Three Things I Wish I Would Have Known About Sugar Sooner

I have a sweet tooth.  I am convinced that Girl Scout Samoas Cookies, Cadbury Creme Eggs, and Dr. Pepper are from heaven. Now, I know they are not the best for me, but can eating this stuff daily really hurt me?  I exercise 5 days a week and my wife is amazing about cooking us healthy meals, so it is fine right?  Sadly, it’s not.  I didn’t realize how bad sugar was for you until I watched the documentary Fed Up  on Netflix.

I am by nature extremely cautious when it comes believing documentaries.  I believe most documentaries state the extremes, if not down right lie, to justify their point.  However Fed Up had me with one compelling thought:
We exercise more today than ever before and have so many “diet” food options. Why is obesity and diabetes at an all time high and only getting worse?

Fed Up says the answer is sugar!

Here is what I wish I knew about sugar sooner.

1. Sugar is in almost Everything.

I get that sugar is in Samoas and Creme Eggs but food manufacturers put sugar in Pasta Sauce, Yogurt, Ketchup, Granola, “Healthy” Breakfast Cereal, fast food salads,  and canned beans just to name a few. It is crazy how much sugar we get without eating supposedly sugary foods.

Why is there sugar in so much food?  Because it taste good and based on many different studies it is more additive than cocaine (Google it).  Also, sugar is cheap.

I have not had any “sweets” outside of trail mix and Dr. Pepper in two weeks and I am STILL over 100 grams over my daily recommend allowance of sugar!  If you saw my last post this is why I think the Daniel Plan is the next step for me (more on that in future posts).

2. Sugar can go by many Different Names

Companies know sugar is a buzz word for conscious consumers so they try to hide it by giving it different names.  There are over 50 names for sugar.  Here are just a hand full to consider: Maltodextrin, barley malt, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, rice syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, and my personal favorite “evaporated cane juice”.  Sometimes you might see 6 or 7 different names for sugar on the same food label.

It doesn’t matter what you call it, below the neck it all has the same affect.

3. All Sweeteners cause you to Store Fat.

When sugar goes in it our body it is rapidly processed and it over loads the system. Our bodies fight back by producing insulin.  The insulin in your body tells the body that it needs to store the calories we are getting as fat.  The only type of sugar we get that is treated a little bit differently is natural sugar in foods like fruit.  The sugar in those foods are being processed slower because of the fiber in them.  Therefore, the body is less likely to storing it as fat.

Low calorie and zero calorie sweeteners might be even worse for you.  Our brains think when we taste something sweet we are getting calories. Fun calories but junk calories.  When the sweet taste is not followed up by an onslaught of calories the brain gets confused and it causes the body to crave calories. Causing us to eat more food (calories) and the insulin being produced by the sweet taste causes us to store more fat.

How do we cut down on sugar?

The best place to start is cook more at home with fresh ingredients.  Second, cut down on anything you drink outside of pure water.  Anything else you drink more than likely has sugar in it.  Third, if it comes in a box or used to add flavor, it more than likely has added sugar.

You may not cut out sugar all together but the benefits of drastically cutting down on the sugar you take in will benefit your health in all areas of life so I hope you take time to cut down.

Have you seen “Fed up?” what are your thoughts on sugar?