Sugar, to some is like a daily requirement. Not necessarily always a “need” but almost an automatic response to an energy slump, or even just “snack time”. Sometimes people know how much sugar they’re ingesting, sometimes they don’t.
But seriously, sugar, and insulin control is my Number #1 tip for losing fat consistently and managing health.
When you eat any carbohydrate, it’s broken down in the body into glucose, or sugar. Some foods are made of thousands of molecules of sugar and therefore the sugar release is slower into the body, this is also referred to as Low-Gi foods.
Other foods, or higher Gi, like chocolate, french bread, is made of fewer bound molecules of sugar, and therefore takes less time to breakdwon in the body and the sugar release.
This is the sugar rush or “high energy burst” you get after eating something sugary or chocolate.
In response to this release of sugar in the body and into the blood stream, your bodies automatic response is to release something called insulin from your pancreas. It’s not safe for your body to have too much glucose/sugar (blood sugar) running through the bloodstream so insulin’s job is to shuttle it out of the bloodstream and into your muscles/cells for storing as energy. (Think of insulin as a forklift in a warehouse and the blood sugar the goods on the pallet that need to be stored on shelves.)
There are numerous problems that occur here;
– Continue to eat a diet too high in sugar and after a while your pancreas just doesnt know when to release insulin because it’s been called upon so often, and under-load. Therefore you become insulin resistant, sugar floats around the body and you can become diabetic.
– When Insulin is at work, Fat burning is switched off. they literally work in opposites. So if you’re troffing sugar at regular intervals, not only will your energy levels be all over the place, but you’ll be burning fat at the pace of a snail on sand.
– Sugar promotes internal inflammation in the body, causing organs to work ineffectively, joints and muscles to ache, it also suppresses your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness.
– Sugar promotes glycation – Once sugar is in the bloodstream it connects to other protein and fat molecules. These glycated molecules literally float around your body. They produce toxic compounds called advanced glycation end products, or, AGEs. This literally destroys cells and ages the body. Still want that daily Mars Bar?
With sugar we’re not just talking chocolate etc here. Check food labels and where it says Carbohydrates…. check the figure below, of which sugars… 4g is about a teaspoon. As an example a bottle of J2O has about 7 teaspoons of sugar in….let your kids have those? It’s like them asking for 7 teaspsoons of sugar on their cereal….you wouldn’t…….would you?!
And yes, before the “In Moderation” crew pipe up over their chocolate bars and sweets, that’s all well and good, but what is “moderation” ?!! And how much sugar are you consuming in your daily diet outside of “sugared treats” , how any vegetables, quality proteins and fats are you consuming?
Sugar is not designed to be used by the body – cut it right back if you want to live healthily.
Tags: Sugar