it, compared to people who drink little to no soda.

2. Sugar is addictive. I’ve found this very true from personal experience, the more you eat/drink sugary things the more you want to do so. And there is scientific research to back this up. An article in the Journal of Nutrition in 2009 titled Sugar and Fat Bingeing Have Notable Differences in Addictive-Like Behavior showed through tests that both sugar and the taste of sweet activates beta endorphin receptor sites in the brain. The same receptor sites that are activated by heroin and morphine!  

3. Sugar makes you fat! Because it is addictive it makes foods high in fat taste much better and can often cause you to overeat these foods. If you do this you can exceed your liver’s sugar storage capacity. Your liver stores glucose (sugar your body uses for energy) as glycogen, and can store about 100 grams of it. Your muscles can store another 500 grams. When you exceed this limited storage the excess glycogen is converted into fatty acids and returned to your bloodstream where it’s taken throughout your body and stored as fat!

4. A recent study done at UCLA showed that a high-fructose diet can hamper your brains ability to learn and remember information. Fructose is a simple sugar that is most often found in cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and inexpensive liquid sweetener. Fortunately though eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help counteract the harmful effects. These include things like salmon, walnuts, and flaxseeds.


So how can you cut down on sugar or the various types of it? Well you first have to find what foods/drinks it’s in. Soda and fruit juices are the biggest culprit I think and are why I believe limiting yourself to mostly water and some milk is the smartest way to go. This picture is a great representation of how much sugar is in typical drinks:


However, it might surprise you to know what types of food have sugar in them. Pretty much all processed foods do (mainly in the form of high-fructose corn syrup), which includes things like cereals, condiments, baby food, and even most types of whole wheat bread! Also, low-fat foods like salad dressings and yogurt often have extra sugar to make up for the taste of having less fat. Totally defeats the purpose of having them to eat healthier!

Now granted eliminating sugar out of your diet isn’t feasible for most people, and is probably unhealthy to try. However, it is easy to cut down on and limit oneself to mostly naturally occurring sugars such as those found in fruit. A good daily goal to shoot for is what the American Heart Association recommends: 37 grams (7.4tsp) daily for men and 25 grams (5tsp) per day for women. Which when you start looking at food/drink labels can be hard to do, and it’s easy to see why the average American consumes about 91 grams (18.2tsp) of sugar daily. But it's really worth the sacrifice. Which would you rather have: temporary pleasure for your taste buds or feeling healthy/energetic all the time?