I got an email this week with the subject, “The #1 most harmful food on the planet”, so naturally I clicked on it. 🤷🏽♀️
And while this came as no surprise to me, I thought it would be remiss of me not to have a conversation with you about SUGAR. (Personally, I think vegetables oils are running a close 2nd.)
I mean, we all know on some level that we shouldn’t eat a lot of sugar. The problem is, I don’t think we realize just how much sugar we eat. IT’S IN EVERYTHING!
Let me break it down for you…
I don’t have a number for Bermy, but USDA figures say that they’re consuming over 158 pounds of sugar per person, per year. That is waaaaayyyy too much sugar.
The body isn’t made to metabolize sugar. The body is made to metabolize sugar cane, which is a totally different thing.
Here’s the Lowdown on Sugar…
- Too much sugar creates inflammation, metabolic dysregulation and insulin resistance (which causes people to crave more food, especially sugar). These three factors can wreak havoc on our hormones and lead to diabetes. Excessive sugar intake is associated with more diseases than I can name…
But it doesn’t seem like anyone really talks about it; we continue our lives as usual, giving our kids candy and whatnot (this is not judgement, I promise) so that they can form their sugar addiction nice and young, and so the cycle continues. 😔 We’re even raising our children on baby formula, which has sugar added to it. 😭
Did you know that refined sugar (which is what most people are eating) significantly alters the brain structure in a way that is similar to amphetamine, cocaine and nicotine. (Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine. Eight times!) 😲
- Another thing that people don’t always know is that sugar is fuel for bad bacteria and pathogenesis. It feeds bad microbes in the body, such as yeast and Candida. (If somebody has candida overgrowth, it starts to crowd out the good bacteria in the gut, and over time they start producing toxins that eat away at the gut lining, causing leaky gut, which leads to autoimmune disease, so sugar is absolutely, if not number one, it’s definitely one of the top three foods that will directly cause autoimmune disease and leaky gut.
Oh, and sugar is making you wrinkled with brown spots. It ages you more than anything else. 🫣
I’m trying to keep this short, so I’ll move on.
But you should also know that, bread, and any of the fluffy carbohydrates, are converted into sugar within minutes after you eat them. So when you’re thinking about what to eat, if you’re working to reduce your sugars, your definition of what sugar is, needs to expand.
But it’s not all bad news.
If you are checking your labels, 👀 here are some words you want to avoid: high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, sucrose, maltose (anything that ends in ‘ose’) maltodextrin, and prettier words like sugar cane crystals, brown sugar and raw sugar. And remember, the closer it is to the 1st ingredient, the more there is in what your buying.
If you’re eating mostly whole foods, you might be doing pretty well. Be careful of the sauces, dressings and condiments tho.
I know it can be tempting to use the chemical sugar substitutes instead, but just know that they come with their own set of problems. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that they’re not good for you.
I saw this quote the other day that said:
“Bitter is better, sour is good, tart is fine and spicy is healthy.”
And I thought, how true. I like sugar as much as the next person, but everything doesn’t have to be sweet. We can groom our taste buds to be better. And when you cut back on refined sugar, naturally sweet foods begin to taste sweeter. I promise you this is true; I’ve tried it. 😎
Look out for my tips to curb your sugar cravings coming up next…