What Health Effects are Contributed to Sugar?

Your pancreas detects a rise in blood sugar and send out the troops, a hormone called insulin, to handle any excess sugar in the bloodstream. The insulin captures the sugar (glucose) and drags it into the muscle cells or liver where it is stored as glycogen for energy, or converted into triglycerides for storage in fat cells.

The Deadly Cycle…

Americans eat so much sugar that our bodies can’t seem to regulate the sugar properly and we then develop certain conditions as a result. When we eat a lot of sugar, and too much insulin is released, our blood sugar level can drop below normal levels. This is called hypoglycemia, basically a sugar crash. So what do we do? Cram sugar down our face and spike our sugar levels creating a cycle of highs and lows that eventually lead to disease.

The more often you consume sugar and spike your blood-sugar levels, the more intense the sugar spike becomes, the more insulin is required and eventually the body decides it’s easier to bypass using sugar as energy and simply stores the sugar as fat.

Here is a nice two minute video describing the role of Insulin: THE ROLE OF INSULIN.

Have You Heard of the Glycemic Index? How about Glycemic Load?

The Glycemic Index is a scale used to calculate how fast a particular food will increase your blood sugar level. We use a 1-100 scale with 100 being pure glucose. Research into foods has shown that fries, white bread, and other (simple) carbohydrates have almost the same effect on our bodies as glucose. Basically, the more refined, or processed, the food, the quicker it is converted to sugar by your body.

Are you thinking to yourself, maybe fat isn’t making me gain as much weight as I originally thought– maybe the sugar and other sources of carbohydrates I eat are hindering my progress?

Foods Containing Sugar

We now know the sources and effects of sugar, but the scary part is coming…

We all know companies create processed foods, but did you know the companies are also hiding sugars in their processed foods? Now, we have no clue the exact amount of sugar we are consuming, and that is terrifying my friend.

Ways companies can list sugar on food labels: HIDING SUGAR IN NAMES.

So, why do major companies hide sugar with other names? Nutrition labels are required by law to list their most prominent ingredients first. Therefore, these companies give the sugar three or four different names and list them throughout the food label to trick you into thinking the product has little sugar content. I feel this should be illegal, as the companies are misguiding individuals who care enough to actually read the labels in the first place! They will list one sugar near the top, then have sugar listed as a different name further down the list, sneaky!

Do You Like Fruit Juices? Not After Reading This!

• Saccharin: This is an artificial sweetener from the 80’s. Much sweeter than table sugar and used in minute quantities by most. However, saccharin was linked to increased cancer in lab rats and thus labeled unsafe by the US and in 2000 the label was removed because the results from the rat study were not replicated in humans. Use at your own risk!
• Aspartame: Too varied results from studies on this stuff. I will tell you though, it’s man made and I stay as far away from this as possible. Diet sodas normally contain this sugar alternative, which is simply another reason against drinking soda!
• Agave Nectar: Oh boy. Probably the most deceiving of all substitutes. Agave comes from a cactus, which is natural, but is then severely processed in a very similar way as high-fructose corn syrup! Highly processed foods will end you!
• Honey: Improves blood lipid levels, lowers inflammation, and only slightly affects the blood-glucose levels. Not too shabby!
• Sucralose: Not to be confused with Sucrose (table sugar), this is a product your body can barely even break down! This sugar is 500-600 times SWEETER than Sucralose so that it can be consumed in smaller amounts, while yielding the same sweet effect as table sugar. You will find this in products such as powder drinks (protein shakes), sweetener packets like Splenda, and in many products claiming low carb/low fat content.
• Stevia: Derived from a plant in the sunflower family, this sweetener is roughly 250-300 times sweeter than table sugar. There’s a lot of controversy on stevia in the US, but it is accepted in a few Far East countries.

The producers of high fructose corn syrup and their associates (the foods who use HFCS in production) argue that it is no different on a molecular level from regular sugar, and that it is safe as a sugar substitute in drinks and foods. NO!!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

Studies have shown that rats fed the exact same meal plan, one group with table sugar, the other group with HFCS. The HFCS rats gained more weight and more fat weight in the abdomen region, even though they were on the same caloric intake as the first group with table sugar.

Chemically, table sugar is a different structural formula than HFCS– this has major significance. HFCS does not cause the digestive system to send the signals to your brain saying you are full and to stop eating, you’re satiated. Instead, you can eat, and eat, and eat until you explode with HFCS. Don’t believe me? How many times have you or a friend, a kid you know, whoever, binged on a box of cereal– eating the entire box at one sitting? This is due to the HFCS in the cereal failing to tell your body you’re full, plus the addictiveness of the sweet taste HFCS provides, double whammy!

20 POPULAR FOODS CONTAINING HFCS – HFCS is the Devil!

Sugar can be as addicting as some illegal drugs (and legal ones, ie. caffeine)

Humans (along with most mammals) did not have many sugary options thousands of year ago, therefore we ate less sugar. Also, we did not process foods as often as we are currently. When we eat something sweet it’s like a reward, something that we enjoy, and take pleasure from. Note, we are not genetically designed to consume the amount of sugar that we are currently eating. For that reason, our brains get that ‘feel good feeling’ from consuming sugar and that will typically override the “I’m full” response mechanism.

Sugar has a strange power over humans. We smell sweet and we can’t think of anything but that smell, and how we want to eat the delicious morsel creating that smell. With processed sugars in most foods, we will down an entire box of Oreos before we can blink, get the reward (sugar rush), and then crash like hell! If you make this a habit, eventually your brain will anticipate a sugar rush and prep for the onslaught of glucose– even if you’re only thinking about the sweet food!

Look at all the cookie stores and bakery places in malls, most are not in the food court… Why?

Away from the food court, the sweet businesses have a higher chance of you smelling THEIR product, which will trigger a sugar fan to want the product, even if they weren’t hungry before. Now this sweet taste is on your mind and you’ve forgotten why you were at the mall in the first place. Oh yeah, probably to buy 12 dozen cookies.

 

• Decrease your sugar intake. Try to consume under 40g per day
• Start eating real foods and stay away from processed foods. Shop perimeter, not aisles.
• Cut back on junk food and soda. Buy something else with your hard-earned money!

I want to sincerely thank you for taking the time to read my posts. I wish you the best, and I hope to hear from you soon! -Chris