We all know sugar is bad for us. It’s kind of a no-brainer.
But I’m not just talking cookies and cakes, sugar is everywhere!
It’s easy to forget just how pervasive sugar is and that it hides in many, many products on supermarket shelves. Do you know how much sugar is in ketchup?
If it’s not sugar, then its sugar’s favorite pal, high fructose corn syrup, which is juts as bad.
One BIG problem is that we have been led to believe that low-fat is best. However, when you pick up a “low-fat” product you’ll see the fat has been replaced by sugar (or even worse, fake sugar!).
Do you know what ends up happening to sugar in the body?
It turns to fat!
So, watch out for packages claiming to be “Fat-free” and “low-fat.”
Another problem is that sugary foods leave you wanting more and more. It creates an addiction. You can see how this creates a snowball effect and the packing on of extra pounds.
Besides turning to fat, sugar causes a host of other problems including: inflammation, diabetes, coronary heart disease, tooth decay, and so on.
If you need more convincing, check out this list of 113 ways sugar can ruin your health.
I’m not saying you should never eat another cookie again. But let’s be aware of what is in the food we are eating. Let’s choose when to eat sugar and when not to. Make it an occasional treat instead of a daily indulgence.
If you want a flatter stomach, this is key!
Check out this video on 60 minutes for a little insight into sugar’s destructive power:
And read this article for some more details: Fat, not glucose, is the preferred fuel for your body.
As an aside, I recently realized that I was addicted to sugar. Even natural sugar, is sugar! I am on my third day of no-sugar! I told myself I would not eat it for a month and see what happens.
Want to join me?
Are you a sugar eater?
Not anymore and I don’t want to ever go back! I didn’t know how sugar affected me until I took a 28 day break from it. I never felt better; more energy, my skin changed to softer and smoother( and I’m in my mid-50’s),I quit having achey legs. Now I get a reminder if I eat something really sugary; my thighs ache and I get shooting pains in my knees. Thank you, Lord, for those reminders.
Lori,
It’s great that you have been able to see first hand the effects sugar has on your body! Way to go for cutting it out. I know that requires some serious diligence! It’s so hard at first, but the benefits are worth it, as you well know.
I’m so happy for you! What a great example you are.
LOVE this – I had been juicing and didn’t realize the sugar in fruits. oranges pineapple and grapes – our favorite! Didn’t lose any weight in a month of juicing – now I know why!
Stef,
Fruits are one of my favorite parts of juicing, too! They are so yummy.
From what I’ve read fruit can spike glucose levels pretty high (so does bread, unfortunately). It’s so sad 🙁 I’m sorry you did all that hard work and saw no weight loss! You probably feel better though. Don’t you?
If you can have the majority of your diet be protein and veggies you should see results fairly quickly.
This is SO TRUE! I never realized how much more hungry we all are when we eat SUGARY things. And not just any sugar though… Sugar beet sugar. We’ve recently adjusted our diets due to an illness in the family. We are avoiding GMO (which includes all things high fructose corn syrup) as much as we can (it’s just plain everywhere). All the food COST more. I was VERY worried when I saw all the cost differences… but than. Something wonderful happened! We eat less. ALL of us eat LESS. We are not ravenously hungry! It’s an awesome change. I’ve lost 5 pounds just from the diet change alone. Wooooowho!
I think I have a blog post in all of this somewhere. Just haven’t worked it all out yet. Hehe…
Take care,
Dee
You said one of the best things – you eat less! This is one of the wonderful benefits to eating real food, you are actually satisfied AND stay full longer. Wooo hoo for you!
Share you blog post with us when you find it.
How interesting that you eat less! It makes sense though if you’re eating more protein–it digests slower. And when you purge your body of sugar, your body doesn’t crave it, therefore we give in less.
I am working toward this now and will slowly move my family toward it, too.
It is a blessing that we need less real food! It certainly helps financially.
You are right about the sugar, you will crave it less once it’s out of your system. When you don’t eat sugar very often, even slightly sweet things taste VERY sweet. Some things may even become too sweet for you.
Keep plugging away at this goal and you will notice some big changes.
Remind me again from the video…did he say that women should limit their sugar intake to no more than 100 grams per day? I wasn’t positive if that was the correct number and I can’t skip through the video to find that part (it won’t let me(
Never mind…I watched it again. He said calories, not grams. So that’s 25 grams for women and 37.5 for men.
Since we are already not big sugar consumers (not on a daily basis), this really won’t be that difficult to adjust to. Even if we have to watch all the little sugar calories add up. I *think* I can do this (by God’s grace)!
Glad you found it. I just opened my laptop to answer this for you!
You can do it! The first few days are the hardest, but then it gets much, much easier.
“Fat, not glucose, is the preferred fuel for your body”–This is completely without merit. GLUCOSE is the PREFERRED fuel for the BRAIN. It is the only fuel the brain can use. Ketones fuel the heart. No where, have I ever read that fat is preferred by the body. It is just a fuel that can be used by the body. It is by no means “preferred.”
I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also pay a visit this webpage on regular basis to take updated from hottest information.