LAURA SHAMMAH MS, RDN
YOU MAY BE ADDICTED TO SUGAR AND NOT EVEN KNOW IT, BECAUSE THERE’S NATURAL SUGAR AND ADDED SUGAR IN SO MANY FOODS THAT YOU DON’T NECESSARILY THINK OF AS SUGARY. EVEN IF YOU DON’T KNOW THAT YOU’RE ADDICTED TO SUGAR, YOUR BODY WILL TRY TO TELL YOU. DO YOU CONSTANTLY CRAVE SUGAR OR DO YOU FEEL SLUGGISH THROUGHOUT THE DAY? IS YOUR SKIN BREAKING OUT? THESE ARE SIGNS OF CONSUMING TOO MUCH OF THE SWEET STUFF.
Other signs of eating too much sugar include moodiness, weight gain, cavities, a foggy feeling in your head, and the realization that nothing tastes very sweet anymore.
Do yo know that the more sugar you eat, the more you crave? When you eat sugar, it causes an initial high, which is followed by an inevitable crash and that feeling of moodiness.
The reason eating too much sugar makes you gain weight is it doesn’t have protein or fiber to fill you up, which causes you to eat more. It also triggers the release of insulin, a hormone that plays a big role in weight gain.
Even if you’re starting to think that you may be addicted to sugar, you don’t have to stop eating it completely, like everything else, it can be eaten in moderation. A treat once in a while is fine, but daily consumption can lead to serious health problems.
Studies show that drinking a 20 ounce soda on a daily basis is equivalent to 4.6 years of cell aging—the same as smoking cigarettes—and this cell aging has been linked to a shorter lifespan.
The immediate effect of sugar on the body is the release of insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Soda is the worst culprit. Sugars in beverages are absorbed very quickly, which results in a rapid increase in blood glucose and insulin. Over time, this can lead to insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance forces the pancreas to produce more insulin since tissues are not as sensitive to it. The pancreas can become tired by this surplus production and stop being able to secrete sufficient insulin. When this occurs, type 2 diabetes can develop.
In addition, consuming too much added sugar can cause obesity, high blood pressure and inflammation. High-sugar diets have been linked to an increased risk of dying from heart disease, and a high intake of fructose has been consistently linked to an increased risk of fatty liver. And that’s not all, the negatives and diseases just keep coming. Consuming too much sugar can lead to gout, memory loss and an increased risk of dementia.
The best thing you can do is lower your sugar intake, and the easiest way to do this is to focus on eating whole unprocessed foods. This automatically decreases the amount of sugar in your diet. Remember, you can still enjoy your favorite foods—in moderation.
HERE’S HOW TO REDUCE YOUR SUGAR INTAKE
• Avoid wasting your daily sugar quota on non-dessert foods like cereals, ketchup, and marina sauce.
• Set specific limits. Like, you can eat dessert on Shabbat or when you’re in a restaurant as a special treat.
• When you crave something sweet, eat a piece of fruit. Naturally occurring sugars in fruit don’t have the same negative effects on the body, because they’re paired with fiber, which helps slow absorption. Eating fruit is a good way to satisfy your sweet tooth, reach for berries, apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes or beets the next time you want something sweet.
• Drink unsweetened tea, water or flavored seltzer instead of soda, energy drinks, juice and sweet tea.
• If you enjoy sugar in your coffee, wean yourself off of it. Use less and less until you don’t need it at all.
• Consume whole fruits instead of sugar-sweetened fruit smoothies. Even if there’s no added sugar in the smoothie it will contain more than one piece of fruit.
• Replace candy with fruit, nuts, or a serving of dark chocolate chips.
• Use olive oil and vinegar in place of sweet salad dressings.
• Look for marinades, nut butters, ketchup and marinara sauce with zero added sugars.
• Look for cereals, granola and granola bars with under 5 grams of sugar per serving.
• Swap your morning cereal for a bowl of rolled oats topped with nut butter, or an omelet made with fresh greens.
• Instead of jelly, slice fresh bananas onto your peanut butter sandwich.
• Use natural nut butters in place of sweet spreads like Nutella.
• Avoid alcoholic beverages that are sweetened with soda, juice, honey, sugar or agave.
• Get a good night’s sleep. You may ask how this relates to cutting down of sugar. The answer: lack of sleep causes people to crave high-calorie, sweet and salty foods.
To see if a food has added sugar, check the list of ingredients. The closer to the beginning it is on the ingredients list, the greater percentage of sugar the product contains. Food companies also use more than 50 other names for added sugar, which makes it more difficult to spot. Here are some of the most common: high-fructose corn syrup, cane sugar, maltose, dextrose, rice syrup, molasses and caramel.
At first, cutting down on sugar can feel like an impossible task. Eventually, though, your taste buds will adjust and before you know it, your sugar habit will be a thing of the past.
NEVER GO FAKE
When you’re reducing your sugar intake, you may be tempted to switch to artificial sweeteners. Do your best not to reach for diet soda, sugar-free chocolate, or packets of fake sugar. These can confuse your taste for sweet. When you eat something sweet, your body expects calories and nutrition, but artificial sugars don’t give your body those things. That may be why fake sugars are associated with weight gain—not loss. Stay away from saccharin, acesulfame, aspartame, neotame, and sucralose.
DON’T BE AFRAID OF FRUIT
When people reduce their sugar intake, they often ask me if they should stop eating fruit because it’s full of sugar. As a dietitian, I can’t help but feel this new awareness of the need to cut back on sugar comes with some consequences, like an increase in the number of people who are also cutting back on their fruit intake.
If you compare an orange and soda per gram, they would have the same amount of calories and sugar, but while soda is empty calories, an orange is full of fiber, potassium and vitamins A and C. All the nutrients in fruit are vital for health and maintenance of your body. The potassium in fruit can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke, diabetes, cancer and more. Potassium may also reduce the risk of developing kidney stones and help to decrease bone loss as you age, and folic acid helps the body form red blood cells. Everyone should give up soda and no one should give up fruit.
Replacing high calorie less nutritious foods with fruit and vegetables is a good strategy for weight loss. Eat a variety of fruit!
Laura Shammah MS, RDN has a masters degree in health and nutrition and is a registered dietitian. She has been operating her own private practice in both New York and NJ for over 20 years. She is happily married and has four children.
