We can’t help ourselves. From the day we are born, we are hooked on it. Sugar, that is. There is a reason why breast milk tastes sweet. Nature establishes an innate preference for something sweet for our taste buds to enjoy. In order for the behavior to be reinforced and repeated, it has to be pleasurable and sugar meets that criteria. The problem is that a sugar sweet tooth tends to stay with us throughout life. If our main source of sugar was found naturally such as what is in fruits, it would not be much of a problem. The problem is all the various forms sugars come in added to our food supply – honey, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup and of course, granulated sugar – that is hurting our health. All forms of sugar are empty calorie foods meaning they give us calories but little to no vitamins, minerals, or fiber.
It is important to be able to spot the hidden sugars in food, as this is where many people don’t realize their dietary mistakes lie. Sugar isn’t just found within “sugar” on our food labels. Sugar can be within a number of other ingredients such as fructose, lactose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, and dextrose. So if you see anything ending in “ose” on labels, be careful because that is also sugar. The instinctive liking for sugar has become widely available in a pure form so it is relatively new to the human diet. When sugar became convenient, the food manufacturers had a heyday. They quickly learned our liking for it and liberally began adding sugar to various foods to tempt us to eat their products. And boy they were right. We do like our sugar. The average American consumes about 22 teaspoons of sugar daily exceeding the Dietary Guidelines’ recommendation of no more than 12 teaspoons a day on a 2,000 calorie diet. So if sugar composes a high percentage of your calories it is time to change that. The more sugar you consume, the greater the odds of developing heart disease, tooth decay, diabetes, increasing inflammation, and gaining weight. Slashing sugar is worth the try as it can lead to some very noticeable positive transformation of your body and health. Here are 5 things you will experience:
- You will lose weight. Ditch sugary foods and watch your weight go down. This one small change makes a big difference in losing and keeping weight off particularly around the abdominal area. Cutting out refined carbohydrates – cookies, cake, pie, pastries, candy, sugary beverages – is a step in the right direction.
- You will have more energy. Foods containing a lot of added sugar are quickly broken down by the body. Sugar is rapidly absorbed in the bloodstream causing blood sugar levels to rise dramatically and then come crashing down leaving you feeling drained of energy.
- You will look much healthier. Health never looked so good as it does on people who avoid sugary foods. Your skin will be the biggest benefactor of the result of cutting excess sugar out of your diet. Sugary foods are rapidly digested and this causes insulin to be released which sends a burst of inflammation into the body. Inflammation breaks down collagen and elastin resulting in wrinkles and sagging skin.
- You are craving for sugar will significantly decrease. There is no concrete evidence sugar (or any other food for that matter) is addictive but it does cause a pleasurable reinforcement by activating the dopamine system in the reward area of the brain causing a feeling of well-being. There is no doubt we need to reduce our intake of sugar and start paying any attention to the amount consumed daily and not use it for comfort reasons to deal with daily stress.
- You will possibly be reducing your risk for chronic diseases. Excess intake of sugar has been linked with several metabolic abnormalities leading to serious health conditions.
Small steps equal big changes: Cutting back on sugar intake can be challenging but there are steps you can do to help the process go smoother. Try these suggestions:
- Eat about 25-30 grams of protein at each meal. Protein can keep you from craving sweets.
- Avoid eating sweets in the morning.
- Use pre-portioned sweets like dark chocolate squares (at least 70% cacao).
- Use smaller bowls/plates for desserts, especially ice cream.
- Keep sweets out of the house.
- Brush your teeth when you get a craving for sweets.
