How Sweet It Is... Or Is It?

     Good morning, All...  The first day of Warrior Camp...  Statement... "No added or refined sugars".  In my mind, I am thinking, "I've got this".  I am not a sweets person.  It won't affect me."  Huuuummmmmm...  Then I decided to take a deeper look into the topic.   First thing I wanted to know was, what is considered added sugar?  Well, here you go.  There is naturally occuring sugar.  That would be the sugar found in fruits (fructose) or milk (lactose).  Added sugar is anything placed in a product during processing, preparation or added at the table.   Then I needed to know what are the suggested daily recommendations for sugar intake.  It seems for women it is 100 calories (6 teaspoonsful) and for men it is 150 calories (9 teaspoonsful).  It seems the average American is taking in about 355 calories or 22 teaspoonsful.   Finally, I wanted to know what happens if we are getting too much added sugar in our diets on a regular basis.  It means that we are at risk for many things.  The obvious would be tooth decay and weight gain.  We already know that weight gain can lead to obesity, which can lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol which can lead to a possible heart attack or stroke.   But excess sugar can cause insulin resistance and liver disease.
 
     You can pretty much understand the tooth decay and the weight gain.  But too much sugar in our diets decreases nitric oxide which will cause our blood vessels to get narrow, causing high blood pressure, leading to an increased risk for heart disease.  Then too much sugar can cause spikes in insulin which can push fat into the liver cells, causing scarring that could lead to cirrhosis of the liver.  Well, that I sure didn't know!!!  Also when there are continuous sugar spikes, the insulin in your body that handles the proper conversion of sugar becomes less effective.  It's just one vicious cycle.  So, now what?

     Well Fam, we have to read the labels on packaged foods.  Most product labels list sugar in "grams".  If the recommendation for women is 100 calories and 4 calories = 1 gram of sugar, then you should be having no more than 25 grams of sugar per day.... Uh-oh.   

     I don't keep alot of "packaged" foods in my home.  I like using fresh produce and veggies.  Furthermore, you know like I do, if you have bags of snack foods in your house, you are going to eat until they are gone.  So why bother?  I did take a close look at a container of Greek VANILLA yogurt (I don't want to call names) that I had in my fridge.  That container had 18 grams of sugar.    I guess that explains the suggestion to buy the PLAIN yogurt and add fresh fruit.   This is going to take some getting use to.

     So Family, I challenge you to back off of the ADDED SUGAR for the next 4 weeks.  Read the labels.  Do not add EXTRA sugar, no sodas, no juices (unless you are using a juicer with fresh fruit and veggies), plain yogurt with fresh fruit added..  Let's start there and see how we do.  For some it will be hard, but you can do it.  It's about  a healthier lifestyle and mindset.  SMOOCHES...
(Special thanks to American Heart Asso., Dr. Oz, Mayoclinic.com)