HOW YOUR SWEET TOOTH CAN QUICKLY KILL YOU

Paul Lewis
8 years ago
Categories: Opinion

SUGAR IS OUR ENEMY

Many of my coworkers, who are overweight, constantly complain about not feeling well. They’ll have aches and pains all while drinking a Mountain Dew and eating a Honey bun. It’s hard to comprehend their ignorance. They don’t realize the sugar they are consuming is slowly killing them. Some things have to be pointed out. You’re overweight you need to cut down on the sugar intake. How about this. EAT LESS SUGAR AND LIVE LONGER!!! THE END

This might be the most telling statistic relating to sugar, especially when that close to 70% of America is overweight with a THIRD of the nation obese:

1822: Americans consume 45 grams of sugar every five days, or the amount of sugar in a can of coke.

2012: Americans consume 756 grams of sugar every five days, or 130 POUNDS of sugar a year.

We look around and see that most of us are overweight. Why??? Because sugar tastes so damn good. At the end of the day, you must realize that you are in control. If you are going to eat chocolate or something sweet, it’s because you made a conscious decision to do so OCCASIONALLY. Not because you had to have it. We must end the unhealthy habit of consuming sugar. Understand that it will be challenging. Understand that there will be cravings that get better with time. Most importantly, understand that what you really want (a happier, healthier life) can’t happen if you keep settling for what you want RIGHT NOW (sugar!).

Even one pack of M&M’s may be more than you should eat in a day,

says the World Health Organization.

The WHO used to recommend that you get no more than 10% of your daily calories from sugar, but now they’re considering lowering that to 5%. For an average, healthy adult, that would mean 25 grams, or about six teaspoons of sugar per day. (That’s a little less than what you’d get from 10 Hershey’s Kisses. A single can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar.)

A teaspoon of sugar in your coffee or a half cup of ice cream won’t kill you — all things in moderation — but the average sugar intake in the U.S. is 22 teaspoons per person per day. That’s almost four times as much as the WHO’s new guidelines suggest is healthy. Just one can of soda each day could lead to 15 pounds of weight gain in a single year, and each can of soda increases the odds of becoming obese, a JAMA study noted.

I was a Pepsi drinker from about age 10 when my mom would allow my brother and I to split one bottle a day. We would measure it out so we would both have the exact amount. I stopped drinking pop with sugar at 30 years old. I switched to diet pop and drank that for about 12 years until I got kidney stones. There’s no proof that says the pop caused the kidney stones but I was taking no chances. I removed diet pop and all pop from my diet. Honestly, I have a major sweet tooth, and I haven’t cut sugar out of my diet completely. I’ve got into the habit of eating almonds or almonds covered with dark chocolate when my sweet tooth comes calling.

Here are some things you can do to help yourself fight the battle and win.

Get mad. Like, really mad. I hate not feeling in control, and right now, the sugar and food companies have you under their control. If anything, you’re going to kick your sugar addiction to make yourself healthier and happier, but also out of spite. Stick it to the man, and let him know you’re taking back your brain.

Don’t do it alone. Have somebody to talk to through the process. Work with others who have successfully kicked their sugar habits.

Need SOMETHING sweet? Try dark chocolate or fruit. If you are craving something sweet, aim for alternatives that aren’t as bad for you or don’t trigger the same blood glucose spike. Eat dark chocolate with a cocoa content above 70% – you still get to feed your sweet tooth, but the sugar content in minimal compared to milk chocolate.

Slowly scale it down. I don’t care if it takes you a year of slowly changing your habits to kick your sugar habit. Every change counts, and every little bit adds up. If you drink a case of diet coke every day, tomorrow only drink 11. In two weeks, cut it back to 10 per day. And then 9. And then eventually maybe it’s “only one on Friday.”

Keep busy. If you are thinking about sugar, get up and go do something or engage your brain in another way so that you are not stuck with a one-track mind (focusing on the sugar that you’re not currently eating).

EXERCISE! Sugar raises serotonin and dopamine levels, which can factor into your cravings. Exercise can do the same thing! Try exercising when you have sugar cravings…get that rush (and build your habits around that). Get addicted to the high from exercise.

If you have children, save them now! Sugar addiction is built up over time, and yours might have started back when you were a child. Instead of creating a reward system with candy and treats, create a reward system that rewards your kids back with a healthier lifestyle.

If you have to have sugar, consume it close to a workout. When you consume sugar before or after a workout, you will have a greater chance of burning the sugar/carbs as energy.

It’s crazy to think, but I envy that overweight coworker who consumes the Mountain Dew and Honey Buns. The reason: all he has to do is cut out his unhealthy sugar habit and he’ll easily drop weight. If you can combine losing weight with easy then you have a double bonus. The triple bonus is YOU’ll Live Longer Dummy! There I go criticizing again, please forgive me.