You’re Sweet enough already….
Humans love sugar. We crave it. Sugar is as addictive as cocaine according to studies. It makes food highly palatable and when we eat sweet foods, the brain's reward system gets activated. The brain produces the hormone dopamine, which incites feelings of pleasure and makes us crave more. Repeated sugar bingeing releases opioids, and when you have more, your brain adjusts to release less dopamine… so to get the same pleasure out of it, you must eat it in increasing amounts…like drugs, no? There are different types of natural sugar, as well as added sugar, which makes things even more confusing.
Sugar comes as fructose, sucrose (aka table sugar which is glucose + fructose), maltose (which is glucose + glucose), galactose, and lactose (galactose + glucose, found in dairy). These are typically natural sugars found in foods. For example, fructose is a sugar found naturally in fruits, some vegetables and honey. The term “added sugar” however, which is now required on nutrition labels, does not include sugars that are found naturally in foods.
Added sugar refers to sugars or other sweeteners that are added to foods and drinks when they are processed or refined. In America, food is more often than not, no longer in its natural state when we go to eat it. Companies literally add sugar to everything to make it more palatable so that we get addicted. For instance, in addition to desserts and other sweets, sugar may be added to foods such as breads, cereals, yogurt, energy bars, ketchup, processed meat, salad dressings and pasta sauces. These aren’t meant to be sweet foods. So our brains are not only influenced by heavy marketing, but also by these highly addictive foods.
This added sugar also messes with our satiety hormones so we stay hungry. Crazy right? The Food Industry is setting us up to fail. Approximately 74% of all packaged foods have added sugar. Sugar is hidden by different aliases. Agave, Aspartame, Barley malt, Beet sugar, Brown sugar, Cane juice, Cane sugar, Caramel...and those are just the ABC’s! Added sugar affects our body differently from natural sugar in a few ways.
When you eat sugar and its not paired with fiber and protein like it is when you are having fruit or milk, your blood sugar levels rise quickly which gives you an energy burst but then quickly fall, leading you to feeling hungry again and have mood swings. If you’re eating way too much sugar, your pancreas gets overworked and your body stops responding properly to insulin, which is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the essential driver of almost all chronic western diseases including Heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, Autoimmune Disorders & Alzheimers. Insulin fuels cancer growth and so does sugar.
Excess sugar can also increase joint pain, damage collagen & elastin in your skin, and damage the liver. It can lead to an increase in disease-causing bacteria in our gut microbiome, causing further damage throughout the body.
Sugar doesn’t have any nutritional value for our bodies. It doesn’t give us any vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, or fiber. Eating sugar doesn’t make our bodies better, stronger, healthier, or more functional. This is why we need to check ingredients & nutrition labels. Better than reading labels, eat more whole foods without labels such as fruits, veggies, beans, nuts and seeds, eggs, meat and seafood.
Transitioning to less-processed and less-sweetened versions of foods is a simple way to lower your sugar intake and get the benefits of a better nutrient intake. Most people can eat small amounts of sugar and still feel good but everyone has a different limit, experiment and see what makes you feel your best.
If you’re overwhelmed and just don’t have the time to spend time investigating on your own, I am here to help. I offer Virtual Pantry Makeovers & Virtual Grocery Shopping... I can help you become a grocery store expert! Schedule your complimentary health consult here
