Sugar: But Is It Good For Me Or Not?

This month we focus on sugar consumption: which to eat, which to avoid, and how to change your own cravings for the better!

Is Sugar Even That Good For You?

That all depends on how much you eat. Sugar is used as fuel for all the cells in your body, especially your brain. In fact, nothing consumes more sugar (in the form of glucose) than your brain. It may only be about 2% of your body weight, but it consumes ~20% of all your glucose. 

So yes, sugar is critical to your health.

But those in the US consume more sugar than any other culture on the planet. If you live in the US then on average you consume about ¼ of a pound of sugar every single day. That’s about 10x greater than the recommended amount. At these levels, research demonstrates that it can lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

So no, sugar is terrible for you.

 

It’s Not About The Sugar. It’s About Us.

Over-consumption is the problem. Eat too much sugar, and you will encourage chronic health problems, overweight, and obesity.  Eat that very same sugar in control, and it’s just fine for you. So the message is that we should stop making sugar bad for us.

How? Don’t over-consume it.

Enough Is Enough, But How Much Is That? 

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question. But a good rule of thumb is to start by removing the additive sugars from the food products you consume. If you read the ingredients and see high fructose corn syrup, added sugar, maltose, dextrose, or other form of syrup then choose something else.

Just a note. Carbohydrates found in normal real food breaks down into simple sugars. So even though you eliminate the sugars that others are putting into your processed food products, the amount naturally found in real food will be more than sufficient for your body’s energy needs.