Now that the last of the holiday treats have been thrown out, you may be trying to cut back on sugar or even eliminate it from your diet completely. Most people, paticularly children, eat far more sugar than what experts recommend. If you’re struggling to part ways with added sugar, FitClub has three reasons that might motivate you to make the break permanent.
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Unwanted weight gain. Are you hungrier after you eat a sugary snack or drink a sugary beverage? Added sugar doesn’t help to satisfy your afternoon hunger, it makes you hungrier. Not only are you hungrier than before you indulged in the sweet stuff, but you also just added empty calories to your calorie count for the day. When you start to view that bag of sugary candy as empty calories with no nutritional benefit and the one food that’s only going to make you feel hungrier, you can begin to mentally separate from the craving that drove you to the vending machine.
Health risks.Whether or not you’re worried about gaining weight and the accompanying health risks, sugar is a health hazard in and of itself. A high intake of sugar contributes to increased risks of heart disease, diabetes, and premature death. Even when experts controlled for those that ate a healthier diet than others, the added sugar was still found to raise blood pressure and allow harmful fats from the liver into the bloodstream. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 100 calories of added sugar (6 teaspoons) per day for women and 150 calories of added sugar (9 teaspoons) for men each day. The next time you reach for a 12 ounce can of soda mid-afternoon, look at the nutrition label, because it contains 9 teaspoons of added sugar.
Sugar leads to depression. Not only does your body suffer when you eat too much sugar, but so does your mind. A study conducted by the British Journal of Psychiatry uncovered that processed foods and added sugar spike the risk of depression by fifty-eight percent! Not only does sugar trigger unwanted feelings, but it also makes it more difficult for your body to process the nutrient, chromium, that helps the body regulate mood and emotion.
Convinced that it’s time to end your relationship with added sugar? Having a piece of fruit for dessert can help you begin to combat the cravings and hold that sugar might already have over you. Read labels at the grocery store and opt for real food with no added ingredients to ensure that sugar doesn’t sneak up on you as you’re trying to escape its clutches.
What tricks do you use to stay away from sugar? Do you abstain completely or moderate your intake?
