The holidays are approaching and that means sugar. Lots of sugar. We Americans seem to be addicted to sweet things during the holidays. Halloween candy, Thanksgiving pies, Christmas cookies. I’m not here to suggest that you never have dessert, but it would be a good idea to eat healthier now so you can splurge in small doses during the holidays. Being aware that high doses of sugar are actually toxic to our bodies will help us take smaller portions.1. Cutting out soda is a great way to prevent sugar overdose. Sugar in drinks is particularly harmful because the body processes it quickly, unlike the sugar in fruit which has fiber to slow the process spreading out the introduction of sugar to the pancreas and liver.
Here are some pretty sobering research results about soda. And not just soda, but sports and energy drinks are detrimental to our health.
“Liquid sugar in sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks is the leading source of added sugar in the American diet. And because liquid does not include fiber, the body processes it quickly. That causes more sugar to be sent to the pancreas and liver than either can process properly, and the resulting buildup of sugar leads to heart disease, diabetes, and liver disease.”2.
Did you know that drinking a daily soda can age you as much as smoking and set you up for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes?
Drink a 20-ounce soda daily, and you may be causing your cells to age an extra 4.6 years. Researchers checked the DNA from 5,309 adults and found that drinking sugary soda was associated with shorter telomeres. Telomere length is associated with lifespan- the longer the telomere, the cap on the ends of our chromosomes, the longer the lifespan. Soda drinkers had shorter telomeres which indicate a shorter life span.
“Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by straining the body’s metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues,” said Elissa Epel, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at UCSF and senior author of the study.3.
If you reduce your sugar intake, over time you will actually not crave it. Can I just say that we’ve cut our sugar intake so much for so long that most desserts don’t even taste good to me. Waaaay too sweet. Last week I actually had to spit out some candy (discreetly) that I tried to eat at a relative’s house. Foods that are high in ‘empty’ calories from sugar are actually toxic to our metabolism. (Other foods are high in calories from things like nuts or fruits have nutritional value and have a place in a healthy lifestyle. But nonetheless, they are still high in calories.) So if I’m not active, I better eat small, very small, portions of any high-calorie foods.
Eating healthy isn’t just about restricting sugar, it’s also about eating lots of veggies and fruits. I find that looking at the entire day instead of each meal helps relieve some stress about healthy eating. Every meal doesn’t have to have all the food groups, but over the course of a day, it is recommended that we eat two cups of veggies and two cups of fruit. 4. One cup of fruit is one apple, or one orange, or one banana- basically, one cup is one whole fruit. Every meal doesn’t have to have whole grains, for instance. But I should have those sometime during the day. I have found I function better if I have some protein and some carbs at every meal. But often I’ll have fruit at only one meal and a snack. In order to get the two daily cups of veggies that are recommended, I eat veggies at two meals a day.
Footnotes
1. http://www.sugarscience.org/the-toxic-truth/#.V_8ROBSYVic
2. http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-health-1210-sugar-metabolic-syndrome-20141205-story.html
3. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/10/119431/sugared-soda-consumption-cell-aging-associated-new-study
4. http://www.livestrong.com/article/263883-what-is-the-daily-recommended-serving-size-of-fruits-vegetables/
For Further Reading
Www.SugarScience.org
http://www.livestrong.com/article/263883-what-is-the-daily-recommended-serving-size-of-fruits-vegetables/