Sugar consumption in the world is rife, and consequently obesity in both adults and children are soaring. Sugar is one of the primary causes of poor health and fat gain, or inability to lose fat. From confectionary to fruit to vegetables – all are carbohydrates and thus all are made from sugar. They are eventually broken down into glucose (sugar) in the body and stored for energy use – albeit at differing rates.
The problem we are tackling is two fold – firstly, our bodies are capable of storing a limited amount of carbohydrates. This is individual, so your body may have the capability to store more carbs than me, for example. When you consume more than carbohydrates than you require, the additional carbohydrates get stored as fat. Usually it is the case that most people eat too many carbs, and particularly the wrong types – I’m pretty sure you know this deep down as well.
Secondly, when you eat carbohydrates, your body releases a hormone called insulin that pulls the sugar (from the carbohydrates) out of your blood stream and stores them into your muscles and liver as energy that can be used at a later time. The more “simple” or sugary a food is, the quicker it releases its sugar into your blood stream. It is the release of sugars which brings on a big hormonal change in the body, – causing an initial rise in energy levels, and then a big crash as your body re-balances your blood sugar levels.
Scenario – Eating those Chocolate Biscuits
Let me explain this a bit better. You eat a couple of chocolate biscuits with a cup of tea (everyone loves that right?). You experience an initial “rush” as the sugar enters your blood stream. You feel high as a kite for a little while and then suddenly crash!
You crash because insulin is taking that sugar from your blood stream and storing it in the muscles initially, and if they are full of energy, it gets stored into fat cells…not really the greatest thing for sustained energy, health and fat loss!
Insulin is a storage hormone. So this means that any fat burning capabilities your body has is switched off when it is being produced. With this in mind, it’s impossible to burn fat when you are eating carbs/sugars regularly.
On the Path to Diabetes?
Moreover, continuous peaks and troughs in blood sugar levels and insulin can have huge affects on other hormones and insulin itself, and in many cases, leads to insulin resistance (where the insulin produced by the body becomes unable to remove sugar from the blood stream and move it into cells). The body will eventually burn out from sending insulin out so often, repeatedly – This is the cause of Type 2 diabetes.
Another thing to make you aware of: Sugar suppresses your immune system, making it more difficult for your body to avoid and overcome illness. So eating and drinking it whilst you’re ill will only make things worse. If you need an energy boost whilst you are ill, stay away from the Lucozade, and eat some good quality protein and fats that actually help fight that illness.
Food Labels
Identifying sugar on food labels can be a challenge in itself. You need to look out for anything that ends in …OSE. These are sugars, in their broken down forms, which means they enter your blood stream very quickly! A lot of food manufacturers are very sneaky by writing sugar on their labels, and then adding other things like glucose syrup, brown rice syrup, sucrose etc. Guess what? They are all sugar as well!
Don’t forget a teaspoon of sugar weighs 5g, so if something contains 30g sugar, you are consuming around 6 teaspoons in that serving!
If you want to get rid of those love handles, you need to cut back on sugar content – that’s usually where any stored fat goes!
Alcohol is Sugar as Well!
Alcohol is actually pure sugar; so consuming this is a very quick way to cram in lots of useless calories into the body. You will notice that those who drink a lot of alcohol tend to be quite overweight as well – this is the reason! Sure, we all like a drink every now and then, but please be aware that it is sugar!
When you are drinking alcohol, try and have it with food so that it can slow it’s affects (we all know it’s a lot easier to get drunk on an empty stomach). Aim to not drink alcohol during the week – if you’re drinking during the week, and doing so frequently, you are either bored or you’ve got into a very bad habit – break it right now!
In the defense of sugar, don’t be fooled that using sweeteners or drinking diet drinks are any better. Sweeteners are evil. Firstly they are usually man made so your body has no idea what to do with them. There are a number of studies that show that they can disrupt hormones in your body, cause migraines and damage brain cells – let’s even throw in some links to cancer as well.
My Advice
The one piece of advice I want to give you is to minimise sugar consumption as much as possible.
I understand this may be a challenge – especially if you’ve consumed a lot in the past. But a couple of things to try are to snack on things like nuts (walnuts, brazils, macadamia etc) and raw vegetables. You could also try a teaspoon of glutamine (an amino acid that helps with stomach lining health and carb cravings) when you wake up, during the day and before you go to bed. While you’re at it, you should include more protein with each meal (see below)
Alcohol is pure sugar, so a quick way to cram into the body a load of useless, sugar calories is to drink alcohol often. Sure we all like a drink every now and then, but be aware it is sugar!
Try and have it with food to slow it’s affects, and aim to NOT drink alcohol in the
week – if you are, and often, you’re either bored or got into the habit – break it!
Health, energy and body results will come with removal!
On the side of sugar, don’t be fooled that sweeteners or diet drinks are any better. These sweeteners are evil. Firstly they are fake/man made so your body has no idea what to do with them, and there are lots of studies showing they can disrupt hormones, especially the ever popular Aspartame which is in a LOT of products.