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We all eat sugar. We all l-o-v-e sugar… it’s in our genes to love it. Sugar in itself is not evil, it’s how we’ve evolved to include it in so many areas of our daily intakes. During times when we were hunter-gatherers, food was relatively scarce. Back then, there was a legitimate reason for something to be irresistibly sweet. Sweet = high energy, so if we came upon something sweet, we ate a lot of it because it was so yummy, and in return it provided us with energy to sustain ourselves in between other meals. We are wired not only to crave it, but to want to consume unreasonable large quantities of it. Note: Fat is actually the same way, if you ever wondered why you could crave something as fatty and greasy as bacon)!
Now days, sugar isn’t a rare, high-value item. It is in EVERYTHING, and so we eat it in large quantities often times without realizing it; combine that with our insatiable craving for it and you can see why it’s a problem. Here are some interesting statistics:
- The average American consumes 2-3 pounds of sugar each week, which is not surprising considering that highly refined sugars in the forms of sucrose (table sugar), dextrose (corn sugar), and high-fructose corn syrup are being processed into so many foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, mayonnaise, peanut butter, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, etc.
- In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. from 26 pounds to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year!
For me, the primary reason we should all be cutting down on our sugar consumption is to stop and prevent insulin resistance.In one of my previous posts, I discuss how insulin levels in our body determine many other important health aspects, and why it is so important that we keep our insulin levels under control.
Since there is so much information out there on why refined sugar is bad in such large quantities, I thought I would simply provide some good links instead of just restating what is already out there. Check it out:
- The Many Toxic Effects of Refined Sugar (Suite101.com)
- Here’s a Macrobiotic Guide that has some additional good info
- Here’s 146 reasons not to eat sugar. I’m not sure I believe in all 146 of them, but you can decide for yourself.
The important message here, in my mind, is that you don’t have to have sugar in every meal, and that you will help yourself tremendously by making sure you’re not eating it in things that don’t need it, and saving it for a special treat… in a dessert (where it belongs)!
I learned the same thing from “The End of Overeating”. It’s a fascinating book! I take a lot of encouragement from being able to separate the emotion aspect from cravings. Yes, my body is telling me I want and need sugar–but I know that I don’t! When I look at it from a physical perspective, it’s easier to fight cravings. AND when I indulge less frequently, I tend to enjoy it more!
I think it is empowering as well… to recognize those instinctual responses and not allow them to overload your own logic. We as humans have a lot of “programs” that we come hardwired with and many of them do not apply to our current lifestyle. Thanks for the comment!