Just as I was taking a sip of my sugary sweet decaf coffee, an email popped up from one of my health sites at work. The subject line said it was time for a breakup with sugar.
Oh no, not the deadly sugar.
It looked like a good article and the focus was to decrease your sugar intake to 25 grams or less per day. It said that sugar is toxic to our cells and it is related to a lot of health issues like diabetes, dementia, weight gain, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. They went on to say that sugar is evil and put the word evil in big black letters. Not only did they say sugar is evil, they said it is also sneaky. Wow, sneaky and evil, can it get any worse? They reminded us that sugar goes by a lot of other names like high fructose corn syrup, Agave nectar, brown rice syrup, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, dehydrated cane juice, fructose, glucose and honey. OMG! Not the honey.
I know so many people that replace sugar with honey, and they think the browner the sugar the better it is for you. After reading this, I don’t think that’s the case. The article said, if sugar were a brand new item, it would be banned by the FDA because it is that addictive. Your body has two options with sugar; it can burn it for energy, or convert it to fat and store it in your fat cells.
Don’t worry, everyone, there is hope. After all of the bad things that sugar can do, numerous tips were offered on how to decrease our intake and you know I have to share them with you. Here are some of the suggestions: Eat every three or four hours to keep away cravings, always read food labels, look at the grams of sugar as well as for added sugars; Make sure to get non-dairy alternatives, like almond milk, that are unsweetened; Use olive oil and vinegar for salad dressing rather than low-fat vinaigrettes, which typically have added sugar; Opt for fresh or frozen fruit, when you can, versus dried or canned; Always keep a bag of raw nuts on hand so you have something good to snack on if you get hungry; Replace granola bars with raw nuts, seeds and a little bit of dried fruit; Pick one night to be dessert night, instead of having a dessert every night; Order a plain latte and add cinnamon, cocoa or vanilla powder; And, most importantly, don’t eat when stressed or sad—instead, take a deep breath or go outside. Breathing engages relaxation, while sunlight boosts levels of serotonin, evoking feelings of happiness.
The one recommendation that really surprised me was “don’t eat cereal, ever, instead choose eggs, sausage or plain full fat Greek yogurt.”
I read a lot of labels, but I need to read them even more. Let’s all get down to 25 grams a day or less.
(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com)
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