These days, sugar does seem to be in everything, whether it be 16g (4 teaspoons of sugar) in a small container of apple juice we send to school with our kids, to the 9g in 3/4 cup of Honey Nut Cheerios or 4g in one tablespoon of ketchup. Ketchup? Why does ketchup need sugar? Because sugar is highly addictive and the food companies want to boost their sales, so why not add sugar (or salt) to their food to keep you coming back for more….. There are over 50 names for sugar, because as we consumers got smarter and started looking for sugar on ingredient lists, they were busy changing the names of it, so it wasn’t as recognizable, and we wouldn’t know there was sugar in the product.
What is sugar doing to us, other than becoming addictive? Sugar is actually toxic to the human body, it negatively impacts the health of our micro-biome. Cancer cells have 15 times the number of sugar receptors than healthy cells. So what are we feeding when we eat sugar? Our bad bacteria and cancer cells. We all have cancer cells just waiting for us to create the right environment in our micro-biome to allow them to flourish. Sugar does this.
Sugar and simple carbs spike our insulin, and can put us on a rollercoaster ride, of eating foods, that our body processes very quickly, taste good, make us feel good, but don’t leave us satiated, nor provide good nutrients. So we burn through the short lived energy and are soon feeling tired, foggy and in need of energy, so we go for coffee, another snack or a meal, eating more calories in a day than we really need to. If we instead eat food that are high in fiber, protein and good healthy fats, then we’ll feel satiated for longer, and eat less in a day. Not to mention these foods don’t spike our insulin. Insulin helps carry the excess sugar from our blood to our brain, cells or muscles that need energy, but when these areas already have enough sugar, the body will just store the sugar around our middle as fat. Wonder why you have excess belly fat? It is likely because of too much stress in your life, or too much sugar, or a combination of both.
In this day and age, unfortunately we have MANY people becoming insulin resistant and who are pre-diabetic or diabetic. There are so many children that are now insulin resistance, we no longer call it “adult onset diabetes”, but instead “type 2 diabetes”, as it doesn’t just affect adults anymore. In fact, according to the CDC, nearly 29 million Americans have diabetes and 25% of them don’t know it, and 86 million Americans are living with pre-diabetes and 90% of them don’t know it. It is estimated without a major change in diet and lifestyle in the US, that by 2050, nearly 1 in 3 adults will have diabetes.. Diabetes then leads to other conditions, such as heart disease, and it increases your risk of Alzheimers four fold. In fact, some doctors are now calling Alzheimers Type 3 Diabetes.
Don’t allow yourself to become a statistic. Don’t wait until it’s too late to make the changes you need to make and learn how to eat, and avoid many of the common pitfalls of sugar getting into people diets….marinades, dressings, sauces….to name a few. People with diabetes don’t just wake up one morning having contracted it yesterday….this is a disease that builds up in the body over a life time. Make the changes you need to make now to be empowered in your long term health.
Not sure how to make the necessary changes in your diet, that your future self will thank you for? It easy, just book a complimentary session with me, to discuss how my programs, with recipes, shopping lists, and a guided program help you reduce your sugars over time, to prevent the cravings that will occur when you try to go “cold turkey”. With weekly coaching to advance your knowledge about nutrition, and how to feed yourself in a healthy way, as well as the accountability to keep you on track, you absolutely CAN make the necessary changes in your life, before you become another statistic. All you have to do is book a session, do yourself a favour and do that now, your future self will thank you.
To your health and longevity.
Melissa, your friendly health coach.