I don't know when it happened, but somehow, sugar has become a staple in our fatty American lives: Birthday cakes, holiday cookies, pumpkin pies, Halloween candy, Ice cream and snow cones in the summer, strawberry shortcake on the 4th of July, candy-filled Easter eggs, Girl Scout cookies, Valentine's day candy, a box of chocolates guys give their girlfriends when they screw up, you name it. America is all about sugar and at the same time we are trying to fight obesity? I shake my head.
Let's get specific.
REFINED SUGAR: This insidious little body destroyer is the result of a filtration process that removes sugar's natural raw brown color. This evil kind of sugar has no nutritional value and it is addictive. I know this, I have been addicted before. I would run out of sweet things in my kitchen and even though it was fully stocked with healthy food, I HAD to hit the store for ice cream or cookies lest I shed my human form and beat the crap out of the people around me. How insane. Also, dessert or sweet treats labeled as a "non-fat" or "low calorie" food? Horse shit. Check the sugar amount per serving, check the ingredients. Is sugar one of the first ingredients? It is? Are you eating more that 20g of sugar a day and trying to lose weight at the same time? Fat chance.
Are you still holding that donut? Drop it and read this.
When you eat too much sugar, "excess amounts are stored in the liver as glycogen." Unless you are burning off all of that glycogen in the marathon you are running the next morning, you better believe the liver will get too full. When that happens, "the excess amounts are returned to the blood stream as fatty acids." So, you eat low-fat and low calorie meals and exercise, yet you can't shake your inexplicable thunder thighs, double chin, bye-bye arm or love handles? Check your refined sugar intake. (1)
Now here's the nail in the coffin. Besides the rotting of teeth, refined sugar has been linked to a number of diseases, health conditions and ailments. Just Google "disease linked to sugar" and knock yourself out. Cardiovascular disease, hypoglycemia, diabetes, obesity, high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and cancer are not worth the high of this grocery store-sold crack. Diabetes, heart disease and cancer run in my family. The HELL if I am going to increase my chances of getting those diseases by eating refined sugar.
Just like in a nasty breakup, when you dump sugar you must dump its family too...
...like refined sugar's ugly cousin, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. This crack is also known as glucose-fructose (syrup), an alias you must know. One brand of popular sports drink changed the "high fructose corn syrup" in the ingredients to "glucose-fructose syrup", probably because of the growing disapproval of HFCS. Sneaky bastards. This cheap shit causes blood-sugar levels to skyrocket, more than refined sugar since it is even more processed and screwed up. Trust me, large amounts of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup = a shorter life of having to wear loose fitting clothes. Quit eating this crap and you'll trade in your muumuu in no time.
Fear not! There are healthy alternatives. There are cookies and fig cakes, etc., that you may find in the natural/organic sections of your grocery stores. When you check ingredients or shop for sweeteners, look for organic versions of these nutritious gems:
Agave nectar or syrup
Stevia
Evaporated cane juice
Sucanat
Brown rice syrup
Barley malt syrup
Rapadura sugar
Turbinado sugar
Raw sugar
Beet sugar
Date sugar
Maple syrup
Molasses
Blackstrap molasses (2)
As Bon Qui Qui would say, "Don't get crazy." For example, I LOVE Country Choice Organics' Lemon Ginger Sandwich Cookies. I could knock out an entire package in one day. It is for that reason that don't buy it anymore unless I have many friends to share the cookies with. I just don't trust myself with those.You can still gain weight eating organic sweets all day long. Those foods are just less harmful than the refined sugar versions. All in moderation. "Moderation" meaning not often. Even better if you avoid sweets altogether. Why? One word, FRUIT.
Fruit has tons of natural vitamins and minerals. Kick sugared foods out of your diet, make eating fruit your dessert and watch as the pounds fall off (just from kicking sugar to the curb!). Make sure you buy only organic fruits. You can bitch all day about the price of organic fruits, veggies and other foods (do your very best) but in the end, it's cheaper than the chemotherapy treatments you'll have to endure after decades of ingesting foods laden with cancer-causing pesticides and other deadly toxins and chemicals. I believe that is all I should have to say about that. Speaking of things that cause cancer, don't pat yourself on the back if you ingest no-calorie sweeteners all day. I'm talking no calorie sweeteners that contain aspartame, sucralose, xylitol, maltitol and saccharine. These are part of a topic that will be addressed in another article. Just know that it is NOT good for you, poisonous and causes you to be hungry for more crap that isn't good for you. Grab a box of Stevia instead for the time being.
Now hit the cupboard and start reading ingredients. Toss out any foods high in sugar. Just do it. Then hit the grocery store, buy healthier alternatives and stock up on organic fruit. Yes, this means you will have to hit the market at least once a week. That may be inconvenient to you but you owe it to your ass. Your body will thank you (so will the onlookers).
Sources
Freedman, Rory and Kim Barnouin. Skinny Bitch. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2005, pp. 29-31.
