What's so bad about sugar?

Sugar is a natural ingredient that has been part of our diet for thousands of years. It's what's known as a simple carbohydrate, and at a basic level it's broken down in our body to provide energy. How fast or how slow it's broken-down is key and makes all the difference in how our bodies respond to it. There are different kinds of sugar, but to keep it simple, anything with an "ose" ending is sugar. Below is a list of the most common sugars. Tomorrow I will give you a list of all the names for sugar in our food supply. There are many!

Most Common Sugars:

1. Sucrose is often called table sugar. Made up of glucose and fructose, it is extracted from sugarcane or sugar beet and is also naturally present in most fruits and vegetables.
2. Fructose and glucose are found in fruits, vegetables, and honey.
3. Lactose is commonly called milk sugar because it is found in milk and dairy products.
4. Maltose is also known as malt sugar and is found in malted drinks and beer.

Are you nutritionally bankrupt?

It's very important to distinguish between refined and processed sugars such as table sugar, and unprocessed sugars that are naturally found in foods like fruits, veggies, and dairy products. The difference is the foods that contain unprocessed natural sugars, fruits and veggies, for instance, also contain health-promoting nutrients like water, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and phytonutrients, and break down to sugar at a slower rate. Foods that contain refined and processed sugars such as candy and commercial baked goods do not have these health benefits and break down to sugar at a faster rate, which is, as you've probably already guessed, not good.

When eaten in balance with other healthy foods, foods that contain natural sugars are always health-promoting. They are referred to as nutrient-dense foods. Foods that contain refined and processed sugars are always health depleting. They are referred to as nutrient-depleting or empty-calorie foods, pretty much devoid of all key nutrients with no nutritional benefit whatsoever. They rob our bodies of essential nutrients (B vitamins, chromium, zinc, magnesium, and other trace minerals) that the body needs to metabolize them, and overeating them can leave us with a serious nutrient deficit.

A good analogy is that of a bank account. If you only withdraw money from your bank account without ever depositing money, what would happen? You would be financially broke! The same thing happens in regard to our health when we eat too much processed sugar. We deplete ourselves of vital nutrients, leaving us nutritionally broke.

Bottom Line:

Sugar is virtually devoid of any key vitamins and minerals. Sugar contains 16 calories per teaspoon, but they are empty calories since sugar has no B vitamins, chromium, magnesium, zinc, or other trace minerals that the body needs to digest and metabolize it.

Why We Should Kick the Habit

There are so many reasons--pretty much all health-related--why we should all lay off the sweet stuff. The bottom line is that if we want to have lasting energy, lose some unwanted weight, burn fat more efficiently, dial down the aging process, avoid most chronic diseases, up our health potential exponentially, rock out our immune system, and basically live better and longer lives, we need to eat way less sugar!

Now I'm a biochemistry geek, and I find human metabolism (the process of converting food into energy that allows our bodies to function--as in keeping us alive!) freakishly fascinating. I think you will also get benefits from knowing what happens in your body when you eat sugar. It's probably my favorite thing to talk about in my private practice, whether my clients want to hear about it or not.

Sugar, as we discussed, is a simple carbohydrate. The body breaks down all carbohydrates into glucose (blood sugar), which is either burned for energy or stored in the liver and muscle cells as a backup form of energy (glycogen). Our brain, major organs, and muscles all need glucose to function properly. It's when there is too much glucose for the body to handle that we have a problem. This happens when we consume too much refined and processed sugar in the form of sugary beverages, baked goods, candy, sugary breakfast cereals, basically all beverages and foods that contain anything with an "ose" ending and all the other names I will reveal tomorrow. Let me give you an example that sums up the whole process very simply.

The Slump Syndrome:

Let's say you start your day off having a coffee with sugar and something sweet (donut, bagel with butter and jam, sweetened yogurt, cereal, an instant packet of sweetened oatmeal, an "energy" drink or bar, or just fruit). This high-sugar meal rapidly breaks down to glucose and causes what we call a blood-sugar spike followed by a blood-sugar crash due to the pancreas secreting a hormone called insulin (insulin's job is to get the glucose inside the cell so that it can be burned for energy).

Our body responds to this phenomenon by telling us "Give me more sugar--NOW!" So in a feeble attempt to get our energy back, we grab the first sweet thing we see and the vicious cycle begins again. The more this happens, the more profound the sugar spike and the more insulin is required to clean up the mess. Eventually our cells become resistant to insulin's efforts, and sugar is no longer efficiently burned for energy but stored as fat instead. This is because insulin is a fat-storage hormone. The more insulin we have floating around, the more fat we store, and guess where insulin's favorite fat-storing place is? Right smack on that once-flat belly of yours. This process is at the root of all inflammatory and chronic health issues today. Enough said!

Our Brains on Sugar

Why do we love sugar so much? When we consume sugar, it stimulates our brain to secrete serotonin, our "feel-good" neurotransmitter that makes us feel really happy and calm. Our brain's attempt to prolong this good feeling causes us to crave more sugar. The more sugar we eat, the more sugar our brain craves and the habit becomes difficult to break. So you can see that sugar's effect on the brain is similar to that of an addictive drug. It can even cause withdrawal-like symptoms in some people when they go cold turkey. Because of this, it's best to wean off sugar over a period of one to two weeks.

Our brain needs some sugar though and actually uses half of all the glucose in our body to function efficiently (i.e., think, learn, remember things). The brain cannot store glucose, which means it requires a continuous supply. Because of this high-energy demand, the foods we consume greatly affect brain function. Although the brain is dependent on glucose as its main fuel, too much of this energy source can be a bad thing. Studies have linked excess sugar consumption to accelerated aging of brain cells and memory and cognitive deficiencies. As with everything else, moderation is key.