Look into how much natural sugar you are eating. I know many people struggle with the idea of cutting back on natural sugar. You don’t have to cut it out all together (I haven’t) but I think it’s good to realise that sugar is sugar whether or not it is from a mango or a mars bar. Sure, fruit obviously has health benefits like vitamins and antioxidants, BUT at the end of the day it’s still sugar.
I read this on Sarah Wilson yesterday and thought it was worth mentioning here.
* In caveman days sugar – or fructose – was so rare that when we DID stumble on it, we were designed to binge on it AND store it instantly as fat. Our biology hasn’t changed in the 10,000 years since the agricultural revolution, nor since the 1800s when sugar was introduced. We’re still designed to binge on it and store it as fat.
*Fructose is the only food molecule that we a) don’t have a corresponding enzyme in our brain that says “we’ve had enough” and b) that goes straight to the liver as fat.
* Yep, sure sugar is natural. Fruit is natural. But so is arsenic and petroleum.
*Our grandparents didn’t eat four pieces of fruit a day. Plus the fruit back then didn’t contain as much sugar. Fruit day has been “bred” to be sweeter.
* A glass of Coke and a glass of apple juice – the same amount of sugar is in each…about 10-12 teaspoons.
Should I give up natural sugars?
I haven’t – but I have cut back on the amount of so called “healthy” sugars I eat. Honey, maple syrup, agave syrup and fruit are still fructose. Yes, they do have more nutritional value than regular processed sugars (which isn’t hard considering regular sugar has no nutritional value) but it is still fructose – and you shouldn’t eat too much of it.
How much natural sugar do I have?
Good question. I eat blueberries and strawberries regularly and some “high” sugar fruits – like mangos on the occassion. The ice cream we buy has relatively low sugar levels but it’s still sweetened with agave syrup. I am more of a savoury person in general,so I was never one to eat a lot of fruit; even before I started investigating the dangers of sugar.
This week
Start cutting back on honey, maple syrup and agave if you are using them. Try stevia instead. Be mindful of the amount of fruit you eat…perhaps consider cutting back and see if you feel a difference? Raspberries, lime, lemon, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cranberries all have low levels of sugar, try to eat these fruits over high sugar fruits.
Have you cut back on the amount of natural sugar you eat? Do you feel any different?
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