Commentary by Dawn Parker
As humans, we are born with a sweet tooth, and many of us have a love affair with sugar. With this natural instinct to love sweet things, why is sugar so bad for you? After all, it’s made from the sugar cane plant, right? Well…maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. In order to know, you need to carefully read the ingredient list. If the sugar is from a sugar cane plant, then it will usually specify something like cane sugar or evaporated cane juice. But did you know that if it just says “sugar” then it is most likely from genetically modified sugar beets?
Aside from that, what’s wrong with sugar? Let’s start with an obvious one – eating a lot of sugar raises blood sugar. The resulting insulin surge (to get blood sugar back into a safe range) can result in fat storage, and thus weight gain. High blood sugar is frequently followed by low blood sugar, which can make your body crave more sugar. Roller coaster rides are fun, but having constant highs and lows of blood sugar can wreak havoc on your body.
If you think of your body like a fire, big logs burn slowly, kindling burns faster and paper burns the fastest of all. If you keep feeding the fire paper, you’ll need to replenish the fire constantly to keep it burning. However, if you use slow burning logs, you won’t need to feed the fire as often. In your body, sugar and simple carbs burn quickly, whereas fiber, fat and protein burn (digest) more slowly and keep your body satisfied longer. So you can see how if you consume a lot of sugar and simple carbs you likely will be hungrier more often and crave more sugar and simple carbs.
- Starting the day off with a low sugar breakfast with plenty of protein, fiber and/or fat gets you off on the right track to stay full for hours and lessen sugar cravings.
- Breakfast foods where you’ll find a lot of sugar are cereal, yogurt and juice. If you eat more than the serving size, your sugar intake will skyrocket.
So, you may wonder, what about using artificial sweeteners instead of sugar? I’ll address that question in my next article.
Dawn Parker is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach. She can be reached by visiting: dawnjparker.com or facebook.com/dawnjparkerhealthcoach.
