I have talked a lot about what you should (consciously) do. This chapter is partly inspired by the reverse question: “what bad eating habits do most people have, without even knowing how bad they are?”
And the main culprit there is sugar.
Most people know eating too many calories is bad. It’s an easy, physical thing to know and measure. Carbohydrates and fats are “heavy” on our stomach, so you feel full after eating a lot of them. The past decennia, more and more products have strived to lower their calorie content.
But sugar? It’s the silent killer.
Stop eating sugar altogether, except on special occasions.
That’s quite a strong statement, isn’t it? Let me explain.
Sugar makes you hungry
That’s right. Sugar is “light” on your body. It actually makes you more hungry and makes you feel as if you haven’t eaten enough at all.
Sugar is addicting
Related to the first point. Once you eat a lot of sugar, this desire doesn’t lessen. You only want more sweetness. It blocks the signal that you’re full or want actual nutrients.
Sugar changes your physiology
It gives you rashes or bad skin in general.
Most importantly, it changes your taste buds. If you eat a lot of sugar, suddenly all other food tastes bland and bad. You’ve raised your threshold needed to make something taste “good”. Many people who dislike vegetables, merely have that opinion because their tongue and throat have been infected by sugar.
So yes, in a sense, they do literally hate the taste of vegetables. But it’s something that can be changed if you stop eating sugar.
Sugar has no nutritional value
Sugar has nothing that our body needs.
Now you’re probably shouting: “But sugar gives energy!”
Even that is not true. It releases a tiny bit of energy, everything else is stored as fat or disappears.
The energy that’s released comes in one immediate burst. Also called the “sugar peak” or “sugar high”. For a short period, you are “hyper”, active, energized. Then the effect is over … and you tumble down. Into a “sugar low”, a dip, a state in which you suddenly feel extremely exhausted and demotivated.
Let me repeat myself: sugar has no nutritional value. The energy it gives comes in unhealthy bursts. Carbohydrates and fats also give energy, but in consistent and controlled doses.
This is what makes it hard for people to stop eating sugar. They tell themselves it gives energy and they need that energy. I know I did, for many years.
The truth is that I lived in this “yoyo” state for years. One or two days brimming with energy and excitement, then one or two days in which I felt terrible and lifeless. Only once I stopped eating sugar, did I actually have consistent energy every day.
Sugar is basically alcohol
If you look at the chemical process of digesting sugar, it’s remarkably similar to alcohol.
This was a shocking realisation to me. Suger is alcohol, but even worse, because it’s addicting and it’s inside everything!
Studies show, more and more, that sugar leads to bad decisions, unhealthy choices, hyperactivity and lack of control. In almost all ways, sugar is alcohol.
But instead of restricting it, we put it in everything, especially food for kids. Again, research shows that eating a lot of sugar while growing up, will have major negative consequences for the rest of your life.
It feels like we should restrict sugar like we do alcohol. Instead, it’s now used as a “substitute” for fat or meat, to keep selling the same unhealthy food. Be wary of that.
What about fruit?
Yes, fruit has lots of sugar inside it.
No, this isn’t “different sugar” or “healthier sugar”. The same is true for things like “stevia sugar”.
The only thing that matters is the packaging of the sugar.
Fruit packages that sugar inside a shell, full of great nutrients. These nutrients counteract the bad effects of the sugar—and are good for you in general. What remains, is something that tastes sweet, but also gives you a high dose of vitamins.
But when sugar is added to other products, it’s often pure sugar. The good packaging, the natural nutrients around it, are removed and only the pure sugar is kept. This is terrible.
That’s why fruit juice (or fruit candy) isn’t healthy. They only have the pure sugar, and (almost) nothing of the packaging.
Stevia sugar is a similar story. Yes, the stevia plant can make something sweet without adding as many side effects as other sugars. But it’s still pure sugar. It has no nutritional value and is removed from its natural shell. Additionally, the stevia is often attached to other (artificial) sweeteners, otherwise it doesn’t taste good enough.
The conclusion? Only allow pure sugar once in a while, on special occasions. Otherwise, only eat sugar when it comes from fruit, or is still inside is natural shell (with counteracting nutrients). Any other situation has no nutritional value and will merely destroy your health.
Conclusion
Sugar is a sort of drug. It makes your body (and brain!) fuzzy. It gives you a temporary good feeling, with a big crash an hour later. It is addictive, while shutting down your senses and health over time.
Remember that carbohydrates are also a form of sugar. They are better, because they contain more nutritional value and they energy is released in smaller doses. But they are still sugars, so try to get your energy from fats instead.
Cashew nuts contain many calories, for example. Still, they are presented everywhere as a sort of superfood. Why?
It’s not pure sugar. The calories come from something else. And while you eat that, the nut also gives you lots of protein and other good nutrients.
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