How to Steer Clear of Added Sugar

​The presence of added sugar in our foods has increased dramatically over the last 10 years or so, and truly there is no stopping in sight. As the processed food industry continues to grow we are faced with more and more challenges in trying to avoid added and hidden sugars within our food. Added sugars are not found naturally within the food in question. This includes anything from cane sugar, honey, natural sweeteners, artificial sugar and more. The food industry has also developed ways to sneak this into foods that you wouldn’t even expect to contain sugar or as much as it does. Examples of these foods are bread, salad dressings, condiments etc...

Let's talk about why added sugar is so bad for us! Our body naturally craves and thrives on sugar. Our carbohydrates break down into the simplest of sugars called glucose. This is what fuels us and gets us through the day. We can get these sugars from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and the natural foods that we can grow ourselves.

When natural sugars are eaten as part of whole foods you get the benefits of the fiber, which helps your body absorb the sugar slowly rather than allowing a sugar spike to occur. These continual sugar spikes are what lead to diabetes over time. Remember that mother nature knows exactly what she’s doing and packages food just right so that your body can process the sugar and other nutrients the way it needs to for fuel. Something else to remember is to eat foods in the “wholest” possible form.

For example, an apple is best, unsweetened applesauce is a bit less good, and apple juice is the worst.  With each variation of the apple, it becomes more and more processed with more and more loss of fiber and other nutrients. This is why it is best to consume these sugars in foods that are easily recognizable to the body.​

When we consume processed foods and eat added sugars, we over-eat way too much, due to our reward systems being tricked. Consuming too much processed sugar will send the receptors in our brain and body into a frenzy because we have all this sugar in our blood stream, and energy that we do not need. This pattern is what leads to gained weight, inflammation, and eventually, potentially even type two diabetes. ​

These processed foods are designed to keep us craving and coming back for more, creating addictive and unhealthy eating habits and some horrible side effects for our bodies. Inflammation will create aches and pains in our joints, start to break down tissue, and can do some irreversible damage when it becomes chronic. Type two diabetes is caused by overloading our body with sugar to the point where our body stops properly regulating. Our insulin receptors become tired and weak to the point they can not regulate our blood sugar levels, which can cause devastating health results. Too much sugar can even cause chronic fatigue, headaches, slowed metabolism, and a plethora of other illnesses that we shouldn't have to live with in our everyday lives. ​

Here is how we avoid those added sugars:

• Stick to the outskirts of the grocery store. We want to consume fresh whole foods that do not come in a box, jar, or package (the less processed the better). Consuming fruits and vegetables will help eliminate the negative effects of eating too much sugar. 
• When looking at nutrition labels look for 5g of added sugar or less. This will help you stay below 10% of your recommended daily intake of added sugar. 
• Look at the ingredients list and avoid products that contain names ending with “-ose” or “-ides”, as these are usually some type of sugar product, whether it be natural or artificial. 
• Food labels with “No Sugar Added” may increase their saturated fat content, so this is also an important factor to take note of. 
• Artificial sweeteners can also be tricky and we want to minimize our consumption of them as much as possible, as these are chemicals that can confuse the body even more. Some artificial sweeteners to stay away from are aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame, saccharin, (all of which are more easily identified by their respective brand names*) and sugar alcohols that end in “-itol”.​

Learn how to crack the food label! Added sugars aren’t the only culprits that can create confusion to our bodies, and we know how hard it can be to make sense of all of the information on the label. This guide will help you gain a better understanding of the different types of sugar ingredients to look out for as well as other food additives that are best to avoid. Download your free copy here: 

LABEL GUIDE

Starting to cut out unnecessary sugars from your diet can be super hard to begin with, as the cravings can be as bad as fighting an addiction, but the more you eat whole foods the better you will feel. When having intense cravings, try to eat a variety of different fruits and vegetables. Different textures and flavors can help curb those cravings. Remember that your long term health is more important than those instant gratification moments of consuming those foods that cause you pain later on. When you do eat those foods that you know might not be beneficial to you still enjoy them wholeheartedly and NEVER feel guilty about eating foods you love. 

Everything in moderation and remember you are human and only have one life to live so we better make it the best we can!

*Nutrasweet (aspartame), Splenda (sucralose), Sunett and Sweet One (acesulfame), Sweet and Low (saccharin)