SUGAR ADDICTION - How excess sugar harms your body and alternatives that taste great.

​Sugar is everywhere we look. Thing is most packaged foods hide sugar as an ingredient so we don’t notice that we are consuming more sugar in our diet than we need. Take for instance fruit yogurt which many people think is a nutritious breakfast. Fruit yogurt can contain 19 grams of sugar in a single serving. But how much is 19 grams?

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are :

• Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons).

• Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

So women who start the day with a cup of fruit yogurt containing 19 grams of sugar have already eaten over half of their daily intake.

This is only in the first hour of the day!

A can of coke consists of 33 grams of sugar. If someone had a cup of blueberry yogurt for breakfast and a can of coke for lunch….. they have already surpassed the maximum daily intake before noon.

Now let’s talk about what this sugar does in the body when it breaks down.

What is sugar?

Sugar is a combination of two molecules:

Glucose and Fructose

Glucose is “plant” sugar. Plants and make glucose from photosynthesis to store as energy. Every cell in our body can metabolize glucose. If we don’t get it from a food source then our body makes it. A wonderful process called Gluconeogenesis!. Sounds cool right? I won’t bore you with this process though (Phew!).

Fructose is “fruit” sugar. Found in fruits and many plants as well and can only be metabolized in the liver. The liver then stores this converted energy and if full will turn the fructose into fat. If this overabundance of fat cannot be shipped out of the liver you have a greater chance of creating Fatty Liver Disease.

According to the American Liver Foundation, this disease can form with as little as 5% to 10% of the liver’s weight in fat. This disease can cause fatigue, weakness, jaundice, swelling of the legs and abdomen, mental confusion and other nasty symptoms.

Insulin and insulin resistance

We have all heard of diabetics taking insulin but what is insulin?

Insulin is hormone made by the pancreas to signal the cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. Our body monitors what we digest, what our cells demand and releases insulin in the right amount to help regulate blood sugar.

The more sugar you eat, the more insulin your body produces to send the signal to your muscle and fat cells to remove and use glucose from the blood. When your cells get enough glucose for energy from the excess sugar, they essentially block the insulin signal. The body then produces more insulin and tries again. The pancreas will continue to create insulin until it cannot anymore which in turn causes the blood glucose levels to rise. This is known as Insulin Resistance which is the first step to type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance comes long before type 2 diabetes occurs. You can prevent future harm by getting regular checkups at your primary care physician to check your glucose levels and vitals.

Other symptoms that can come along with type 2 diabetes is arteriosclerosis or known as atherosclerosis. This is thickening and hardening of your artery walls which can lead to strokes or heart attacks. Skin lesions and skin tags can also develop. Problems with menstruation in women known as polycystic ovary syndrome can develop causing women to grow moustaches, sideburns and mid-chest hair. I’m quite sure no woman wants to resemble David Hasselhoff.

This information is not given to scare you but to inform you so you can make your own choice when you step into the grocery store.

Now that I have ruined the sweet joy we all like to indulge in, here are some sugar alternatives.

Monk fruit sweetener- this is a zero calorie sweetener made from a sub-tropical melon in southern china. It is not processed with toxic chemicals. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar which allows you to use much less and still get the same taste.

Here is what we use in our home Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener.

Stevia extract- this is also a zero calorie sweetener derived from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant which is native to Central and South America. Stevia extract is about 40 times sweeter than sucrose. It is mixed with other ingredients when sold as a powder. You will have to check the label of the manufacturer to see what it is combined with. The main ingredient in Truvia is a sugar alcohol called erythritol, which has no calories since our body cannot metabolize it. I prefer the monk fruit since it is in its natural state when turned into granules.

I want to emphasise that I recommend using these alternative sweeteners in moderation. These can still raise insulin levels in high quantities.

The more we moderate our intake of sweet food the less we will crave sweet. Eating whole fruits is a good way to satisfy our sugar craving since it has fiber to help us digest and metabolize properly.

If you are addicted to sugar, these sweeteners will help you lower your sugar intake and lower your cravings over time. The more you can get your sugar from natural sources the better. We have to lower your craving first so you will be less likely to eat something “bad” for you in a moment of temptation. If we limit our sugar intake, we can stay far away from type 2 diabetes and these health limiting symptoms.

There are simple habits that we can develop in our lifestyle that will make it easier to live a healthier, more vibrant and energetic life. I know you want to live fully each and everyday and share your passion and purpose.

At Enrich Your Health we can help you develop these habits and dive into our psychology to understand what we do and don’t do when it comes to making choices about our health and wellness. We will work with you one on one to tailor a program to your specific needs amd help you reach your health goal.

You CAN have a more productive life to get things done and still have energy to give to your friends and loved ones. Give us a call and get a free consultation so we can help you be a high performer everyday!

Now continue to be the amazing person you are and always

enric​h your mind, enrich your body and enrich your health.

EnrichYourHealthTherapy.com

(804) 380-1316