The beginning of my search for fulfillment began with improving my health. In 2013, I was working at UC Merced and I happened to walk by students raising awareness about sugar consumption. They placed a transparent cup with 65 grams of sugar on a table that represented the amount of sugar that was in the 20 ounce bottle of Coke right next to it (the transparent cup in the photograph above has 15.48 teaspoons of sugar in it which is approximately 65 grams of sugar (1)). I didn’t know very much about health at the time but anyone could look at that and realize that something was wrong.
Facts About Added Sugar
Added sugars are sugars that do not occur naturally in food like table sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Added sugar is bad because it is an empty calorie with no nutritional benefit that may be taking the place of healthier foods in your diet. Under this philosophy, serious health conditions are not directly caused by sugar. You increased your risk of a health condition because you did not burn as many calories as you ate and that caused obesity (2). If you got full off of sugar calories, those calories also took the place of calories that could have come from fruits and vegetables which contain necessary vitamins and minerals.
The problem with sugar may go deeper than that. Current evidence correlates sugar consumption with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and many other health conditions (3,4,5,6). Even though correlation is not causation, the health conditions mentioned above are among leading causes of death in 2014 (7). Also, the lack of stronger evidence tying sugar to a number of health conditions may be due to a sugar industry foundation manipulating research in the 1960’s (8). This research shifted the blame from sugar to fat (8). If you believe this is an isolated case, just know that an article published by the Harvard School of Public Health stated that “beverage industry-funded studies are four to eight times more likely to show a finding favorable to industry than independently-funded studies (9).”
How to Avoid Sugar Because it is Everywhere
Added sugar is added to almost everything. It can be found in sports drinks, soft drinks, juice drinks, salad dressings, bread, cereal and most processed foods. In order to avoid this sea of sugar, get used to reading nutritional labels. Added sugars go by many different names in the ingredients section including: high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, honey, fruit juice and anything ending with -ose (maltose). Check out this Authority Nutrition Article to see 56 different names for sugar (10).
Taking Baby Steps
Even though I often thought about what those students had shown me at UC Merced, I didn’t make the decision to reduce my sugar intake until three years later. My philosophy with making any change has been to do it in baby steps. First, I started by cutting out sugary drinks from Monday to Friday. A couple months later, I cut them out completely. I later used the same baby step method with candy and then with pastries. The whole process took me about 6 months. Even after the 6 months, I cracked every now and then. My most memorable failure was captured via Snapchat by my coworker. She sent a picture of me eating several donuts with the caption “# sugarfree” to all my coworkers. Failure is okay. Be persistent and realistic with yourself and you will make it.
Stay 100% Sugar Free?
I am still not 100% added sugar free. It was difficult to completely avoid all sugar without cooking every meal for myself and also severely limiting my social life. I like going to restaurants with my friends and restaurants often add sugar to their meats and sauces. The majority of sushi restaurants add sugar to its sauces but I don’t ever want to give sushi up. I also put honey in my tea which, although healthier, still counts as an added sugar.
Aside from reducing incrementally, I think the secret to success in reducing your sugar intake is setting a sugar consumption goal that would realistically improve your health and being lenient during social situations. For myself, I only eat the added sugars I mentioned above when I am eating with friends or relatives outside of my home. If I consume added sugars at any other time, I have to admit to myself that I am cheating.
Challenge Time!
Now I have a challenge for you! Cut out either sugary drinks or candy AND sweet pastries from Monday to Friday. Is this too big a jump for you? Cut out your favorite sugary drink for 3 days out of the week and then incrementally build up to a number of days that fits your health goals. Mention what you are planning on cutting out in the comments.
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Sources
- Diane Rellinger “How to convert grams of sugar into teaspoons” Michigan State University Extension. Date Accessed: February 15th, 2017.
- “Obesity and Overweight Fact Sheet.” World Health Organization. Date Accessed: February 14th, 2017
- Journal of Hypertension, 2008; American Journal of Cardiology, 2012; JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014
- JAMA, 2004; Diabetes Care, 2010; PLOS ONE, 2013
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004; JAMA, 2004; International Journal of Obesity, 2006; Obesity Reviews, 2013
- Lauren F.Friedman, “15 Terrible Things That Happen If You Eat Too Much Sugar” Business Insider. Date Accessed: February 14th 2017
- Kenneth D. Kochanek, M.A., Sherry L. Murphy, B.S., Jiaquan Xu, M.D., and Betzaida Tejada-Vera, M. “Deaths: Final Data for 2014.” National Vital Statistics Reports.
- Anahad O’Connor. “How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat.” The New York Times. Date Accessed: February 14th, 2017.
- “Sugary Drinks and Obesity Fact Sheet.” Harvard T.H. Chan, School of Public Health. Date Accessed: February 14th, 2017.
- Adda Bjarnadottir, MS. “The 56 Most Common Names for Sugar (Some are Tricky).” Authority Nutrition. Date Accessed: February 14th, 2017