In this article, you’ll learn to spot the sneaky ways added sugar is hidden in foods. This is the first step to breaking a “sugar addiction”, which is probably the most common addiction in modern society. Read on for three top tips to reduce added sugars.
It might seem like a ‘pop-culture’ expression, but sugar addiction is real. In rat studies, it was found that natural and artificial sweeteners created a reward signal in the brain even stronger than that of cocaine. Like any addiction, sugar addiction is not easy to break. The first step is reducing added sugar in your diet.
First though, don’t beat yourself up about your sugar addiction. Decades of “Low Fat” indoctrination have resulted in food manufacturers working hard to increase sales by trumpeting “Low Fat” on food labels to increase sales. We thought this was good, and bought these foods for ourselves and our families. However, without the fat, these foods would have tasted like sawdust and not been very inviting. So, food manufacturers learned that adding sugar was the key to steady increased sales. You were just doing what you thought was ‘healthy’ at the time!
Additionally, the more added sugar you consume, the less sensitive your taste buds become to sweetness. This results in more craving for sweet foods, and the more you spike your blood sugar with these sweetened foods, the more you crash and want more sugar. It’s a vicious cycle but emphatically not your “fault”!
Reducing sugar in your diet will be some effort but is worth it. Why? Because sugar creates “cross links” in cell membranes, making them stiff. This is a general hallmark of aging, and is bad for your brain, blood vessels, tendons and ligaments. Basically no soft tissues benefit from “stiffness.”
Also, although plain sugar is a combination of sucrose and fructose, a lot of added sugar is heavier in fructose. While glucose can be used by almost all tissues in the body, fructose can only be metabolized in the liver. There is evidence that excess fructose consumption is a factor in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. OK, OK, you might say you don’t have that, but the liver breaks fructose down into glycerine, the molecule that’s the backbone of the “triglycerides” in your blood that increase your heart attack risk.
Because of the way fructose is broken down in the liver, it is also more likely even that other sugars to result in excess abdominal fat. This is pretty much the bane of everybody’s existence as they age!
Steps to reduce added sugar in your diet:
First: Realize that even if you are good about reading food labels, sugar can be hidden by calling it other names. Here’s a list of ingredients you might not realize are actually sugar:
Keep in mind that ingredients on US food labels are listed in order by weight in the finished product. Many products contain multiple forms of sugar. Although they don’t give percentages by weight, many foods can unexpectedly be in the range of 50% sugars by weight. Examples include a lot of breakfast foods, energy bars, etc.
Second: Try to cut down on unlabeled sugar bombs. This is super common eating out. “Skinny” (low fat) coffee drinks served in many places have huge amounts of sugar. Salad dressings and condiments like ketchup are also full of sugar, so you may choose to reduce these in restaurants. Options include: olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice on your salad. Less ketchup if you’re a ketchup fan. Maybe 3 “wings”, instead of 8.
Third: Be especially aware of the added sugar and even natural sugar in beverages. It’s actually quite impressive how much sugar can be dissolved in liquids. Additionally, your body does not perceive the calories in liquids, sugar or otherwise as being as ‘filling’ as the calories in solid foods. So you don’t reduce what you eat for dinner by the calories in the drink you have before the meal, for example.
That cocktail you order can easily have 300 calories, the bulk of which may be sugar. Juice bars scare me! OK, you do get antioxidants, but for the most part you’re getting the sugar from the fruits and vegetables without the fiber to at least slow down the absorption. So you’re not unlikely to get a blood sugar spike and crash from your juice bar fix. Energy drinks are another one to really watch out for, although if you love these, there are some that are coming up with lower sugar formulations. Sodas, iced teas, we could go on but I think you’re with me here!
These three tips should get you started off breaking that sugar addiction! If you have questions, hit me up on Instagram or Twitter.
If you really want to get your health dialed in, Schedule a Free Anti Aging Assessment by clicking the button below:
Links:
Sweetness => addiction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=intense+sweetness+surpassed+cocaine+reward
Sweetness dulls taste buds: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=taste+preferences+sweetness+rural+urban
Fructose and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26856717
Fructose and abdominal fattening: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29225114
Neither Deb Stewart nor any employee of Custom Healthspan LLC is a physician, psychologist, registered or licensed dietitian, certified nutritionist, physical therapist, or other healthcare professional and the scope of his or her consultation services does not include diagnosis, treatment, or cure of any psychological or physical condition, nor do the services replace the necessary services of licensed healthcare providers. None of the content presented constitutes medical or psychiatric advice, nor is it a substitute for treatment. The content on this website is for educational and informational purposes only. Clients should use their own judgement before applying any information herein to their own personal situation. Custom Healthspan LLC disclaims all liability as stated in the Terms and Conditions of Use and Service of this website. Visitors are encouraged to consult a physician before engaging in any Custom Healthspan LLC program or any constituent activity, especially if you suffer or believe you may suffer from a serious psychological or physiological condition or illness.
Copyright 2019 Custom Healthspan LLC
Recent Comments