5 Reasons Why Sugar Is So Bad For You

By Leon Cooper

Ok so most people are in denial about how much sugar we actually eat, myself included. But have you ever tried to track and count the amount of sugar you’re actually putting into your body? It’s extremely difficult to do because most foods out there don’t tell you exactly how much sugar is in them. They hide behind words like glucose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, corn syrup and a few others. These words aren’t used in our regular vocabulary so we tend to ignore them. Plus that’s just our food, what about our drinks? I’ll give you an example. The number one killer for high sugar drinks out there is soda pop. Now I’ll admit that I enjoy a coke every now and then but if you break down the amount and content of a coke you’ll see it can add up quickly.

There’s 41g of sugar in a can of coke. So a regular sized bottle has about 751ml which is about double the size of a can. Now let’s say you drink 2 bottles of coke a day (it’s not uncommon). 82g sugar in 710ml X 2/day. That’s 164g of sugar, or approx 6 ounces. Now just to put this into perspective when you go out to a restaurant and order a small steak it usually comes as a 6 ounce steak. Picture that steak as a 6 ounce pile of sugar. Could you eat that in one sitting? Because most of us can easily drink that in one sitting if we had to. In fact we probably have, with every restaurant now giving free refills and the amount of times the waitress comes around with the jug we’ve probably drank over a liter of coke at a meal one time or another. Now remember, that’s just looking at our drinks, and that’s just one meal. Imagine calculating all the food we eat and trying to count the amount of sugar as well. So you can see how it will add up quickly without even knowing it. The numbers are shocking.

My point is that we really need to consciously make an effort to reduce our sugar intake through out the day, and not just because “it’s bad for you” that’s too general. Here is a list of 5 reasons why sugar is “bad for you”:

Weight Gain

This is as obvious one. From the amount of sugar that we as a society consume on a regular basis we would all have to be training like Olympian athletes to burn it off and maintain our current weight, but since we’re not Olympian athletes the pounds keep creeping up on us. This is because sugar is “empty calories”. And what that means is that your body doesn’t use sugar as an energy source. Now some may argue that sugar gives you a surge of instant energy when you ingest it and an example of that would be when a 10 year old try’s their first ever pixy stix and is bouncing off the walls for a good 10-15 min. However they’re probably only using 10% of the total pixy stix for energy and the other 90% go unused. Then what happens to them? They usually get easily agitated and fatigued can’t focus well and are ready for a nap. And as for that other 90% sugar, well that’s still in your body but can’t be used for energy therefore it gets stored as reserves or “FAT”. So by the term “empty calories” I mean when you ingest it most of it just turns into fat, it serves no benefit to your body what so ever.

Mineral Depletion

When you eat refined sugar, your body takes nutrients from other cells to metabolize it because the sugar lacks the ability to do so on it’s own. Minerals like calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium are taken from vital body parts to make use of the sugar you ingested. Over Time, the vital body processes requiring those minerals run down and become less efficient. So we’re actually stealing necessary nutrients from other parts of our body that need them the most just to deal with the excess amount of sugar in our body. This is why our cholesterol goes up, and why our immune system doesn’t work as well. We’re actually opening up the door and letting infection, inflammation and disease come into our bodies and make us sick again and again because we don’t have the proper nutrients to fend them off. The sugar is stealing them.

Bone Loss

As stated above calcium is one of the minerals that is depleted when sugar enters the body. Calcium serves a major roll in bone structure. Calcium is what makes bones strong and durable. When it gets depleted then your body becomes more susceptible to injury such as breaks, fractures, joint problems and osteoporosis. Studies are finding osteoporosis occurring in people much earlier in life than in previous generations. They link this to a lack of calcium in the average person’s diet. Calcium also plays a key roll in keeping your teeth healthy and strong. Without it you become a higher risk to tooth decay and without calcium and a higher intake of sugar your teeth will rot that much faster.

Diabetes

Diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the most common diseases in the North American culture. Sugar is mainly responsible for this. See when you take in too much sugar on a regular basis your body’s natural blood sugar rises causing your pancreas to secrete insulin. This insulin helps bring the body’s blood sugar levels back down to normal. If you keep ingesting large amounts of sugar on a regular daily basis then eventually your pancreas will stop working. Then you’ve got major problems. Without insulin being able to regulate your blood sugar you may go into diabetic shock which can kill you. So what will happen is that you will be required to take regular insulin shots daily and you will be at far greater risk of going into shock if you continue to take in sugar. Your pancreas can not repair itself so this is a life long process for diabetics.

Fatigue

The ever popular sugar high feels great for the brief moment that you have it but then after that you feel even worse. More tired, more fatigue, can barley keep your eyes open, more irritable, short tempered, and all your brain is telling you is to get more sugar. It’s like a sugar hang over. You get that surge of energy and everything in your body starts working harder and faster then that source runs out and your body just wants to shut down, and all that will take place with 30 min. Then the hangover starts. Now your body is trying to recover from that massive surge but remember only 10% of the sugar was used so your body still has a job to do by trying to regulate your blood sugar, and store those empty calories as fat as well as keeping every other organ in your body working at an optimal level. So while your body is working overtime to recover from your sugar rush all your brain wants to do is shut down, or take a nap. This is why after a big meal of refined sugars we want to go lie on the couch and crash for about an hour. Now most of us don’t have the capability to live like this, getting a sugar high then crashing. We have jobs to do, people to see, places to go, responsibilities. So for the rest of the day we’re trying to fight the fatigue that we have created for ourselves. We’re not thinking clear, we can’t focus, the day becomes stressful and it’s not as much fun anymore. And that’s the vicious cycle that we’ve been going through because this society has become addicted to sugar.

Protein Sources and How Much to Consume

 

With so many different nutritional practices it seems one fairly common consensus is that additional protein is needed. In the past when I have spoke to high school students I was always surprised at how often the students didn’t know which foods were good choices for protein. Maybe this is why many people are not consuming enough, a simple lack of understanding of which foods to eat.

Some of the best protein rich foods are: beef, poultry, buffalo and wild game, fish, egg whites, and cottage cheese. When choosing a protein source be cautious of the ratio of protein vs fats, etc. For instance other items such as some pork, especially nuts, and legumes tend to contain so much fat that to consume any significant amount of protein you are consuming a tremendous amount of fat. Now that you have some ideas which foods might be the best to eat you may be wondering just how much and how often you should be eating protein.

I remember when I first started personal training asking people if they ate a lot of protein. So often I was met with, “yes I eat plenty of protein we have meat a couple times per week.” Our body is in a constant need of protein, it does so much more than just make muscles. Every time we consume foods our blood sugar increases and the body releases insulin, the ultimate storage hormone which lowers our blood sugar and stimulates hunger. At the same time insulin is storing sugars our body is also using and storing the protein within our blood, when our blood sugar drops low, so may our blood protein levels. When our body needs to repair tissue from injury, strain or stress, reinforce our immune system, or help us become more alert or lay down to rest proteins play important roles. By now I bet you see where I am going, protein needs to be the other cornerstone to our daily nutrition next to the almighty carbohydrate. If you consume carbs, you should be consuming protein alongside four to six times per day. In terms of just how much, well that’s an argument that will probably run rampant through all time, but my suggestion would be 1-2 grams or protein per kilogram of bodyweight. (Less active people at the lower end of the scale and more active people toward the higher end.) This is just a guideline, the amount necessary for healthy basic living and the amount for performance or dramatic physical change can be very different, we can talk more about that in a future column. Good luck, and happy holidays!

With so many different nutritional practices it seems one fairly common consensus is that additional protein is needed. In the past when I have spoke to high school students I was always surprised at how often the students didn’t know which foods were good choices for protein. Maybe this is why many people are not consuming enough, a simple lack of understanding of which foods to eat.

Some of the best protein rich foods are: beef, poultry, buffalo and wild game, fish, egg whites, and cottage cheese. When choosing a protein source be cautious of the ratio of protein vs fats, etc. For instance other items such as some pork, especially nuts, and legumes tend to contain so much fat that to consume any significant amount of protein you are consuming a tremendous amount of fat. Now that you have some ideas which foods might be the best to eat you may be wondering just how much and how often you should be eating protein.

I remember when I first started personal training asking people if they ate a lot of protein. So often I was met with, “yes I eat plenty of protein we have meat a couple times per week.” Our body is in a constant need of protein, it does so much more than just make muscles. Every time we consume foods our blood sugar increases and the body releases insulin, the ultimate storage hormone which lowers our blood sugar and stimulates hunger. At the same time insulin is storing sugars our body is also using and storing the protein within our blood, when our blood sugar drops low, so may our blood protein levels. When our body needs to repair tissue from injury, strain or stress, reinforce our immune system, or help us become more alert or lay down to rest proteins play important roles. By now I bet you see where I am going, protein needs to be the other cornerstone to our daily nutrition next to the almighty carbohydrate. If you consume carbs, you should be consuming protein alongside four to six times per day. In terms of just how much, well that’s an argument that will probably run rampant through all time, but my suggestion would be 1-2 grams or protein per kilogram of bodyweight. (Less active people at the lower end of the scale and more active people toward the higher end.) This is just a guideline, the amount necessary for healthy basic living and the amount for performance or dramatic physical change can be very different, we can talk more about that in a future column. Good luck, and happy holidays!

With so many different nutritional practices it seems one fairly common consensus is that additional protein is needed. In the past when I have spoke to high school students I was always surprised at how often the students didn’t know which foods were good choices for protein. Maybe this is why many people are not consuming enough, a simple lack of understanding of which foods to eat.

Some of the best protein rich foods are: beef, poultry, buffalo and wild game, fish, egg whites, and cottage cheese. When choosing a protein source be cautious of the ratio of protein vs fats, etc. For instance other items such as some pork, especially nuts, and legumes tend to contain so much fat that to consume any significant amount of protein you are consuming a tremendous amount of fat. Now that you have some ideas which foods might be the best to eat you may be wondering just how much and how often you should be eating protein.

I remember when I first started personal training asking people if they ate a lot of protein. So often I was met with, “yes I eat plenty of protein we have meat a couple times per week.” Our body is in a constant need of protein, it does so much more than just make muscles. Every time we consume foods our blood sugar increases and the body releases insulin, the ultimate storage hormone which lowers our blood sugar and stimulates hunger. At the same time insulin is storing sugars our body is also using and storing the protein within our blood, when our blood sugar drops low, so may our blood protein levels. When our body needs to repair tissue from injury, strain or stress, reinforce our immune system, or help us become more alert or lay down to rest proteins play important roles. By now I bet you see where I am going, protein needs to be the other cornerstone to our daily nutrition next to the almighty carbohydrate. If you consume carbs, you should be consuming protein alongside four to six times per day. In terms of just how much, well that’s an argument that will probably run rampant through all time, but my suggestion would be 1-2 grams or protein per kilogram of bodyweight. (Less active people at the lower end of the scale and more active people toward the higher end.) This is just a guideline, the amount necessary for healthy basic living and the amount for performance or dramatic physical change can be very different, we can talk more about that in a future column. Good luck, and happy holidays!

Eat More, Burn More Fat

We should be cautious about many popular nutritional programs that play to our “common sense” work ethic that we need to restrict more or eat less to accomplish our weight loss or fitness goals.

To change directions for a moment; I think we can all agree that our world is a little more fast paced than it was 100 years ago, and that’s not likely to change. In today’s world just finding the time to do anything is becoming increasingly difficult. On that statement alone this column could easily shift back to time management or goal setting once again but the time management problem I am referring to this time is one of even greater importance. Finding time to eat, as silly as it sounds this has become a tremendously huge issue. Look at the line ups for drive-thrus, it has to be frustrating waiting so long for sub-standard food during your busy day. Or it will be tough to attend an evening function when you work late and have to stop for groceries before you embark on the hour long process to prepare a well rounded evening meal.

Simply, most people are not making the time to eat balanced meals regularly throughout the day. In fact we do a carful approximation for every individual that visits our facility of the number of calories the consume day to day. This number is evaluated by the standardized caloric intake equation pertaining to resting metabolic rate and activity. As of now more than 90% of everyone who has visited us for consultation has came in eating less than the standardized acceptable healthy amount, and often far less. If you hear any of the following:  too many carbs, too much fat, portion control, suppress appetite, you should immediately run to the nearest mirror and repeat, “what this really means is I may need to eat more protein, carbs, or fat to balance out what I am already eating. That eating too much isn’t as likely as eating out of balance and too little for my body to function at its best.”

A little analogy I use to demonstrate this is:

Most people eat too little, the body being an incredibly adaptive machine adapts to everything, just like we do. Imagine for a moment if your dining room and bathroom light in your home were burnt out and you could not replace them. It would be a major inconvenience, but if we knew they could not be repaired for some time we would quickly find a way to work around it and it would not be as big of a deal. My point is that your body is the same, if your nutrition is out of balance or you are not meeting minimum requirements it will simply adapt the best it can and you may never know it isn’t working well until you are sick, or injured, or both.

To achieve nutritional balance you need to understand some very basic rules:

1)      Understand what nutrients your core foods provide. (mostly protein, mostly carbs, mostly fat.)

2)      Combine foods at every meal so you have comparable portions of proteins and carbs and about half the amount of something providing fats. Essentially avoid oils, creams, and gravies and your balance will be in the ball park.

3)      Eat frequently, digestion is our most efficient calorie burner, it requires no extra time on your part. The more often you eat the more calories your metabolism burns in a day.

In our fast paced world, time is our most valuable commodity. That is not likely to change but by taking the necessary steps to eat frequently and focusing on balancing nutrients within every meal I can guarantee you will be more successful reaching your fitness goals and as an added bonus you are going to look, feel and perform better. Don’t be fooled by the big promises of low calorie diets, you and your body will thank me later.