Sugar: Sweet & Dangerous

Last month I posted an article discussing the concept of using the 30 Day Challenge as a means to help you “add” or “subtract” a wanted or unwanted behavior, food, hobby, etc. from your life. Did you give that a try? I did! I decided to kick the sugar for 30 days. Sugar is by far the thing I struggle with the most. I’m not one of those people who can have one cookie and be satisfied. Once I get that sweet taste in my mouth it’s a slippery slope to far too many cookies. It’s actually easier for me to have none than attempt to have one. One 2007 study found that sugar can be more addictive than cocaine. That comes as no surprise to me!

Now clearly, some people don’t experience this same addiction or challenge with sugar. In addition, some people don’t see consuming sugar in excess as an issue. I suspect, however, that many of those people don’t have a good understanding of what excess even is when it comes to sugar intake. I’ve heard people say things like “they’ll burn it off” or suggest that eating a lot of sugar is not an issue because they aren’t overweight. Whether or not you are overweight or plan to burn it off, there are still many negative impacts of ingesting too much sugar. Laurie Warren of Warren Wellness wrote in a recent blog post Sugar, Health & What the Bleep is a Gram, the “list of sugar felonies includes things like: contributing to diabetes, feeding cancer, contributing to ADD/ADHD, suppressing your immune system, heavily lending to our obesity epidemic, and depleting minerals and vitamins in the body.”

We can also add heart disease to the list of the effects of too much sugar. In the article, “World Renown Heart Surgeon Speaks Out On What Really Causes Heart Diesease,” Dr. Dwight Lundell, M.D. admits that the medical profession has been incorrectly advising patients and the general public for decades about the causes and treatment of heart disease. The actual cause of heart disease is chronic inflammation as a result of eating highly processed carbohydrates made from sugar, flour and omega-6 vegetable oils.

OK... So, what am I getting at? Am I really suggesting you never have another scoop of ice cream? Of course not. Instead I would like to promote more awareness and balance by suggesting that you try to pay attention to how much sugar you ingest each day, because much of the sugar you consume is not from cookies and ice cream, but from every day foods (packaged breads, yogurt, bottled sauces). You are likely unaware of all of the sources your daily consumption of sugar is coming from. Read packages and labels to gain a better understanding of what you’re consuming.

How much sugar should you aim to limit yourself to? Laurie Warren shared “Most resources point to about 25-30 grams of sugar per day, for the average non-diabetic adult, as being the upper limit of healthy.” To put that in perspective one bag of M&Ms contains 31 grams of sugar. So, if you have a small bag of M&Ms after lunch, don’t end your day with a bowl of ice cream. If you go to Starbucks, don’t get a Frappacino and a cookie. Have one or the other. Balance and awareness.

Think about your typical day. Is there one item containing sugar you can cut out? Start small. Every little change adds up to big change over time.