Sugar the “drug” that is making us fat and
lacking energy
The whole
world is facing an epidemic with the population getting fatter, and even though
the medical professionals are able to treat more and more of deadly diseases,
we are getting unhealthier; we are overfed but under-nutritioned.
For a long
time we thought that fat was the villain in the drama, but we are now realizing
that sugar is the bigger threat.
The reason
we get fat from sugar is that we don’t realize that we are eating it; this is
due to a hormone called leptin. After insulin has stored energy in the cells
there is a hormone called leptin which is supposed to let us know that we have
eaten enough. So, if the insulin is bypassed the leptin is not triggered and we
don’t know that we have eaten enough.
Sugar is a
carbohydrate, which provides our bodies with energy. Carbohydrates can be
classified into two kinds, high GI and low GI carbohydrates. GI stands for
Glycemic Index, which is the scale that measures how fast certain carbs are
broken down into our bodies.
Low GI takes
longer time to break down whereas high GI carbs, breaks down very fast and you
get hungry again quicker.
Although we
might think that it is relatively easy to just cut out the food containing sugar, it’s not that easy.
On a food
label sugar can be listed in a many varied ways, usually you have an indicator
about the direct sugar content and that can be 7gr but if your look at the
carbohydrate content, which can be 48gr, you suddenly have a product with 48gr
sugar. Sugar can be, brown sugar, cane sugar, fructose, glucose, lactose,
maltose and so on.
All sugar
contain 4 calories per gram, and simple sugar on its own have no nutritional
value.
Sugar
increases our blood sugar and insulin levels which will cause our body to begin
storing and stop burning fat, if we don’t exercise on such a high level that we
use all the energy straight away.
Due to the
impact sugar has on our insulin levels with a drop after its initial high, it’s
like a drug and it leaves us feeling tired and hungry and craving more sugar.
Although
there are still many opinions surrounding sugar’s impact on our bodies, sugar
is said to contribute to suppressing the immune system, upsetting the body’s
mineral balance, contributing to hyperactivity, and anxiety and depression,
these are just a few of the effects that sugar has on our bodies.
The problem
is that many of us don’t realize how much sugar we are actually eating. Most
sugar comes from processed food that we eat, not the sugar we add when we cook
ourselves. A lot of us look at processed
food as fast food, but processed food is food that has been altered from its
original, like “fat free yoghurt”, yes the fat is gone but to save the taste
the manufacture has added sugar, or the “sugar free lollies”. How can we have
sugar free lollies that still satisfy our taste buds, artificial sweetening,
which will still keep playing havoc with your insulin level.
So if you
would like to reduce sugar in your diet you might try:
·
Learn to enjoy foods that are naturally sweet,
like fresh fruit
·
Use spices and herbs to enhance flavors, like
cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger
·
Make homemade sauce and toppings
·
Use dried and fresh fruit to sweeten yoghurt
and cereal
·
Understand nutrition labels, 7gram of sugar is
equal to 1 tbsp of sugar
·
Remember that the less processed food you eat
and the more whole food with fruit and vegetables you eat, the less craving you
will have for sugar.
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