Not as Sweet as You Think

Sugar sure is sweet, but the havoc it can wreak on your health is anything but. Overdo it on cookies, cakes, candy and the many other foods and drinks laden with this ubiquitous substance, and you could end up dealing with a host of issues and diseases including (but not limited to) Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, fatty liver disease, high blood pressure and overall inflammation.

Sounds like the best thing to do for a longer, healthier life is to just stop eating so much of it, right? Thanks to sugar’s addictive qualities, that task is much easier said than done. Once we ingest sugar, it hits our brain and acts like a hardcore drug, stimulating the reward center to release dopamine, the chemical that plays a major role in making us feel good. Some experts say that sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine, and just like this and other dangerous drugs, every time you eat sugar, you increase the amount you’ll need to take in the next time to achieve the same amount of pleasure.

Another problem is the hidden sugar in our diets. Large amounts of sugar are lurking in host of items that aren’t even “sugary” and some that are thought of as “healthy.” For example, we know soda is loaded with sugar. A 20-ounce serving of popular brands has 65 grams. But consider this: three Oreo cookies have 14 grams of sugar, while a single container of strawberry Yoplait has a whopping 26 grams.

Follow this formula to cut some sugar from your diet:

• Read labels. Even in foods that aren’t sweet, there could be substantial amounts of sugar in the ingredient list, particularly in heavily processed foods. Look for “sugar” but also words ending in “ose” like dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. And look for the overall and added sugar on the nutrition label.
• Cut down on processed foods. As mentioned above, processed foods are prime sugar-overload suspects. Add more whole, natural foods to your menu.
• Pay attention to you. When you’re craving something sweet, what’s going on in your life? Sometimes we want a sweet treat, but other times, we want some comfort. Become aware of the triggers that push you to reach sugary stuff and keep tasty but healthier alternatives on hand, like fruit. While fruits contain natural sugars, these natural sugars are better and are accompanied by fruits’ fiber and valuable vitamins and nutrients.
• Move away from refined sugar. All sugar has calories, but not all sugar does the same thing in our bodies at exactly the same rate; that’s why the sugars in fruit, while still sugar, are better for you than white table sugar. And natural sweeteners like honey have pluses like key minerals, vitamins and antioxidants but should still be consumed in moderation.
• Drink more water. There’s no reason to drink sugar, and even milk has a lot of sugar. Plus, increasing your water intake has multiple other health benefits
• Be prepared to push through. If you’ve been eating a lot of sugar, once you cut down, you may experience detox symptoms like sluggishness and headache. They should go away after a few days, when you likely to experience more energy and positives like clearer skin and better sleep, so don’t give up.