I’ve read a large amount of research, heard a lot of diets and people stating that sugar is the “toxic, poisonous devil” that may be responsible for some cancers, heart disease and obesity. At first thought I would just assume, like everyone else, that sugar is responsible for obesity, I get that. But can it be responsible for other diseases like cancer, heart disease and everything else it has been labeled to do?
One of my previous posts explained my feelings on artificial sweeteners and the problems that could arise from them. So, this may sound confusing now that I’m writing about the “real thing”, sugar. Let me preface everything I’m about to say with my stance is still a moderation diet; rich in raw unprocessed foods that includes fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
One of the studies that have been cited for the “Anti-Sugar” team came out in 2010 and examined cholesterol levels and the amount of sugar a person consumes. We all know what I’m going to say next… they found that the people that consumed more sugar had lower “good cholesterol” and higher “bad cholesterol”. Now, the article states that they were examining ADDED sugars, like the ones found in processed or prepared foods. So, remember what I said before, “moderation diet, and rich in raw unprocessed foods that includes fats, proteins and carbohydrates.” The next point is that the risk was greatest in those individuals who had 25% of their total calories from added sugars. So, girls and boys, lets do some math.
The average 12 oz. soda has 29 grams of sugar and roughly 120 calories.
So, if a person consumes a 2,000-calorie diet, they’ll have had 500 calories from added sugars, or about 4 sodas daily.
If you are consuming this many calories from added sugars then you are doing a poor job at making healthy choices on a daily basis. The take home message from this research is to reduce the amount of added sugar in the diet. The type found in processed and already prepared foods. This is especially important for those that are physically inactive (anotherwards you don’t exercise regularly).
It’s not just about sugar intake, but also about physical activity. Exercise doesn’t give you a “get out of diet jail” card, but it does make a difference. Jim Gerard wrote a review article entitled “Is Sugar To Blame For America’s Obesity Epidemic?” In this, he states that sugar isn’t the only culprit and cites physical inactivity and the rise of artificial sweeteners (here we go again) as aides to sugar for all the crimes it commits.
Here is what some of the experts are saying:
“It’s a multifaceted issue, caused by highly processed foods, industrial food manufacturing and an overabundance of sugar.”
– Dr. Susan Kleiner, owner of High Performance Nutrition on Mercer Island, Wash., and author of Power Eating.
“It would be hard to believe that a substance such as glucose (the simplest form of sugar), which is so fundamental to our production of energy at the cellular level, is toxic. “
– Dr. Catherine Jackson, chairwoman in the department of kinesiology at the University of California at Fresno.
You can be sure that I’ll be posting more on this topic!
