Since attending the screening of ‘That Sugar Film’ the seriousness of our sugar additions has really come to the forefront. It certainly highlighted for me just how ‘in your face’ sugar is and its incredible power to sway your food choices.
I wanted to share with you a few key points that can help you understand the enormity of this issue and then reach out to those who might like some assistance to ward off the sugar demon. I think you might like what I have to offer so read on.
In this article I am going to address the following points:
Firstly, how do you know if your body is addicted to sugar? Well here are just a few symptoms.
trust me, I could go on.
Before we get into it let me pre-frame a little. Your body is constantly trying to balance the sugars in your blood. It will do everything it can to keep them balanced, so you are either on board with that plan or you’re not.
Your body and your brain prefers to run off sugar. Sugar fuels every cell in your brain and it also sees sugar as a reward which makes you keep wanting more of it.
If you eat a lot of sugar, you’re reinforcing that reward which can make it an even tougher habit to break.
When you consume carbohydrates it will cause glucose levels to rise in the blood.
When your body detects the rising levels of glucose, a message is sent to the pancreas telling it to release insulin into the bloodstream. It’s job is to attach itself to each of the molecules of sugar and deliver them to your cells; this is how we get energy.
However when you consume certain carbohydrates, sugar or even excessive protein – it causes excessive levels of glucose to rise in the blood.
When your blood sugars spike like this you will produce excessive insulin and as a result you’ll experience a drop in blood glucose levels leaving you feeling wiped out and sometimes even shaky and in search of your next sugar fix.
Weight loss is achieved when blood sugars remain stable, no spikes, no troughs.
Do you think you don’t have a sweet tooth, but crave bagels, chips, or french fries? These starchy foods are complex carbs that the body breaks down into simple sugars. Often people are unaware of the dramatic effect that these foods can have on rising blood sugar levels. In some cases will spike blood sugar higher than eating straight table sugar. White rice, white flour, and potatoes do this. Highly refined starches like white bread, pretzels, crackers, and pasta are the worst.
Hormones vs Calories
If we compare the relevance that calories have to blood sugar levels and compare that to the hormonal responses that are triggered, hormones significantly outweigh calories by a country mile.
If we take a look at the 3 macronutrients – carbs, proteins and fats; which of the three have the greatest amount of calories? If you answered fats, then you’re spot on. Although most answer carbohydrates, when they in fact have ½ the amount of calories to fats and trigger the most amount of the fat storing hormones.
Fats are hormonally neutral, and in the absence of insulin, the body can burn fat for fuel.
You don’t need sugar as much as you think you do. In fact, you can train your taste buds to enjoy things that aren’t as sweet.
Eating protein is an easy way to curb sugar cravings. High-protein foods digest more slowly, keeping you feeling full for longer. Protein doesn’t make your blood sugar spike the way refined carbs and sugars do unless you are eating too much at one time. Pick proteins like lean chicken, low-fat yogurt, eggs, nuts, beans or legumes.
Fibre helps fight a sugar itch in many ways. First, it keeps you full. High-fibre foods also give you more energy. Because they don’t raise your blood sugar, there’s no hungry crash after. Choose fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Or dip some peanut butter (it must be sugar free) on an apple for a protein and a good fats/fibre combo.
On average people consume 20-40 teaspoons or more of added sugar a day. And this may seem like a lot to consume, but infact it’s a lot easier than what you may think.
There are 4gms of sugar per tsp. In a 1 cup serving of Just Right cereal there are 11.66 gms of sugar. However if you were eating a bowl of cereal would it equate to 1 cup? I’d say that averagely it would be twice that. That would total 6 tsp of sugar.
If you were to top this with a pottle of low fat fresh and fruity yogurt that would be 2 tsp of sugar. Totalling breakfast at 9 tsp. Not including any beverages.
How much sugar should you be eating? No more than 6 teaspoons daily for women. Men should get a max of 9 teaspoons.
Exercise can help wipe out those sugar cravings and change the way you eat in general. Not only does exercise help your body to deal with glucose better, but you’ll also start to feel better and want healthier foods. The best exercise for you is the kind you’ll actually do, so do what you like; such as walking, riding your bike, or swimming. Start out slow, this is really important, and work toward at least 30 minutes at a time, with a minimum of 3 days per week.
To think that your decision making isn’t affected by sugar would leave you very much mistaken.
Furthermore, to think that your ability to make better food choices while the body is running itself on sugar is the same as thinking you could hold onto your pee indefinitely. Its an unrealistic expectation to have on yourself which ultimately leads to a train wreck of self talk. Especially us women. We can be so hard on ourselves.
So whats the solution?
If blood sugars are kept stable for 1 week you give your body the opportunity to be running on fats as well as sugars. This also allows your body to start producing hormones in a far more balanced way by giving your glands – such as the pancreas – a well deserved rest.
It’s said that the best time to plant an oak tree is 20 years ago, but the second best time is now. The same is true for kicking your sugar additions. You actually NEED to do it now and not a moment later. To stay on this path is disastrous for your health.
People are so up and down all day from their blood sugar roller coaster that they’ve never really experienced anything different.
Its time to choose a different path and our 12-week nutrition education course will provide you with the education to understand carbohydrates and how to manage your own insulin levels.
To check out more info and to learn what else you learn on the 12-week course click here
Yours in Health
Tarryn Thompson
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