The conspiracy that is sugar

The conspiracy that is Sugar

So I’m on my soap box again. No surprise there huh!

Less than a week into January and already I’m being bombarded with questions about diet. Now I’ve said before and I will say again. I’m no nutritionist. However I do a lot of reading and so as a result, once again I am going to have a little rant.

There have been some dramatic advances in the understanding of nutrition and exercise over the last few years. The understanding of how the human body deals with energy sources in regard to hormonal response has changed how many people regard their diet in regard to exercise.

Roll back a few thousand years and on evolutionary terms we are not really that different. I very much doubt obesity existed however.

Some may argue that this is down to lack of food. But if that was the case then how did we survive?

Even roll back 50 years and obesity certainly wasn’t as prevalent as it is today.

There was maybe one or two ‘Fat’ kids at school. It was a rarity and unfortunately these children would get bullied because they weren’t the ‘norm’

Look in a school playground now…

If we roll back to between 1976 and 1986, a series of National Health Examination surveys were carried out in the USA. In the third NHANES survey, obesity rates were still 14 percent.

Up until about 1980.

Basically, up until about 1980, the obesity rates in the USA were 12 to 14 percent. And then somewhere in that period between the late '70s and late '80s, they shoot up to 22-25 percent.

So what has changed?

Many will argue we are less active. Yes you probably could say that but if you look at the average fat and calorie burn of an active adult now compared to 50 years ago it doesn’t add up really. Not enough to account for the dramatic increase in overweight adults in today’s society.

So what is causing this epidemic of obesity? We are in a low fat low calorie obsessed world where gyms are in every town. Even computer consoles now encourage activity.

How is it we are still fat?

Sugar!

That’s it, pure and simple  … sugar

It’s in everything. Any packet you pick up in the supermarket.

I will set you a challenge this week. When you go for your weekly shop, when you get home check how many of your items have added sugar.

I’m not just talking about the word sugar either. Sugars come in many forms

Dextrose, Fructose, Galactose, Glucose, Lactose, Levulose, Maltose, Saccharose
Sucrose, Xylose, Mannitol, Sorbitol, Xylitol, Beet Sugar, Brown sugar, Cane Sugar
Confectionary Sugar, Corn Sugar/Sweetener/ Syrup, Dehydrated Cane Juice
Dextrin, Fruit Juice Concentrate, Granulated Sugar, Honey, Invert Sugar, Isomalt
Malt Syrup, Maltodextrin, Maple Sugar, Maple Syrup, Molasses, Raw Sugar, Rice Syrup, Sorghum, Treacle, Turbinado Sugar and of course the worst of the bunch, High Fructose Corn Syrup

When did this start happening? Why do we need to add sugar to so much food?

Well, at was around the mid seventies that the link between saturated fat and heart disease as was made, as well as large amounts of dietary fat causing us to become overweight. So as a result the low fat diet was born.

The problem is ‘low fat’ diets of this era didn’t take into account that fat plays an important part role in our diet too.

Now I’m probably a bit older than a lot of you reading this blog. I can remember what low fat products used to taste like… They tasted like shit to be perfectly frank. No matter how much you promote the health benefits of something. If it tastes like shit no ones going to buy it.
The thing with fat is, it’s the flavour carrier. It’s why a steak cooked with the fat still on it tastes better than one cooked without. If you remove the fat you remove the flavour.

The food industry had to come up with something fast. Enter sugar stage left

Another important role of fat is that it’s a satiety trigger. It helps tell us when we are full. Sugar is not. Sugar is also addictive. The more you have the more you want. So with no satiety trigger and the highly addictive nature of sugar suddenly we are confronted with a real problem. People are over eating.

Now take into account that sugar is a carbohydrate. Once the body has filled the muscles with glycogen & the liver is charged the excess will be stored as… yes you guessed it FAT.

So today’s society is now a sugar addicted obese monster…way to go Low fat diet.

So I say to you now. Instead of obsessing with low fat products just try this for 4 weeks.
Eat clean & avoid added sugars. Rule of thumb, if it doesn’t go off in seven days, don’t eat it. Try to eat natural whole foods. If you’re worried about fat content eat lean meat. If it comes with a list of ingredients or comes in a packet, check packets for hidden sugars or just avoid it completely

Go on give it a go, see what happens.