The war on sugar

Those of you who read my blog habitually will know how I feel about sugar.  It is deadly, it has been compared to heroin, cocaine and a whole host of health problems such as Diabetes.  A US-UK campaign group "Action on Sugar" has been set up to try to curb the amount of sugar hidden in our daily food choices.  They are now saying "sugar is the new tobacco" (Simon Capewell, professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool).

It's about time, but there is still a lot of skepticism about the effects of sugar on our health.

Doctors and academics are saying that levels must be reduced by up to 30% in order to avoid "a wave of disease and death".

"Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.  The obesity epidemic is generating a huge burden of disease and death.  Obesity and diabetes already cost the UK over 5 billion GBP a year.  Without regulation, these costs will exceed 50 billion GBP by 2050." Simon Capewell.

The average Brit consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day and some adults consume as many as 46 teaspoons.  The World Health Organization (WHO) stipulates that the recommended daily allowance is ten teaspoons/day, although this guideline is likely to be halved.

The UN agency says:

"There is overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption" being linked to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Graham MacGregor, a professor at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and Chairman of Action on Sugar, said:

"We must now tackle the obesity epidemic both in the UK and worldwide.

"We must start a coherent and structured plan to slowly reduce the amount of calories people consume by slowly taking out added sugar from foods and soft drinks."

Dr. Aseem Malhotra, the group's science director, said:

"Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever, and causes no feeling of satiety.

"Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver.

"We must particularly protect children from this public health hazard and the food industry needs to immediately reduce the amount of sugar that they are adding, particularly to children's foods, and stop targeting children with massive advertising for high calorie snacks and soft drinks."

When we think of how much sugar we consume, we tend to only think of the sugar we ADD as in added to coffee or tea.  But the truth is that sugar, along with salt, is used as a major preservative in foods to prolong shelf life, and also to make things taste better.

For years fat has been the big baddy in the food world.  Fat has been considered the culprit for the obesity epidemic.  But as you will know from my previous posts, not all fat is bad fat, and fat is essential for the body to function correctly.  There is proof that a high fat, low carb (sugar) diet reduces weight and improves health... Just remember what Sam did.

Food industry companies are allowed to market products as "healthy" if they have a reduced fat content, but more often than not, they up the sugar content to compensate for the loss of flavor resulting from the reduced fat content.  There is so much hidden sugar in our day to day living, that if you don't choose wisely you could be consuming a lot more than you think:

 

And this is just an example, yes, I do realize that these are typically British products and may not be available in your country, but similar products will have similar levels of sugar in them.

But still, even with all the evidence we now have about the effects of too much sugar on our bodies, there are people who still believe that sugar is not the culprit.  Maybe because it is in their best interest not to believe.  Most of these non believers are sugar manufacturers who obviously don't want to see their profits affected:

To quote but one, Barbara Gallani of the Food and Drink Federation denied that sugar was responsible for obesity; "Sugars, or any other nutrient for that matter, consumed as part of a varied and balanced diet are not a cause of obesity, to which there is no simple or single solution."

Professor Shrinath Reddy, a cardiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and member of the WHO panel of experts, disputed Ms Gallani's conclusion:

"Overwhelming evidence coming out about sugar-sweetened beverages and other sugar consumption links to obesity, diabetes and even cardiovascular disease".

As I have said in previous posts, sugar is dangerous.  Sugar is a carbohydrate and as such is stored as fat in the body if not used immediately.  It causes blood sugar levels to rise which causes the body to produce insulin to reduce that level.  First you get a high from the sugar consumption and then you get a low from the insulin, this process causes you to crave more sweet foods which leads to overeating.  If overeating becomes a habit then weight gain follows and, if not controlled, can lead to obesity.  Obesity causes type 2 diabetes, and the scary thing is that you don't even need to be overweight to have type 2 diabetes.  Type 2 diabetes is known as a "lifestyle acquired disease", this means that we cause it ourselves through diet choices and lack of exercise, so surely, if we provoke it ourselves, it is in all of us to make the appropriate lifestyle changes to cure Type 2 Diabetes... because it can be cured.

Making the right choices about what you put into your body is so easy to do.  Yes, at the beginning you may find food seems boring, but believe me, your taste buds change, your body starts begging you for fresh healthy food, and the thought of poisoning yourself again become unimaginable.

I, like many, have a sweet tooth.  Years ago I quit sugar in tea and coffee and swapped it for
sweeteners, in January 2013 I went "cold turkey" on the sweeteners in tea and stopped drinking coffee because I don't like it unless it's sweet.  At the beginning, I found it hard to drink tea with no sweetener, but it only took about 5 days for me to get used to the new taste.  Four months ago I quit ALL sweeteners - I had a serious diet coke habit, but after investigating the effects of aspartame on our bodies I chose to eliminate all sweeteners, except Stevia, from my life.  The improvement has been amazing.  Yes, on day 2 of no sweeteners I had a massive headache that would not go away even with painkillers, but on day 3 the fog lifted and I started to feel better.  Gradually, the typical aches and pains in joints and muscles that I had experienced, disappeared, my mind is a lot clearer and I generally have more energy.

It is extremely important to stick to fresh whole foods; fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, fish, etc... If you need something sweet, eat fruit - even tropical fruits that tend to be sweeter!  It may be tough at the beginning but the effort is worth it and the changes you will experience will make you realize just what you were doing to yourself before.

It is also important to remember that some, so called, "healthy options" really aren't that healthy at all.   Shop bought orange juice is packed full of sugar.  If you want juice, squeeze it yourself and drink IMMEDIATELY, and I must say, it is much better for you body if you eat the orange instead of juicing it.  Low fat yogurts have also been found to contain up to 5 teaspoons of sugar!

So, good luck to Action on Sugar, they have my full support!

Social Nutrition:  You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com