News Taffy

Some of you may be wondering how I did on the 10 Day No Sugar Challenge which I wrote about last week. My husband and I lasted 4 days. By Friday, I was so irritable and fed up that I went to Panera and had hot chocolate. Since then, I have come across some interesting new research which backs up the need to reduce sugar in our diets, even if we don’t manage to get rid of it completely.

An article published in the New York Times over the weekend put forth the theory that not all calories are equal and that reducing your caloric intake won’t help you lose weight but might actually cause you to gain more weight. Basically, the theory is that diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates prompt the body to store calories as fat, making it hard for the body to use calories as fuel. As a result, we are constantly hungry and this leads to overeating, starting the cycle all over. Reducing the amount of calories we consume actually makes the situation worse because there are even less calories for the body to use as fuel. You do remember from your basic science class that we consume food/calories for the body to use as fuel/energy to live?

The theory goes on to say that it would be better to eat more of the foods your body needs like protein, healthy fats and good carbohydrates like whole grain oatmeal, not instant. In other words, eat up instead of starving yourself, as long as you are avoiding sugar, trans fats and refined carbohydrates found in chips, crackers and white breads. However, I am NOT saying you should go on an eating binge; eat sensibly. I recommend reading the article for yourself here.

I know I’m repeating myself, but the best way to eat better is to prepare most of your food yourself. Don’t rely on fast food or prepared, boxed, canned or frozen meals. Buy whole foods and keep it simple. If you do eat out, educate yourself so you can make better choices. If you wouldn’t eat 48 tsp. of sugar from a bowl, why would you drink it in a smoothie? Baskin Robbins Mango Banana Smoothie contains a whopping 48 tsp. of sugar, the same amount as in 42 Oreo cookies. Even Subway Sandwiches can be an unhealthy choice; their Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich has 8 tsp. of sugar. So many of us have smart phones now that there is no excuse not to use it to look up the nutrition information that is available online for most restaurants.

Americans eat about 130 pounds of sugar each year. If you’d like to see a graphic chart on how our consumption of sugar has changed over the decades, click here. I feel enlightened after my brief experiment with giving up sugar. I truly had no idea it was that hard to avoid added sugar in foods and I have new found sympathy for anyone struggling with diabetes or trying to lose weight. The cards are stacked against you and the food industry is dealing.