Refined sugar is never in moderation, it is always in excess. It is one food group that has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever, in fact the contrary, it is detrimental to our health.
Every day we are given an allowance to maintain a healthy weight and within that allowance we have to ‘spend’ certain nutrients in different areas. We have a daily allowance for vital proteins, we need to consume essential fats and we need antioxidants from our fresh fruit and vegetables to support our body’s systems.
Therefore sugar consumption at best will cause you to gain weight as you will be eating what you need and sugar is in excess to that. At worst you are consuming sugar instead of the nutrients your body needs to function optimally.
The implications are BIG
Sugar makes your body work hard. In nature, we would come across it just a handful of times in its refined form (such as honey). Therefore we are programmed to use this energy source wisely, either to exert it as energy or store it as fat to call upon in periods of famine.
The reality is the famine never comes but the sugar doesn’t stop. This is a situation that evolution didn’t account for and it is making our body’s work overtime.
The results are widespread and unnerving, sugar is implicated in the following conditions:
- Premature ageing (Sugar has been linked to increased ageing, such as the skin through a process called glycation) (1)
- Weight gain
- Increased risk of metabolic syndrome (2)
- Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
- Sex hormone imbalance (3)
- Inflammation
And so much more!
The most powerful thing you can do is begin to reduce your sugar intake.
1) Eliminate hidden sugars.
If we are going to eat sugar, we should at least do so consciously and enjoy it. So many ‘everyday’ foods contain sugar like most breakfast cereals, yoghurts, soups and bread! Identify these hidden sugars in your diet and remove them.
2) Don’t get hungry
Planning your snacks is as important as planning your meals. If you have plenty of healthy snacks available that will ease the temptation to eat that chocolate bar!
Vegetable sticks, fruit, nuts and seeds are all great options or get the family involved in baking some sugar free treats.
3) Re-train your tastebuds
If sugar is your drug, cold turkey is not for everyone. If you have 2 sugars in your tea, try reducing it half a teaspoon at a time. Give yourself a week at each reduction and see how your taste buds adjust!
If you like milk chocolate, try upping the cocoa content from 40% up to 60%, once you begin to enjoy it, do so again to 70% and so on (we reached 85%) that way you naturally butt out sugar and increase the beneficial cocoa bean.
4) Treat yourself consciously
Keep sugar out of your home and pick a day to treat yourself. Perhaps Saturday night is when you like to snuggle up to X factor with a chocolate bar, so do it. If you feel too restricted you are more likely to give up completely.
5) Don’t discount your health
Bad food is always on the discount aisle. It is easy to persuade yourself it is too cheap to miss out. Can you really resist it in the house? Walk past the offers, there is no price for your health.
You asked about alternatives….
Sometimes the answer is not about an equivalent alternative but a complete change of perspective.
Sadly no sugar alternative is ideal as it has been processed and refined just as sugar has (originally from beet or sugarcane!) – the thing that makes one worse than another is usually its G.I (Glycaemic Index) or how quickly it impacts your blood sugar so look out for that – coconut sugar and agave are lower G.I. products.
Stay away from sweeteners – Some sweeteners can be up to 200 times sweeter than sugar alone, linked to a general desensitisation to natural sugars found in fruit and vegetables. They have also been linked to overeating in response to unfulfilled sugar cravings. This means excluding ‘diet’ drinks too! (4)
Eat your sugar as you would find it in nature!
The best option is to eat your sugar as we would find it naturally- whole in fruits and vegetables or to a lesser extent, local honey. Try baking with fruit and combining with a nut flour for slower release energy.
Whatever small steps you take to cut down on sugar, be proud and keep chipping away at it – soon you may find you enjoy wholesome alternatives even more than you imagined..
I would love to hear how sugar impacts your family, please leave your comments below!
References
really good advice here, many thanks!