Sugar: Food or Poison?
Refined sugar is ubiquitous in our culture. Simply by visiting a local supermarket, one becomes convinced that the most common ingredient found in our food today is refined sugar. Skipping the obvious sources like candy and soda (which usually take up 2 or 3 islands), sugar lurks in nearly all processed foods in the form of evaporated cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, and molasses. . But how unhealthy is sugar? Is it just its high caloric content that induces obesity and all its associated diseases? Or is sugar much more harmful than the calories it adds?
As a personal trainer, I often advise my clients to avoid refined sugar. Many who are active still believe that as long as they are active, sugar has no impact on their health. Based on the research I have done, that is a false statement. In fact, refined sugar can seriously discredit your fitness efforts.
First, sugar is not real food! Refined sugar is stripped of all its nutritional value. Consequently, the body cannot effectively use refined sugar, and if it is not used for immediate energy, it will be stored in the liver. The liver’s capacity for sugar is limited. Daily intake of refined sugar can cause the liver to release sugar back into the bloodstream in the form of fatty acids. This often causes unhealthy weight gain that could lead to obesity and eventually other problems like heart disease.
Refined sugar has no vitamins or minerals. However, the real dangers of refined sugar are its metabolites; pruvic acid and abnormal sugar containing five atoms. According to Dr. William Coda Martin, a poison is any substance that can induce disease. Based on this general definition, refined sugar can easily be categorized as a poison. These metabolites are toxins for the body, mainly because they interfere with the respiration of cells. If cells don’t get their oxygen, they will eventually die. The death of these cells can take a long time. Therefore, the daily intake of sugar can lead to degenerative diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis and many more.
Effects of sugar on health and fitness. Sugar has been linked to poor health and obesity for several decades. The following list explains how sugar can impact your health and impede your fitness goals.
o Refined sugar leaches your body’s store of vitamins and minerals. Depletion of these nutrients impedes the tissue rebuilding process and therefore negatively affects the response to exercise.
o Refined sugar increases acidity in the body. To neutralize this acidic state, the body draws calcium from the bones and teeth, weakening them and making them more susceptible to degeneration.
o Excess sugar is stored in the liver. When the capacity of the liver is reached, the excess sugar is released into the bloodstream in the form of fatty acid. The sugar is then stored as fat in vital organs (possibly causing them to malfunction) and in the least metabolically active area (ie, the belly).
o Refined sugar invades the lymphatic system (disease-fighting system). This results in increased production of white blood cells and therefore tissue rebuilding is slowed down. The response to strength training decreases as the body cannot rebuild itself as effectively.
o Since sugar has an effect on the lymphatic system, the immune system is less resistant. Therefore, one is more susceptible to attacks on the body (ie common cold).
It is clear that sugar has more damage to health than the mere calories it can add to the diet. Be careful when choosing foods that may have refined sugar, and try to replace them with natural sweets like fruit, maple syrup, stevia, or raw, unfiltered honey.
Stop the sugar crash and get your energy back
What happens what energy fluctuates throughout the day? Does refined sugar have something to do with it?
There is a good chance that those who consume refined sugar often experience a sugar crash. Americans consume approximately 175 pounds of refined sugar per year. Sugar is ubiquitous in our diet for two reasons. It is cheap to produce. Almost all highly processed foods in supermarkets have some corn syrup or other type of sugar. Corn grows easily throughout the Midwest and is relatively cheap to grow. Second, processed sugar products like protein bars are easily stored and replace REAL meals for many people.
Finally, many people consume sugar because it gives them a little burst of energy. Sugar is not digested in the stomach but rather enters the lower intestine and then the bloodstream quickly. This leads to a brisk secretion of insulin that causes sugar to be absorbed into the tissue at an accelerated rate. That is why we feel awake after consuming sugar. Eventually, however, blood sugar drops and most feel tired, irritable, and lethargic.
The body learns fast. So the more sugar we consume, the more we crave it. The metabolism becomes dependent on refined sugar, which is why most of us feel the need to consume it. Consequently, in an attempt to avoid the sugar crash, most consume sugar throughout the day to maintain focus and energy to get through the day.
The following are some tips to avoid low blood sugar:
o Eat a balanced breakfast without sugar (i.e. eggs, bacon and oatmeal)
o Limit sweets to 2 times per week
o Stay away from white flour for lunch and eat plenty of vegetables.
o Eat 4-5 metabolically balanced meals a day (protein, fat, carbohydrates)
o Eat sweets only after a large and balanced meal (with lots of protein)
o Eat plenty of complex carbohydrates throughout the day (vegetables and whole grains)
o Do not eat sugar before bed