Sugar is Sugar is Sugar

Yesterday evening, while carefully constructing my Bora Bora Balls for dinner, I heard the familiar bling sound of an email received.  It was Geoff, with a great idea for a topic.  I read it, then meditated on it while molding the balls, and saved my research for clear-headed morning time.

His wife discovered that their beloved bacon had, gasp, sugar in it.  No problem, she went off to Giant to buy sugar-free bacon.  Remember, bacon is MEAT, its mother had eyes and lived on a farm.  She sadly discovered that every brand of bacon in the Giant, even the organic one, had a form of sugar listed on the ingredients.  Apparently, Wegman’s has the same issue.  Geoff then became suspicious and discovered that several inconspicuous products had sugar, even his beloved protein shake mix had corn syrup in the mix.  For those of us on a strict sugar detox or striving for a strict paleo lifestyle, this is a common problem of grocery shopping in the modern US. 

Before I talk about sugar avoidance, I would ask you to first clarify your personal goals.  Are you trying to detox from sugar?  Are you trying to lose weight? Or are you simply trying to maintain the healthy lifestyle you’ve created for yourself? Let me put the disclaimer in right now: I am not 100% sugar free.  Occasionally, various types of sugar travel my digestive tract, and usually they do so with me graciously opening the gates.  But occasionally, an infiltrator sneaks in, and I sleep through the break-in unknowingly.  So, my goal is to make sure you know exactly what you are putting into your body, and if you choose to include some form of sugar, do so knowingly. 

This is not a sugar class.  There are plenty of resources out there on the physiological impact of sugar on your body.  If you are pursuing this lifestyle, YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS.  Please get Robb Wolfe’s book, The Paleo Solution, and take it a chapter at a time.  It’s the easiest to understand, and if you want more I’m happy to recommend increasingly comprehensive books.  I will be giving you abbreviated version of the harmful effects of sugar. Take a deep breath and concentrate.  It’s only one paragraph of textbook. 

Why you don’t want sugar in your diet: it creates insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, weight gain, and it has caused the obesity epidemic that has shaped America (America includes you and me too).   You need to have at least a basic understanding of your body’s sugar response.  In a really simple format, sugar ingestion leads to a spike in your body’s insulin, produced by the pancreas. Over time, a constant barrage of sugar with a constant response from the pancreas weakens it.  Your pancreas becomes less efficient, creating Insulin Resistance.  As a result, blood sugar levels in your body remain high because there isn’t enough insulin to remove it.  Now, problem #1 is your inability to effectively use and remove sugar. Problem #2 is the conditions that arise as a result of this: weight gain, because your body uses sugar for fuel and stores the fat you eat, and pre-diabetes or even diabetes.  Go ahead and Google the health problems that arise from diabetes.  Blindness, kidney failure, non-healing wounds, obesity, high blood pressure, and eventually death, after a long, slow, hospital-laden demise.  Sound dismal? It is.  I’ve personally cared for many people who let diabetes take them down, and the last few years of their lives are miserable.  Problem #3 is your dependency on sugar.  The more you eat, the more you want.  It’s addictive, complete with cravings, withdrawal, irrational behavior to obtain, and dependency.  As your ability to metabolize the sugar weakens, your brain asks for more and more, and the vicious cycle of decline begins. 

Sad? You don’t have to be.  The good news is that until one is in full-blown diabetes with organ failure, the course is reversible.  This hopefully refers to you reading this now.  If you are in weight-loss and inches-loss mode, keep all types of sugar out of your diet.  This includes all starches, real Cane Sugar, Stevia, Truvia, maple syrup, honey, coconut syrup, and anything else masquerading as a healthy sweetener.  Instead of rationalizing the health benefits of the sweetener (don’t bother, there are none) ask yourself why you are trying to eat them.  Chances are, however you shape your answer, the bottom line is to feed the addictive signals your brain is sending out.  We’ve been programmed our entire lives to be dependent on the sugar rush, and we’ve eaten food accordingly.  Getting your brain to shut this down is at least a 3-10 weeks long project.  Sugar is sugar.  Next time you say, “Give me some sugar,” you better get only a hug or a kiss, STAT. 

You’re ready, so how do you do it? Eating the balanced protein/carb/fat meals every 2-3 hours helps.  It keeps your blood sugar from dipping, and the dips are what trigger the sugar cravings.  I know this because even yesterday at Wegman’s, on Hour 3 between meals, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were like an industrial magnet. I successfully avoided them, but there was some pretty awful rationalization going on in my head.  If there is a label, read it.  High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is one of the worst things you can put in your body.   It’s full of synthetic chemicals and made from GMO-engineered corn.  If you haven’t seen the movie, Food, Inc. watch it.  It’s a wonderful lesson on GMO-engineered products and their harmful effects on society and individuals.  Sugars are lurking in products you might not suspect: deli meats, bacon, balsamic vinegars, nut butters, and many more.  If bacon is important to you, (duh, yeah!) than I would suggest buying it directly from the butcher.  We bought a half-pig 2 months ago, and are working our way through the fresh, delicious, pork in all forms.  Fresh organic meats are not typically cured with sugar, but bacon is the exception in many cases.  Be careful and read the label.

For killing the inevitable sweet craving, go for a pear, sweet potatoes, figs or dates, in small portions.  And, by the way, alcohol is the crack house of sugar addiction.  It’s no different than a spoonful or 7 of sugar, so just remember that the 1 or 2 NorCal Margaritas, while paleo, still feed the addiction. 

It all depends on your desired level of purity and your goals.  If you are going for maximum efficiency, health, and weight/inches loss, be a strict militant and omit all forms of sugar.  Stronger, Faster, Healthier has all natural whey protein powders with very low glycemic indexes.  Glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose, dextrin, juice concentrates, raw cane sugar, stevia, maple syrup, agave nectar, and raw honey are all forms of sugar, elicit the same response, and should be used very sparingly. 
Be bigger than the sugar.

It’s a tough battle, but imagine how happy your pancreas is now that it’s had a brief sabbatical from working overtime for years.  I think I just heard it say, “Give me some sugar,” meaning a thank-you kiss.