All this week we will be posting blogs about sugar. To be more precise we will be talking about the need to cut back our consumption of sugar. I can’t stress the importance of this enough. As a nation we are fatter than we have ever been. Heart disease is the leading cause of death. Type 2 diabetes is running rapidly through our ranks, not only the adults but in children as well. Obesity is not only linked to heart disease and type two diabetes but several other life threatening conditions. On our 2 ½ year quest to eat healthier we found some astonishing facts about how much sugar plays a role in weight gain and over all poor health. Since sugar is in everything that we love to eat, it makes it very hard to cut back on your intake. Some diets have you cutting back by controlling your portion sizes. Have you every seen the healthy portion size of ice cream or chocolate chip cookies? I mean, come on, who can eat that small amount and be satisfied? To truly understand why it is necessary to cut back your sugar intake you need to understand what sugar does to your body. Not just, “Oh it makes me fat,” or, “It gives me a belly.” You have to begin to look at sugar in a different way. I hope this blog helps.
The body is an amazing machine. It uses a few different sources for energy. Some take longer to break down than others. Fruit for example has glucose (sugar) in it. It also contains carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. When you eat a piece of fruit, the body uses the sugar and the carbohydrates as energy. Since sugar, carbs, vitamins, minerals, and fiber are all wrapped up together, your body cannot use it as quickly as it could, let’s say, a soda. Your stomach needs time to digest all of these things. Your stomach contracts and mixes everything up. Your body slowly absorbs the vitamins and minerals. The fiber helps flush out anything left. This process provides the body with sustained energy. Sustained energy helps you feel full longer. When you eat healthier foods, their sustained energy won’t give you that 2pm daily crash.
Sugar provides the body with quick energy. When you processed or refined sugars (which we will talk about later in the week) you body starts breaking down that sugar even before it gets to you stomach. For example when you drink a soda (which is basically liquid sugar) the second it hits your tongue the digestive enzymes in your saliva start to break down the sugar and turns it into blood sugar. When the blood sugar gets to the stomach it mixes with acidic digestive juices. The stomach does its job and contracts mixing everything up which turns the blood sugar into a liquidy paste like substance. This paste is easily absorbed by the body and causes elevated blood sugar levels. Your body sends a message to the brain that it has energy and you feel awake, alive, and ready to tackle the rest of the day. But that high doesn’t last. Remember: sugar is quick energy. It is absorbed quickly and used just as fast, bringing your body crashing down, leaving you tired and craving something, anything to give you more energy
That is what happens to the sugar that can be processed by the body. The sugar that cannot be processed is stored as fat. The belly is one of the body’s favorite places to store excess sugar. I commonly refer to it as the sugar sack.
The sugar sack can be visible evidence of high blood sugar but it is the non-visible affects that are dangerous. Elevated blood sugar levels will make you feel tired, weak, and thirsty. It can also lead to dehydration. These are just the short term effects. The long term effects can lead to diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and the list goes on and on.
Since we love our sugar so much it is very popular with food companies. They have found ways to sneak it into just about everything. They have chemically modified it to make it cheaper and make their food and drinks tastier. Remember in the first article we talked about your body building up a tolerance for it? Well the more you get, the more you want. This could be why portion controls are just too hard to implement.
You will not be able to cut out all sugars from your diet. Sugar is in all natural fruits and vegetables. It is the refined sugars like the ones we find in processed foods and canned or bottled drinks that are so dangerous to our health. Those are the ones that we as people who care about our health and safety need to remove from our diets. How do you know if you are eating processed or modified sugars? Check in on our next blog to find out!
Written by Joann Agoglia
Edited by Rob Marshall
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