In addition to the healthy foods with naturally occurring sugar like fruit and some vegetables, (think corn, beets, and potatoes) over 50% of our daily sugar intake comes from processed foods. Avoiding sugar can be difficult as it is hidden in so many foods, many of them that do not taste sweet.
Sugar is found in ketchup, tomato sauce, salad dressing, bread, flavored yogurt, barbecue sauce, beef jerky, crackers, soup, and almost all processed foods. The food industry uses sugar and high fructose corn syrup as a cheap food additive for browning, thickening, aerating, and flavoring. Many products have stopped using the HFCS, for health reasons, but in truth sugar and HFCS are equally toxic in excess amounts.
Sugar is made up of 2 molecules, fructose and glucose. Fructose excess is stored as fat by the liver and glucose causes a blood sugar spike which causes your body to secrete insulin which is a fat-storing hormone. To compound the problem both substances then cause a craving for more sugar and more food.
At this point many people feel like giving up, they feel that sugar is too hard to combat, that is not true. Here are a few easy ways to rid your body of excess sugars:
- Don’t drink it
- Think natural (fruit)
- Sweat for sweets, exercise helps your body metabolize the sugar in it
- Sap cravings with maple syrup and honey, in moderation
- Baby steps, slow but sure, read labels!
Source: Women’s Health
