Did You Know That Sugar Causes Fat Gains?

Did you know...

that alarms are being sounded about the dangers of sugar? Some health professionals are referring to it as toxic, poison. As the consumption of fat was reduced in our diets (remember all the warnings about fats?) we are now seeing that it had little affect on weight. In fact, as we were reducing our consumption of fats, we became fatter and fatter and fatter until we are obese, diabetic, full of fatty liver disease and facing an upward trend in heart disease.

It is recommended that 20 to 25 grams of sugar is a safe consumption. We are eating upwards of 55 grams, adolescents upwards of 73. When I talk to people about sugar, and everyone that knows me knows that I talk about it a lot, they almost always say, “I don’t eat much sugar.” But when I tell them that I’m not talking about cake and cookies type of sugar, that I’m talking about sugar hidden in their food, they begin to listen. Most times, we find 20 grams or more of sugar consumed before leaving the house in the morning!  I can’t count the number of times I hear, “You mean that healthy yogurt I’m eating on my diet is making me fat?”

Sugar is made up of fructose and glucose. When glucose enters the bloodstream, the body releases insulin to help regulate it. Fructose, on the other hand, is processed in the liver. When too much fructose enters the liver, the liver can't process it all fast enough. Instead, it starts making fats from the fructose.  So, back in the “old days” when we were eating 20-25 grams of sugar, our livers were handling the amount just fine. Not so today.  

Too much sugar means too much insulin and too much insulin means an interference with hormones that affect appetite control causing binge eating.

Take a look in your fridge, take a look in your cabinets. How much sugar are you eating that you don’t even know about?