Why Sugar is Bad For You: The Facts
Here is the 99th in our new series of 100 Weight Loss Tips posts designed to give you a brand new tip on how to lose weight, or as in this case, how not to put on more weight!
This is all about the nemesis of all slimmers, SUGAR!
You could even say that sugar is pure evil that tempts the soul and fools the stoutest heart into submission simply because it makes food taste so good! While this great tasting flavoring is something you might think you can do without, you most likely don’t want to hear this:
Why Sugar is Bad For You
The more refined you sugar comes, the more that your own body will react in a negative way to it. Sugar is in just about everything we eat and drink in most normal people's diet. To give you some idea how that works, if it's sweet to the taste, you can bet that it's got sugar in it. Even if it is savory to the taste, it has still got sugar in it!
There are a great deal of different types of sugars out there and you can be assured that all of them are without exception ultimately metabolized by your body. But it's not all bad news, as I will point out.
There are two main types of sugars that you, as a dieter, need to be aware of. They are Intrinsic sugars and Extrinsic sugars.
Intrinsic Sugars
Intrinsic sugars are the types found in fruits and vegetables and these are contained in the actual cell structures of the fruits and vegetables themselves. Of these sugars, you do not need to make any cut backs if you're trying to lose weight fast because they are natural and come along with many vitamins and minerals as well as fiber essential to the normal functioning of the body.
In essence, these are good sugars that you can add to your diet.
Extrinsic Sugars
Extrinsic sugars are those which are not contained within the cell structures of natural foods.
They come in two main groups, which are Milk Extrinsic Sugars, which are naturally occurring in milk products such as fresh milk, yoghurt, cheese, butter etc and Non Milk Extrinsic Sugars, (NME) which the sugars that are added to foods in order to sweeten them, bulk them up or preserve them by extending their shelf life.
From a weight loss strategy point of view, it is the NME's that are the ones to be avoided at all costs. That's because they carry no additional nutrients with them and are metabolized by the body and placed into storage in fat cells for later use.
The problem with this system is that because you eat so much of it, the body never gets around to using its stored fat and just keeps adding to it. That's why you gain weight when you ingest large quantities of NME's.
The good news is that if you cut these down to the barest minimum and start exercising regularly, your body will have to start using up the stored fat that you've accumulated and you will start to lose weight fast.
The bad news for anyone who is looking for a weight loss solutions is that there is growing evidence to suggest that sugar is addictive which means that the more you eat, the more you crave. It becomes a vicious circle and is what leads to obesity in many adults and children.
Health Risks
The health risks are frightening once you get onto this nasty roller coaster ride that starts to pick up momentum the more weight that you gain. The sugar cravings won't go away and the weight gain keeps coming as you pile on the pounds.
What's worse, the more weight you gain, the more lethargic you become, making it all the more difficult to break out of the cycle and start doing some exercise before its too late.
Along with weight gain, which in itself comes with a long list of health risks from strokes and heart disease to high cholesterol and diabetes which could lead to heart attacks, to tooth decay, inflammation of the arteries and wait for it... cancer! Yep, studies have shown a link between certain cancers and excessive amounts of non-milk extrinsic sugars in the body.
But that's a topic for a future post all on its own, I think.
If you are addicted to sugar, getting off the roller coaster is going to be a tough hurdle to overcome, but the alternative is exposure to a matrix of ways to die young. What do you want to happen?
Weight loss tips number 98 will follow in the next post!
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Posted on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 in Top 100 Weight Loss Tips | 4 Comments
4 thoughts on "Why Sugar is Bad For You: The Facts"
Sal says:
Thanks for the info on sugar -- I eat far too much of the stuff and your post really made me think that I should be cutting down or at least looking for some healthier alternatives.
David says:
I have needed to lose weight for years but have not found that golden key that will allow me to lose weight easily. Reducing sugar intake I guess is one way of doing that, but there has to be more I can do. Thanks for the insights.
David
Laura says:
I am a slimmer, each week i have gone without added sugars i have lost over 1kg (yes each week without sugar).
over the last few years i have been discovering how POISENOUS sugars are.
sugars are related to obesity and type 2 diabetes.
obesity is related to heart disease, an increased risk of having a stroke, arthritis in knees, and hips (for carrying that weight) stomach cancer, bowel cancer, sleep apnoea (when you stop breathing in your sleep) and other respiratory issues.
T2DM is related to the above, aswell as kidney faliure, cataracts (blindness) peripheral vascular disease (blockages in your veins) neuropathy (where your nerves die off) and an increased risk of wounds in your feet and fingers (and with the decreased circulation from your PVD, you WILL loose that limb)
there is also a direct link with regular soft drink consumption and pancreatic cancer. PS Pancreatic cancer is one of the most painful cancers, and a pain that cannot be relieved
so instead of ending up as a 100kg blob in a wheelchair with two stumps on dialasys monday wednesdays and fridays, filtering your blood of all the urine and other chemicals cause your kidneys have failed, stop eating sugar.
Dont eat yourself to death. Put down the chocolate bar and go for a walk.
Richard says:
Try Stevia as an alternative
Terry says:
Hey Richard, while Stevia is a good herbal sweetener and infinitely preferable to carcinogenic poisons such as artificial sweeteners aspartame and saccharine, it has yet to be passed by the FDA as safe for widespread consumption. I know that just means they haven't tested it enough to be sure it's safe, but they also have reservations.
I know they use it in Japan and South American countries, but there is evidence to suggest that while it's OK in very small amounts, to go and start using it like refined sugar the way it happens in the US, there could be problems. It's not approved in Canada or Europe either, so there must be something those guys don't like about it. Especially Europe where they seem to let more products pass.
Here's more information for anyone who isn't sure about it: http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.html