Refined sugar is one of the worst things you can eat if you try to lose weight or keep up healthy habits. Find out why you must stop eating refined sugar.
Are you addicted to refined sugar? If yes, then you should stop immediately. The problem with refined sugar is that it has no nutritional value or benefits whatsoever. It can cause health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and tooth decay.
Sugary drinks are often seen as a treat or reward, but they contain high calories and minor nutrients. They also contribute to poor nutrition habits and weight gain.
Sugary drinks are loaded with empty carbohydrates and added sugars. These foods are highly addictive because they trigger the release of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with pleasure. This means that you’ll want to consume them over and over again.
Key Takeaways
- Stop Eating Refined Carbs: Learn the importance of cutting down on refined carbs for better health and weight management.
- Health Risks: Understand the negative impact of refined carbs on blood sugar levels, weight gain, and increased risk of chronic diseases.
- Better Nutritional Choices: Discover alternative, healthier options like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables to replace refined carbs in your diet.
- Boost Energy Levels: By reducing refined carbs, you can experience more stable energy levels throughout the day.
- Sustainable Weight Loss: Cutting down on refined carbs can aid in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight in the long run.
- Improved Digestion: Opting for non-refined carbohydrates can support a healthier digestive system.
- Enhanced Overall Well-being: Making the switch from refined carbs to nutritious alternatives can contribute to improved overall health and well-being.
The Simple Guide To A Healthy Diet
A healthy diet is a balanced one, including all the essential nutrients our bodies need to function properly. It also has to be easy for us to follow because we have so many other things going on in our lives. Here are some tips on how to create a healthy diet and maintain it:
1) Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day
This will help you get plenty of fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. You can eat any fruit or vegetable as long as they’re not too processed (like canned). Also, make sure you drink at least eight glasses of water each day.
2) Include protein foods
In your meals, food like eggs, lean meats, fish, tofu, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and soy products. Protein helps build strong muscles and bones, making it easier to stay fit.
3) Cut back on saturated fats and trans-fat
Foods like red meat, fried food, full-fat dairy products, butter, cheese, and margarine. Saturated fats raise cholesterol levels, while trans fats lower them. Both fats increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers.
4) Limit sugary foods
Foods like candy, cakes, cookies, ice cream, pastries, doughnuts, pies, sodas, and sweetened beverages. Sugars add extra calories without providing much nutrition. They also lead to tooth decay and cavities.
5) Eat whole grains instead of white bread and pasta
Whole grains provide more nutrients than refined ones do. They’re also better for your body because they give you energy. Try brown rice, quinoa, oats, barley, millet, buckwheat, and amaranth.
6) Drink green tea instead of coffee
Green tea contains powerful antioxidants called catechins. It may even reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
7) Make sure you exercise regularly
Exercise boosts metabolism and burns off excess calories. Choose activities that you enjoy doing, whether walking, swimming, biking, running, dancing, or playing sports.
Why Is Refined Sugar Bad For You?
The sugar industry has been trying to convince us that refined sugar is not harmful, and it’s been doing a pretty good job. But the truth is, there are many reasons why refined sugar can be bad for you.
The Impact of Refined Carbs on Health
Refined carbs can have detrimental effects on our overall health. Studies have shown that excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates is linked to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Understanding the negative impact of these carbs is essential for our well-being.
The Hidden Side Effects You Need to Know
| Refined Carbs | Side Effects |
|---|---|
| White bread | Increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease |
| Sugary snacks | Blood sugar spikes, energy crashes, and increased risk of insulin resistance |
| Processed foods | Weight gain, poor nutrient intake, and negative impact on heart health |
| White pasta | Lack of fiber, leads to digestive issues and increased hunger |
| Sweetened beverages | Empty calories, weight gain, and increased risk of chronic diseases |
| Baked goods | High in unhealthy fats and sugars, contributing to weight gain and inflammation |
Refined sugar is an empty calorie
Meaning that it doesn’t provide any nutritional value. It contains no vitamins or minerals but includes energy in simple carbohydrates (or “simple sugars”). When you overeat refined sugar, your body will store all this extra energy as fat. As a result, you may gain weight, leading to health problems like diabetes.
In addition, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), found in most soft drinks, juices, and condiments, is linked to poor health outcomes. HFCS is made by adding fructose to corn starch, allowing manufacturers to produce sweeter versions of their products with fewer calories. However, studies show that consuming large amounts of HFCS increases insulin resistance, which leads to obesity and metabolic syndrome.
High-fructose corn syrup is found in nearly 90% of all American soft drinks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average person consumes about 10 pounds of added sugar per year. Depending on the brand, soft drinks contain 20 to 40 grams of sugar per 12 ounces. If you want to cut down on your soda consumption, try drinking water instead!
Refined sugar is also known as table sugar. Table sugar comes from sugarcane or sugar beets. When cane sugar is processed into white granulated sugar, it loses its fiber and minerals. White granulated sugar does have some benefits, such as being cheaper than other forms of sugar. However, if you’re looking to lose weight, stick to natural sources of sugar.
Refined Sugar and Blood Sugar Level
Refined sugar causes a sudden rise in blood sugar, which causes the body to release insulin. Insulin then sends cells that they should absorb as much sugar from the blood as possible. Unfortunately, cells become resistant to this message over time, and blood sugar levels remain high for longer than they should.
Sugar is also highly addictive, and it’s even more addictive than cocaine! We are genetically programmed to like sweet foods because sweet foods were scarce and had good quality calories for most of our evolutionary history. However, now we have refined sugars everywhere, which can easily lead to addiction.
Refined Sugar and Inflammation
Because refined sugars are so highly processed, they lack any nutritional value. If you eat them regularly, your body will eventually be depleted of certain nutrients and minerals that it needs to function properly. This leads to inflammation in your body.
Inflammation harms your cells and organs and can damage the immune system. It’s also been linked with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
Refined Sugar and Insulin Resistance
Excess refined sugar in the bloodstream is a major cause of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the main reason for many health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, infertility, and even cancer.
Low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) can also occur when you overeat refined sugar. This can lead to mood swings, fatigue, and headaches.
The lack of vitamins, minerals, and fiber in processed foods makes us hungrier because our bodies are not getting enough nutrients. So we eat more processed foods to feel satisfied, but it never happens.
How Much Refined Sugar Should I Eat?
We all know that refined sugar is not the healthiest choice — it can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. But how much sugar is too much?
The American Heart Association recommends 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugars a day for women and 9 teaspoons (38 grams) for men. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends no more than 10% of calories from added sugars — about 12 teaspoons or 50 grams of sugar per day for an average adult.
Recently, the WHO announced that they are changing this recommendation to 5% of calories from added sugars. Adults use only 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugars per day! This change is based on studies showing that overeating sugar increases the risk of tooth decay, overweight, and obesity.
It’s important to note that these recommendations are for ADDED sugars only — in other words, refined or processed sugars. Added sugars are those that are put into food during preparation or processing. Natural sugars like those found in fruit don’t count.
Sugar Consumption
The average person in the United States currently consumes 150 to 170 pounds of sugar a year (which translates to about 27 teaspoons of sugar a day), and most of it is hidden in processed foods, not added to things at the table. And it’s not just weight gain and diabetes we have to worry about when we overeat sugar. Sugar can cause heart disease, lung problems, kidney disease, weak bones, depression, and gout — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Excessive sugar consumption has been linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay. A high-sugar diet can also boost levels of the hormone insulin in your blood. Your body produces this hormone to help remove excess sugar from your bloodstream. When too much insulin is produced, it can lead to the storage of fat in your body, and over time this could result in weight gain. High insulin levels can also cause your skin to become inflamed, leading to problems with acne. However, relatively small amounts of sugar are not considered dangerous for health.
How Does Refined Sugar Affect My Body?
Why You Must Stop Eating Refined Sugar? by Gearuptofit
The list of issues related to refined sugar is long. It can contribute to weight gain, diabetes, and heart problems, among other things.
“Most people think of refined sugar as just the white stuff you put in your coffee,” says Dr. Mark Hyman, a family physician who has written several books on nutrition. “But it’s hidden in dozens of common foods like salad dressing, tomato sauce, and yogurt.”
Sugar is a component of carbohydrates, which humans need for energy. But too much can be harmful.
Hyman says that our bodies have evolved to be very efficient at processing carbohydrates. We take in carbs from plant sources like fruits and vegetables or grains such as rice and wheat. The body breaks these down into glucose (blood sugar), which it then uses for energy or stored later.
“When we eat refined carbohydrates — such as white bread or pasta — the carbohydrate gets broken down very quickly into simple sugars,” Hyman says. This causes blood sugar levels to rise dramatically, which triggers insulin production by the pancreas that then helps move this sugar into cells where it can be used for energy right away or stored for later use in fat cells called adipose tissue.
How Can I Cut Back On Sugar?
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that tastes great in almost everything. While it isn’t all bad for you, too much sugar can be detrimental to your health. Excessive sugar intake leads to obesity, which has links to heart disease, diabetes, and other serious health issues. Plus, excess sugar can also lead to bad skin and tooth decay.
The World Health Organization recommends keeping added sugars to 5% of your daily calories. That’s about 6 teaspoons of sugar when you eat 2,000 calories a day. And the American Heart Association recommends less than 9 teaspoons for men and 6 for women.
But how many teaspoons are in that soda or cookie? And what counts as added sugar? Here’s what you need to know.
Make it easy on yourself. The first step is understanding what you’re eating now. You don’t have to count grams or keep a log just yet. Start reading nutrition labels, which list the total amount of sugar (added plus natural) in a food serving.
Look for “sugar alcohols” on labels
These compounds – erythritol, isomalt, lactitol, maltitol, and sorbitol – can cause bloating and diarrhea in some people if eaten in large amounts, but they are generally considered safe. They won’t raise your blood glucose levels like other sugars because the body doesn’t fully digest them. Sugar alcohols can be listed separately from other sugars in nutrition information panels.
To cut back on sugar, try eating less processed foods like candy and soda, which contain large amounts of sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, try switching to fruit instead of candy or eating less sugary desserts like chocolate mousse or cheesecake. Additionally, start reading ingredient labels to keep track of the sugar in your diet. Along with added sugar, look out for terms like corn syrup, dextrose, and fructose when reading food labels. If you find yourself craving sugary foods often, try replacing them with fruits or vegetables to keep your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day. For more tips from our Medical co-author, including how to eat more whole grains and green leafy vegetables, read on!
What happens when you stop eating refined carbs?
Cutting out refined carbs can have remarkable effects on your body. Get ready for weight loss, improved blood sugar control, boosted energy levels, a healthier heart, and better digestion.
When you ditch refined carbs like white bread and sugary snacks, you’ll shed those extra pounds. These processed carbs are loaded with empty calories that do more harm than good.
Say goodbye to blood sugar spikes and hello to stability. Refined carbs cause those energy crashes and increase the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. But without them, you’ll have better control over your blood sugar levels.
Need an energy boost? Replace refined carbs with nutrient-dense foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains. You’ll experience consistent energy throughout the day without those dreaded slumps.
Your heart will thank you too. Refined carbs have been linked to heart disease. But by choosing whole foods, you’ll support a healthier ticker and keep those triglyceride levels in check.
And let’s not forget about digestion. Whole grains are rich in fiber, which keeps things moving smoothly, preventing constipation and promoting a healthy gut.
By cutting out refined carbs, you’ll see a transformation in your body and feel the difference in your overall well-being. Get ready for a healthier, happier you!
Making Healthier Choices
To reduce our intake of refined carbs, we can implement simple yet effective strategies. Firstly, replacing refined grains like white bread and pasta with whole grain alternatives provides more nutrients and fiber, promoting better digestion and long-lasting energy. Additionally, incorporating more fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins into our diet can help satisfy hunger while avoiding unnecessary carbs.
The Role of Meal Planning
Meal planning plays a crucial role in successfully transitioning away from refined carbs. By prepping meals in advance, we can ensure that our choices align with our health goals. Opting for wholesome ingredients and preparing balanced meals contributes to better overall nutrition and reduced reliance on refined carbs.
Conclusion
Before you ask why one must stop eating refined sugar, it is essential to understand why the body requires energy. Sugars are the simplest form of carbohydrates rapidly absorbed and digested in glucose. This is the body’s preferred source of energy. All carbohydrates are broken down into single sugar units during chewing.
When you eat sugar and your blood glucose level rises, this triggers an insulin release from the pancreas. The insulin allows blood sugar (glucose) to be transported into cell membranes, which can be used as an energy source.
Most of us are unaware that refined sugar is the same as White Poison. When any food is refined, many of its nutrients get taken away. So by consuming refined sugar, you are only getting the energy from the sugar and not from the other nutrients. This has to be corrected.
FAQs
Why should I stop eating refined carbs?
Refined carbs can lead to weight gain and increase the risk of various health issues.
What are some examples of refined carbs?
White bread, pasta, pastries, and sugary drinks are examples of refined carbs.
How can I replace refined carbs in my diet?
You can replace refined carbs with whole-grain alternatives, such as whole-wheat bread and brown rice.
Will cutting out refined carbs help me lose weight?
Cutting out refined carbs can be an effective strategy for weight loss when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
Are there any health benefits to avoiding refined carbs?
Avoiding refined carbs can help improve blood sugar control, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, and promote overall cardiovascular health.
Alex is a fitness aficionado, empowers others towards healthier, active lives through small, sustainable changes for lasting results. Visit Gearuptofit.com for insightful tips and resources to enrich a balanced lifestyle.