Chocolate chip cookies.
Apple pie.
Maple syrup.
Ice cream.
Are these some of your favorite foods? For most of us, they're a real treat, a reward when we're feeling happy, sad, entitled...
And aside from the 'doing ourselves a favor' feeling, the sugar in the treats also contributes to the feel-good boost.
But there's a downside to eating all of these treats.
And that's what sugar does to our bodies over a lifetime.
More and more research is uncovering mental and physical effects caused by sugar.
In this article, we'll cover three of these often-overlooked effects of eating sugar.
The Fat-Sugar Connection If we eat too much of any food, we can pack on the pounds.
And most of us think that high fat foods are the worst culprits in our weight gain.
But there's an often-overlooked connection between eating sugar and seeing those numbers on the scale creep up.
There's a dangerous cycle of events that can occur when we eat sugar-containing foods.
When our food digests, the sugar in the food enters the bloodstream and causes the pancreas to secrete insulin.
The insulin signals the cells to let the nutrients in the food we just ate inside the cells.
But if we're overweight or inactive, higher levels of insulin are required before the cells get the message.
This is known as insulin resistance.
The result -- higher levels of both insulin and sugar in the bloodstream.
These elevated levels lead to fat storage, particularly in the abdominal area.
So the sugar treat we gave ourselves today can end up as a bigger waistline.
Does Sugar Cause Diabetes? The current thinking is no, sugar does not directly cause diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is caused by inactivity, being overweight and eating a high calorie diet.
Sound familiar? This overweight-inactivity-high calories triad also leads to insulin resistance that we discussed above.
So just eating sugar will not cause diabetes, but eating too many calories (and that includes sugar) and being overweight and inactive can lead to diabetes.
And it doesn't stop there.
Insulin resistance is also believed to be a factor in high blood pressure, bad lipid profile values (low HDL and high triglycerides), heart disease, increased blood clotting which could lead to strokes or heart attacks, obesity and kidney damage.
Things just go from bad to worse.
Are You Sick of Being Sick? Do you seem to get more than your fair share of colds and flu? Sugar might be the villain that's causing your problems.
High insulin levels as a result of eating sugar slow the release of hormones needed by the immune system.
Sugar also inhibits antibody production and destroys the ability of white blood cells to kill germs.
So the next time you feel the sniffles coming on, cut back on sugar for a few days and see if you recover faster.
So what to do? Quitting sugar cold turkey is more than most of us can handle.
A more practical approach is one step at a time.
Replace one source of sugar in your diet and then move on to another sugar-replacing challenge.
It's a case of 'every little bit helps'.
Some ideas to get you started: substitute one food item containing high fructose corn syrup or bake your favorite brownies with xylitol instead of sugar.
Or you could use a non-sugar fruit spread instead of jam or jelly on your toast.
Start today with these simple ideas to get you moving in a healthier, less sugar direction.
Over time, you'll see remarkable results from these simple changes.
Apple pie.
Maple syrup.
Ice cream.
Are these some of your favorite foods? For most of us, they're a real treat, a reward when we're feeling happy, sad, entitled...
And aside from the 'doing ourselves a favor' feeling, the sugar in the treats also contributes to the feel-good boost.
But there's a downside to eating all of these treats.
And that's what sugar does to our bodies over a lifetime.
More and more research is uncovering mental and physical effects caused by sugar.
In this article, we'll cover three of these often-overlooked effects of eating sugar.
The Fat-Sugar Connection If we eat too much of any food, we can pack on the pounds.
And most of us think that high fat foods are the worst culprits in our weight gain.
But there's an often-overlooked connection between eating sugar and seeing those numbers on the scale creep up.
There's a dangerous cycle of events that can occur when we eat sugar-containing foods.
When our food digests, the sugar in the food enters the bloodstream and causes the pancreas to secrete insulin.
The insulin signals the cells to let the nutrients in the food we just ate inside the cells.
But if we're overweight or inactive, higher levels of insulin are required before the cells get the message.
This is known as insulin resistance.
The result -- higher levels of both insulin and sugar in the bloodstream.
These elevated levels lead to fat storage, particularly in the abdominal area.
So the sugar treat we gave ourselves today can end up as a bigger waistline.
Does Sugar Cause Diabetes? The current thinking is no, sugar does not directly cause diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, is caused by inactivity, being overweight and eating a high calorie diet.
Sound familiar? This overweight-inactivity-high calories triad also leads to insulin resistance that we discussed above.
So just eating sugar will not cause diabetes, but eating too many calories (and that includes sugar) and being overweight and inactive can lead to diabetes.
And it doesn't stop there.
Insulin resistance is also believed to be a factor in high blood pressure, bad lipid profile values (low HDL and high triglycerides), heart disease, increased blood clotting which could lead to strokes or heart attacks, obesity and kidney damage.
Things just go from bad to worse.
Are You Sick of Being Sick? Do you seem to get more than your fair share of colds and flu? Sugar might be the villain that's causing your problems.
High insulin levels as a result of eating sugar slow the release of hormones needed by the immune system.
Sugar also inhibits antibody production and destroys the ability of white blood cells to kill germs.
So the next time you feel the sniffles coming on, cut back on sugar for a few days and see if you recover faster.
So what to do? Quitting sugar cold turkey is more than most of us can handle.
A more practical approach is one step at a time.
Replace one source of sugar in your diet and then move on to another sugar-replacing challenge.
It's a case of 'every little bit helps'.
Some ideas to get you started: substitute one food item containing high fructose corn syrup or bake your favorite brownies with xylitol instead of sugar.
Or you could use a non-sugar fruit spread instead of jam or jelly on your toast.
Start today with these simple ideas to get you moving in a healthier, less sugar direction.
Over time, you'll see remarkable results from these simple changes.