Sugar - Is it really the enemy?

So you’ve finally decided to kick sugar out of your diet- good for you. That is probably one of the best decisions you can make towards a healthy lifestyle. But not ALL sugars are “bad” for you. Sugars are naturally occurring in foods and they are the preferred fuel source of your body and brain. Sure, you can force your body to use fat for fuel in the form of ketones but you can also force it to use protein and eat the muscle off your bones, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy to do it. Those are really back-up plans and not meant for everyday use. Glucose is what fuels your cells and that comes from sugar and carbs so we essentially need some, we just don’t need to bombard ourselves with it day and night. That’s the problem.

Tropicana Orange Juice - No Pulp

Added sugars are indeed a big threat to your health but what about the things that have “no sugar added”. Those products are probably better right? Like an orange has no sugar added to it. It contains natural sugar so it’s healthier for you. So what about orange juice? It’s straight from the orange, has “no sugar added” on the label so it must be healthy… right? Well, not really and this is where it gets tricky. (Also, here’s Why orange juice is gross)

On this orange juice label there is no sugar added but it contains 26 grams of carbohydrate, 22 grams of it is in the form of simple sugar from the natural sugars in the fruit. When you consume this it goes very fast into your blood stream. That causes a strong insulin response from your pancreas to help clear that sugar out (which is one of the main factors that causes prediabetes to worsen). Insulin is also a fat storing hormone so guess where it’s going to store it…not really what you were going for.

Fresh fruit v.s. fruit juices

In comparison the average orange only has only about 15 grams of carbohydrate with 12 grams of sugar, so you get all the health benefits of the fruit with only a small amount of sugar and a much lower insulin response. This is why fruit is the better choice between the two. By the way, if you ever want to check the content of a food that does not have a label, this is a reliable resource that contains accurate data analysis of different foods: USDA Food Data Central Search

So when you are looking to weed out sugar, always check for added sugars but also think in terms of the amount of Total Sugars, which can be from added or natural sources. Currently, the AHA is recommending women to limit to less than 25 grams per day and men less than 36 grams per day of added sugars. There is no current guideline on how much Total Sugar to limit in your diet but I recommend sticking with fruits in whole form, avoiding processed foods and sweets as much as you can, and always look at labels to see what’s really in there.