Are you a sugar addict? Everything you need to know about sugar and 6 simple ways to cut back

How many times have you seen this happen? Today’s super foods become tomorrow’s foods to avoid. And today's foods to avoid become tomorrow's super foods. It used to be eggs and cholesterol. Then it was fatty foods. Then it was red meat. Then it was gluten and carbs. And today it’s sugar. As we can see, nearly every food group has been vilified at one point or another.
 
Is this because science continually evolves, enlightening us and confusing us all along the way? Maybe. Or maybe it just depends on which industry has successfully lobbied the hardest that year to ensure their products are the “healthiest”.
 
But I digress. This is not intended to be a political post. At the end of the day, the diet that works best for you depends on many factors, politics aside. It depends on your activity levels, your age, your sex, your genes, your environment and your morals and beliefs about where your food has come from, just to name a few. If I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that there really is no one-size-fits-all diet.
 
Furthermore, if you were tuned in enough and you actually tried to follow all of the changing (and often conflicting) information over the years, the only thing left on your dinner plate would be an ice cube with a side of water. But wait, beware…before you take that first sip…there’s plastic, Prozac and pollutants in our water supply too. Gimme that plate back!
 
But back to sugar…my interest in sugar comes from witnessing firsthand accounts of its effects. I’ve seen the effects that consuming excess amounts of sugar can have on a person over the years. Specifically, what it can do to those who are genetically predisposed to getting type 2 diabetes.
 
I’ll spare you the details because honestly, they can get quite graphic. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that you want to keep all of your body parts and organs intact. I’m assuming you value your ability to see things and your life is better having two functioning kidneys at all times. If you’re reading this, chances are you would also rather not spend the rest of your life dependent on expensive medications (which come with their own host of undesirable side effects).
 
I would do anything to help the patients I’ve seen by rewinding time and reversing the devastating effects that years of consuming too much sugar has done to their bodies and consequently, to their quality of lives.
 
Is all sugar bad?
Before going any further, let’s also get rid of the word “bad”. There is nothing inherently or morally bad about sugar. Sugar is just a type of carbohydrate, found naturally in many foods. Our brains light up when they detect sugar and they are designed to do so. Therefore, there is also nothing inherently wrong with you for craving and wanting to pursue sugar.

For our ancestors, the splendid taste of sugar in nature meant an excellent food source had been found. This usually ended up being a colorful, deliciously juicy, nutritionally powerful bundle of sweet goodness for the taking. No doubt this was a true jackpot for hungry humans!
 
Sugar is essential for life. Sugar is energy. Carbohydrates equal energy. We need energy to sustain life. So no, sugar is not bad in and of itself. It’s when we start messing with natural foods and adding sugar that causes a bit of a problem.
 
Fast forward to the modern world and our brains remain wired the same as our ancestors scoping out natural sugars. Except the only difference is, our resourceful and innovative species went ahead and found ways to add sugar to all kinds of things where it didn’t exist before. And this is where the problem lies. While sugar itself isn’t bad, too much sugar is bad.

Added sugar vs. natural sugar
The truth is, not all sugar is created equal. There are several different types of sugar. But I personally prefer to keep things simple. We don’t need to complicate things too much here because it’s really a basic concept. 
 
Sugars appear naturally in many foods, like in fruits. Then there are the sugars that we’ve concocted and added to other foods. Foods that occur naturally in food are typically packed with fiber, which slows down the absorption of all that sugar. These sugars are also diluted with water from the fruits in their natural form. These foods with naturally occurring sugar tend to offer a host of nutritional benefits. Foods that we add heaps of sugar to, on the other hand, seem to fall short in the nutrition department.
 
But why does it matter how fast the sugar is absorbed? Because our bodies can only process so much sugar at a time. Just like our un-evolved gluttonous sugar-craving brains, our bodies have also not evolved enough yet to process our modern day excessively sugary diets. There is still a significant mismatch between what our bodies are capable of doing and what our modern world asks of them.
 
Low Glycemic vs. High Glycemic Foods
Think of low glycemic foods as slow burning candles while high glycemic foods are like flashes of lightning.
 
High glycemic foods cause a spike in your blood sugar, followed by a thundering crash in energy levels soon after. Lots of insulin is needed to process all this sugar and over time, this messes with your body’s ability to respond to insulin (enter type 2 diabetes!).
 
But low glycemic foods don’t cause your blood sugar to spike. They often contain fiber, water and sometimes protein and fat that help keep the breakdown of sugar at a stable level. Think of them as being your manageable, well-controlled warm-glow candles. They’re your steady energy sources.
 
Long story short, try to seek out carbs that are considered “low glycemic”.
 
Examples of low glycemic foods include:

• Oat bran and rice bran products
• Whole wheat, sourdough and pumpernickel breads
• Plain yogurt
• Beans, tofu, nuts & seeds
• Meat products
• Olives and avocadoes 
• Most fruits and vegetables (not canned or dried)
  

 
Examples of high glycemic foods include:

• White bread
• White rice
• Cereals
• Candy bars
• Fruit juices and sodas
• Certain fruits, like pineapple and watermelon
• Baked sweets, like cookies and cakes
• Crackers
• French fries and chips
  
• Canned and dried fruits
  

…basically all of our favorite things!
 
How much sugar is too much?
Current recommendations say we should have no more than 6 teaspoons, or 24 grams, of added sugar per day. Read the label of your favorite yogurt. My guess is that unless it’s plain yogurt, you’ve already reached your limit for the day with just a few spoonfuls. But realistically, most of us eat way more than this on a given day.
 
This surely helps explain why type 2 diabetes and chronic inflammation are running rampant in today’s world. It’s all too easy to surpass the recommended intake with foods that are practically shoved down our throats with 24/7 marketing. But all is not without hope.

6 simple ways to cut back on your sugar intake

1. It all starts with awareness and you’ve already taken your first step.
2. Decide why it’s important to you to start cutting back on sugar. Be very clear on your motivation because it will take some willpower to avoid your favorite omnipresent junk foods.
3. Start reading labels if you aren’t already. And look at the added sugar content. Be mindful of serving size (the labels will try to trick you with unrealistic serving sizes!). And don’t forget to check the labels on your drinks too!
4. Don’t allow temptation into your home. It’s a million times easier to resist temptation when your environment is conducive to your goals. Let’s just say…it’s a lot harder to devour an entire sleeve of Oreos when you don’t have any Oreos in your house!
5. Plan, plan, plan. Do some meal prepping for the week. If you fill yourself up with healthy foods first, you’ll be far less likely to find yourself in a position where you’ll be scavenging for sugar out of hunger and desperation.
6. Manage your stress. When you’re tired or stressed, your hormones change. This causes you to crave sugar. Prioritizing sleep is a must. Use effective coping skills for stress.

 
Now does this mean you should totally ban all of your favorite sugary delectables from your diet once and for all? Not necessarily. I know that I would not be able to do so. Or, let me rephrase. Of course I would be able to. But admittedly, it would be a nearly impossible and highly unpleasant feat for me.
 
My grandmother always said that if you deprive yourself too much of something that you love, that deprivation will kill you long before that thing will. I believe there is some truth in this. Life is too short to never indulge. Our brains constantly seek and crave indulgence. But having said this, we can indulge intelligently.
 
You can eat healthy 80% of the time and allow yourself those sweet indulgences 20% of the time. This could mean that 80% of your food intake during the day contains healthy foods and 20% contains some reasonable indulgence. Or it could mean that 80% of your week is healthy and then you allow yourself a planned cheat day in there somewhere. Again, how this looks depends entirely on what works for you.
 
The idea is to incorporate those foods that you just can’t seem to part with, but do so in moderation. This way, by decreasing exposure to these foods, you also get to actually look forward to enjoying them.
 
Keep things simple: Try to eat like your ancestors
Despite all of the conflicting advice over the years, some advice, for the most part, has remained consistent. Fruits and vegetables are good for you. Nuts, seeds and legumes are good for you. Herbs and spices are good for you. Fish is good for you, particularly when it’s prepared with a healthy fat like olive oil (Mmmmm). See the common denominator here? Essentially, it’s the minimally processed foods as they occurred in nature, which seem to remain forever in this “good for you” category. Conversely, Frankenfoods created in laboratories are not good for you.
 
Final Words
At the end of the day we’re all just trying to do the best we can do. Constantly hearing conflicting information about the foods we eat leaves us feeling confused and unmotivated. Spending too much time analyzing our foods under a microscope can be exhausting. Trying to always avoid foods that we’re bombarded with on a daily basis is draining and leaves us feeling deprived.

The idea is to keep things simple. Indulge sometimes, but not too often. Find a balance that works for you. Eat those foods that you’d recognize in nature often. And try to limit the ones with complicated labels. Plan for this in advance by way of meal planning and remove temptations in your environment as best you can.
 
Be aware of what you are putting into your body and then consciously decide if the food’s adverse effects will be worth those few minutes of pleasure. Maybe it is. Only you can decide this. But sometimes making an informed decision and accepting its consequences might just be enough.