NUTRITIONDietThe Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with Sugar

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with Sugar

By: Danielle Cook Kawash, MS, RD, NBC-HWC

Imagine eating or drinking something that made your muscles 40% weaker for five hours! Would you eat that?

Everyone loves sugar. Wars have been fought over it, and not just between siblings on Easter. Sugar tastes good. It literally gives us pleasure and is often associated with positive feelings. But there’s a dark side to this tasty treat. Sugar can be horrible for your health. Fun fact: limiting added sugar in your diet can improve your health more than any other change you can make.

When I say sugar, I’m generally referring to sugar added in processing, not naturally occurring sugar. Fresh fruit, such as strawberries, contain naturally occurring sugar. Processed fruit, like strawberry jam, contains all of that naturally occurring sugar and a huge amount of added sugar, too. 

Our brains are wired to love and crave sugar. It’s very addictive, that’s part of why we love it so much. In fact, researchers have found that sugar is approximately eight times more addictive than cocaine. There’s no question that it’s hard to avoid and limit our intake. But it’s worth the effort. There are several real benefits to reducing your sugar intake. These include increased energy, less pain, fewer wrinkles and grey hairs, and much, much better health overall. Intrigued? Let’s review a few of the health risks of overconsuming added sugars and then some tips for reducing your intake.

Weakened Immune System

Eating sugar reduces your white blood cells’ (WBC) ability to fight infection. In one study, ingesting 100 grams of sugar, about two 12 oz cans of Coke, reduced WBC reactivity by as much as 40% for as long as five hours. Imagine eating or drinking something that made your muscles 40% weaker for five hours! Would you eat that? 

Increased Inflammation and Pain

When you eat sugar, something called Advanced Glycosylated End products, or AGEs, form in your body, which cause inflammation and damage in your blood vessels. Consuming sugar also leads to a dramatic activation of your body’s stress response and cortisol. Cortisol lowers inflammation; However, if you habitually over consume sugar, it can lead to cortisol resistance. The result, inflammation runs amuck and pain ensues.

Increased Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk

Added sugar has been linked to CVD. AGEs cause endothelial inflammation and damage, which are implicated in the pathophysiology of CVD.

Increased Cancer risk

Glucose (sugar) is THE preferred fuel for tumors – they love it! Excess sugar consumption leads to elevated blood glucose and insulin. Insulin is like a key that allows glucose to enter your cells. Cancer cells are loaded with insulin receptors. When insulin binds to the insulin receptor on a cancer cell, it signals the cell to grow and divide and form tumors. Meanwhile, sugar also weakens your immune system, decreasing your body’s ability to recognize and kill cancer cells. 

That’s four serious downsides to sugar consumption. The good news? There are strategies to reduce your added sugar intake and start feeling the benefits within weeks. 

  1. Read food labels. Keep an eye out for added sugar on the food label. Try an experiment where you limit your added sugar intake to less than 20 grams daily. Already there? Try less than 10 grams per day.
  1.  Avoid any food that has more than five grams of added sugar per serving.
  1. Cut out sweet drinks that contain added sugars. Replace soda and juices with sparkling water, flat water, or tea. Add fresh fruit such as lemon, lime, strawberries or oranges to add some flavor. This can add a little bit of sweetness and fun to your drinks. 
  1. Clean out your refrigerator and cabinets. Sugar is addictive. Just like you wouldn’t ask an alcoholic to quit drinking with a cabinet full of liquor, keeping foods with added sugar in your house will make it harder to say no to sweets. Purge your kitchen of tempting, sugary foods.
  1. Add nutrients to help with your cravings. As you start reducing sugar in your diet, you may experience some cravings. These cravings will subside on their own after a short period of time. If you’d like additional help, there are a handful of herbs and vitamins that can be helpful in reducing sugar cravings. Please consult your physician prior to taking any supplements or vitamins.

    Here are a few of my favorites:

    Gymnema sylvestre: take 400 mg daily with a meal. Use caution if you are taking oral medications or insulin for diabetes as you may need to reduce your dosage, have an allergy to the milkweed family, or are pregnant or lactating. 

    Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF) Chromium or Chromium Chelate: take 1000 mcg of GTF or chromium chelate daily. Use caution if you are taking oral medications or insulin for diabetes as you may need to reduce your dosage.

    L-glutamine: take 500 mg of L-glutamine 3-4 times daily to stop your sugar cravings in their tracks.

Photo by Caspar Rae on Unsplash

Contests & Promotions

West Broad Contest
Fire Science Nutrition Contest/Promotion
fire department coffee
devil dog promotions