You can eat sugar.
Minute For Your Health #34
Apparently sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine.
I don’t know where this figure comes from, but I have seen studies showing that, given the choice, mice will choose sugar over cocaine.
This is problematic, as sugar consumption has been linked with a number of health conditions from tooth decay to obesity to mental health problems.
Diet culture, the media and studies like this may lead to us to believe our only option for being truly health is never to eat sugar.
Now I’m going to say something controversial (especially since I’m a nutritional therapist).
I think it’s okay if you eat sugar.
But I would like you to eat it in a way that will do the least possible harm to your body.
Read on to learn my top 3 tips for eating sugar.
Tip 1: Choose Nourishing Sugar
There is a difference between white, refined sugar and brown, coconut sugar. There is an even bigger difference between refined sugar and a date. Or even blackstrap molasses.
That difference is that whilst refined sugar is mostly sucrose (a combination of glucose and fructose - two types of sugars) with little other nutrients, the others can contain (slightly) higher amounts of nutrients.
This is particularly true if you choose sugar that is still ‘in its original packaging’ - like a date, a banana, apples or apple sauce and other dried fruits.
Tip 1: Choose sweeteners or sweet foods that are still in their original packaging. Examples include fruits and dried fruits.
Tip 2: Let Your Taste Buds Become Sensitive
Sweet foods are delicious. But it is not necessarily the sugar that makes them delicious. Sugar can just enhance natural, delicious flavours.
(I mean, be honest - would you really enjoy a pure spoonful of sugar?)
The more sugar we eat the less sensitive our taste buds become to it. And so the more sugar we need to add to our foods to bring out their deliciousness.
The less sugar we eat, the more sensitive our taste buds become. Give yourself 3 months of eating less sugar than you are used to and see what happens.
After 3 months you may find that banana bread sweetened purely with bananas and dark chocolate is sweet enough - you won’t need that extra CUP of sugar.
Tip 2: Use sugar as a flavour enhancer, not as a key ingredient.
Tip 3: Be Creative
Much of the harm that sugar does is a result of us using more than necessary (see tip 2), not using it in its original form (see tip 1) and eating it on its own.
Here are some foods that have pretty much the same effect as sugar:
White bread
White pasta
White potatoes
White rice
White flour
Instant oats
Milk (especially low fat)
Low fat yoghurt
Honey, maple syrup, agave syrup
So if you eat instant oats with milk, yoghurt, strawberries and honey for breakfast you are eating sugar with sugar, sugar and sugar.
Instead make sure to combine any sugar foods with protein (nuts, seeds, greek yoghurt, skyr, eggs) and whole food fat (coconut milk, full fat greek yoghurt, nuts, seeds, butter).
Some Examples:
Summary:
Eating sugar in its most natural form, as a flavour enhancer instead of the star of the show and combined with protein and whole food fats means you can simply enjoy it.
Don’t be all or nothing about sugar. Unless you enjoy being all or nothing - then be all or nothing.
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Links and References:
Ahmed, S.H., Guillem, K. and Vandaele, Y. (2013). Sugar addiction. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, [online] 16(4), pp.434–439. Available at: https://journals.lww.com/co-clinicalnutrition/Abstract/2013/07000/Sugar_addiction__pushing_the_drug_sugar_analogy_to.11.aspx [Accessed 30 Mar. 2021].
Lenoir, M., Serre, F., Cantin, L. and Ahmed, S.H. (2007). Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward. PLoS ONE, [online] 2(8), p.e698. Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0000698 [Accessed 30 Mar. 2021].
Breda, J., Jewell, J. and Keller, A. (2018). The Importance of the World Health Organization Sugar Guidelines for Dental Health and Obesity Prevention. Caries Research, [online] 53(2), pp.149–152. Available at: https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/491556 [Accessed 30 Mar. 2021].
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