I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on why sugar is so bad for you. There are so many reasons beyond the fact that it makes you gain weight, I think it’s very important to look at. Whether you’re doing Weight Watchers, Jillian Michaels, South Beach or any other diet program, you seriously need to watch the amount of sugar (fructose) you’re ingesting.

Fructose itself is not bad, but it’s the amount of fructose (the most popular form of sugar today) we, especially Americans, consume. A century ago, Americans consumed an average of 15 grams of sugar per day. Today Americans consume over 73 grams per day on average! That’s 300% over the amount we should be consuming! No wonder in 2009 63.1% of Americans were overweight or obese!*

Health Issues Caused by Consuming Too Much Sugar

Here is a list of just some of the health issues** that consuming too much sugar can cause:

1. Sugar can lower your body’s natural defense mechanisms so it’s unable to fight against infectious disease
2. Sugar contributes to obesity.
3. Sugar can cause autoimmune disease such as MS, arthritis and asthma.
4. Sugar contributes to raised levels of anxiety.
5. Sugar can cause alcoholism.
6. Sugar assists the growth of yeast infections.
7. Sugar can cause gallstones, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.
8. Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
9. Sugar can interfere with the absorption of protein and other nutrients.
10. Sugar can cause depression.

Those are just a slight portion of the numerous health risks sugar can cause. Those are enough for me to continue watching how much sugar I consume each day!

Foods that contain the most sugar:

1. Soda: 46 grams of sugar in most cans of regular soda
2. Most fruit juices. Fruit contains natural sugar, which is good for you, but most fruit juice companies ruin it by adding high fructose corn syrup.
3. Processed, packaged foods. Beware of those that claim to be low fat. They are usually loaded with hidden sugar.

This is just a general list obviously, but if you do your research you will probably be surprised at how much sugar is in the foods we eat.

As mentioned above the natural sugar in fruits, and some vegetables, is good for you because of all the added vitamins and minerals that are naturally contained in them.

A good rule of thumb to follow:

You’ve heard of people following the “no white food” diet, right? They avoid all white food, which is a good rule of thumb to follow. This is because most processed white food contains large amounts of refined sugar. Some make the mistake of eliminating potatoes and other white fruits and vegetables as well, but this is not necessary because those contain natural sugar. White pasta is a huge culprit of hidden sugar. White pasta is made from white flour or “enriched flour”. Basically white flour is made from the white part of the wheat plant, leaving all the nutrients, including fiber, out of it. The more refined foods you eat, the more insulin must be produced to digest it. Insulin promotes fat storage which leads to rapid weight gain, which leads to higher triglyceride levels which leads to heart disease. Not to mention all the other diseases listed above.

There will be more postings on this very important topic. But, if you’re trying to lose weight and get healthy, start by tracking how much sugar and other refined foods you’re consuming. You might be surprised…unpleasantly, I’m afraid to say.

In another post I will talk about good carbs and bad carbs and how they affect your body and weight loss efforts.

*Resource: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20100210/percentage-of-overweight-obese-americans-swells

** Resource: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/20/sugar-dangers.aspx