Sugar 101

OK— before we delve into this black hole that is the sugar industry, I want you to know that I’m not going to tell you to never pick up a cookie again or that I’m “sugar-free for life” (annoying). You will, however, walk away with a better understanding of sugar and be able to make some healthier choices for you and your families.

Sugar is one of my favorite things to talk about because, well, it’s everywhere. It’s in almost everything we pick up from your wheat bread to your ketchup. It’s been scientifically proven to be more addictive than cocaine (lab rats were given both sugar water and cocaine water— they chose to return to the sugar water). We’re also approaching the holiday season where it’s sometimes impossible to find any type of celebration without an entire table dedicated to sugar. Is everyone sick in your office or family? Sugar shuts down your immune system for hours.

Again, I understand we are human and this is not about being miserable in the corner with your bag of baby carrots, it’s just about having a better understanding– so let’s get into it!

Natural vs Processed

What is the difference? Does your body even KNOW the difference? Yes and no. Natural sugar can be considered any type of sugar that occurs naturally in food, in it’s raw form. Examples would be: maple syrup and honey. Processed sugars have been, well, processed! This means they are usually refined, concentrated, manipulated, and created in a lab, so to speak. The most common examples being white sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, malt syrup, etc. That list could go on— there are actually over 56 names for “sugar” that you can find on any given label to disguise it. Gross.

All in all, sugar is still sugar to your body. This took me a while to understand because maple syrup could not possibly be the same as white bleached sugar, right? It’s simple: sugar still reacts the same way in your body (you shouldn’t have a bowl of maple syrup for breakfast), however, maple syrup has added benefits and value (manganese + zinc), where the white sugar has zero nutritional value with added chemicals and additives. Make sense?

The Glycemic Index: What Does it Mean?

The glycemic index is a ranking system used to measure the carbohydrates in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels. Low levels (55 or less) are digested slower, metabolized, and therefore cause a lower rise in glucose levels (insulin). Anything above 70 is considered very high.

Where it gets tricky, is that the GI does not measure fructose. All sugar is composed of both glucose and fructose. Glucose is mostly used for energy. Fructose gets processed solely by your liver and is the most damaging, causing insulin resistance and putting you at the greatest risk for diabetes.

However, the fructose naturally found in fruits or vegetables is very different. You’re consuming the whole food, with lots of fiber and normally low fructose levels (a few exceptions may be bananas or pineapples, but again still better compared to other sources).

Let’s talk about agave for a second. As I mentioned before, many consider it a “natural sweetener” because it’s derived from a plant. It’s had a huge moment in the health industry, but maybe you’ve seen people starting to pull back? Here’s why: agave has almost double the amount of fructose as High Fructose Corn Syrup. Crazy, right? Its 90% fructose and is therefore the most damaging to your body and liver. However, it’s ranked SUPER low on the glycemic index because of it’s low glucose level. Let’s just say that’s one sweetener I steer clear of completely.

Sugar + Fat: Who’s to Blame?

For many, many years fat has gotten a bad reputation. It makes sense— you eat more fat, you’ll probably get fat, right? While we aren’t going to get into the details of good vs bad fat right now, I will tell you this is not true. Sugar has and is still the main source of our health crisis as a country. It’s processed in your liver and when overloaded, gets stored as fat. Plain and simple. Processed sugars have absolutely no nutritional value and therefore trick your body into thinking you’re still hungry, which causes you to keep eating. Good fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, etc) are used as energy and help us to metabolize even more. If you want to read a bit more about the “low-fat” fad that started in the 1990’s and how the sugar industry took the blame off themselves, check out this recent NY Times article. I can still hear my mother telling me at the age of 6, “fat doesn’t make you fat, sugar makes you fat”. It makes me SO happy to see this finally being publicly recognized!

Alright, that was a lot. If you’re still with me here, I hope that provided some value and gave you a little more clarity around sugar. Don’t get me wrong– I have a deep love for dark chocolate and could easy go through an entire pint of coconut milk ice cream in one sitting. This is more about being aware and less about being perfect.

The bottom line is: the sugar industry is very powerful. These large corporate companies do not make money off selling whole fruits and vegetables. Their marketing is cleaver and they’ll pretty much do whatever they can to get a sale and keep you coming back for more.

Here are a few main points to take away & try in your own life:

Always choose a natural sweetener over a highly processed one if given the option.
Eat less out of a box. If you can’t understand or pronounce the ingredients, your body won’t understand it either.
Be aware, but don’t beat yourself up. Read labels and become your own advocate.
Listen to your body. Start to become aware of how you feel after you have sugar.
When you do have sugar / starchier foods, don’t do so on an empty stomach. Have protein + fiber first to help balance blood sugar.
Try a sugar detox. Remove sugar from your diet for 2 weeks and see how you feel. You’ll reset your body and probably be surprised by the other positive benefits. Remember, it’s more addicting than cocaine!