Why You May Want to Lower Your Sugar Intake
I began a weight loss journey five weeks ago, and it hasn’t been without its stumbling blocks. I started on a fairly well-known diet plan, and one of those stumbling blocks came in the form of a protein shake I was supposed to drink three times a day. This shake contained 11 grams of sugar per serving. Like many people, I presumed that those who designed the diet must know more about nutrition than I do, so I dutifully drank the shakes (and ate the starch-based sugar-ridden potatoes, pasta, and rice which were also on the diet) every day. The first week, I lost about a pound and a half, but the second week, I lost a fourth of a pound, and the third week, I lost nothing at all.
How Much Is Too Much?
Hangry and frustrated, I decided to do some research into what was considered the proper amount of sugar on a low-calorie diet, and was shocked to find foods consumed on a diet should contain 4 grams of sugar or less. Nearly everything I was consuming on this diet, other than plain old vegetables, contained more than that.
So, I jettisoned the diet plan, and started using my own common sense and a little bit of internet research. I replaced the high-sugar protein powder with one that contains 2 grams of sugar per serving, and eliminated most carbohydrates other than fruits and veggies. Since then, I have been losing steadily at around two pounds per week, and haven’t looked back since. I have a long road to travel but it certainly wasn’t made shorter or easier by following a diet that contained too much sugar for me. It turns out my experience is far from unique.
From parents, doctors, teachers, and dentists, we’ve heard that we shouldn’t consume too much sugar since we were children, but most warnings we received as kids were about hyperactivity or tooth-decay. As adults, we have more to risk from excess sugar consumption than the fear of cavities that haunted our childhood visits to the dentist.
Weight Gain and Heart Disease
In general, Americans consume far too much sugar. According to the Healthline article “11 Reasons Why Too Much Sugar is Bad For You”, sugar accounts for up to 17% of an American adult’s diet, and according to a recent study, consumption of sugary beverages is a leading culprit.
Soda and fruit juice are high in fructose, which not only pack on the pounds, but may block leptin, a hormone in our bodies that tells us when we’re full, causing us to not only consume sugary beverages, but more food in addition to them.
Excess consumption of fructose can lead to development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). According to Medical News Today’s “High Sugar Diets Raise Heart Attack Risk In Healthy People”, a recent study showed that after being put on a high-sugar diet for 12 weeks, normally healthy men’s fat metabolism bore striking similarities to the metabolism of those who suffer from NAFLD. NAFLD increases risk of heart disease, and is present in 30–40% of American adults and as many as 10% of children.
The frightening statistics don’t stop there. According to Harvard Health Publishing’s findings in “The Sweet Danger of Sugar”, eating too much sugar is a major cause of heart disease. The article states, “In a study published in 2014 in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Hu and his colleagues found an association between a high-sugar diet and a greater risk of dying from heart disease. Over the course of the 15-year study, people who got 17% to 21% of their calories from added sugar had a 38% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared with those who consumed 8% of their calories as added sugar.”
Other Risks
While the risk of weight gain, diabetes, or heart disease from sugar consumption may be obvious, the risk of depression is not.
According to the Psychology Today article “The Link Between Sugar and Depression: What You Should Know”, a study which followed the habits of 8,000 people for over 22 years found that “men who consumed 67 grams or more of sugar per day were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with depression in a five-year period than men who ate 40 grams or less.”
For women, the connection is even stronger. A recent study found that a high-sugar diet was a significant risk factor for depression in post-menopausal women, and considered whether a healthy diet could be used as treatment or prevention for depression.
Other potential connections have been found between sugar and cancer, and even sugar and pre-mature aging. Given the potential danger of excess sugar consumption, cutting back on sugar is the healthy choice, and I can say from personal experience, cutting back is helping me lose weight.
How to Cut Back
Many people may want to cut back on sugar in their diets, but may not know where to start. Checking labels is the best place to begin, and cooking food yourself is a good start. Over 75% of pre-packaged foods contain too much sugar, and we never know exactly what is in restaurant food, but it always contains more sugar and salt than the dish would have if you made it yourself.
Avoid adding sugar, either white or brown, as well honey or corn syrup, to foods. Avoid desserts and candy, as well as pre-packaged cereal, sports drinks, soda, fruit juice, and alcoholic beverages, especially those blended with sugars or juices.
Sugar also hides in unlikely places like peanut butter, barbecue sauce, and salad dressing. Look for lower sugar options like natural peanut butter and try olive oil and vinegar as flavoring on salad, chicken, and fish.
Making a few changes can cut sugar in our diets, and make weight loss easier and faster, as well as cutting our chances of heart disease, depression, and many other illnesses.
Sugar may taste sweet, but the effect it has on our bodies is far from it.
