Sneaky Sugars and Steps to Reduce Your Intake
Sugar and Artificial Sweeteners
Based on the science as understood today, there are some general recommendations for which food groups may make you less healthy—including sugar and artificial sweeteners.
Here are the basics of the reasons to reduce your consumption of added sugars — in any form — in your daily diet.
When thinking of foods that provoke an unhealthy psychological response (including cravings), sugar comes to mind quickly. Because the sweetness of sugar is addictive, eating an excess amount is easy. The more we eat, the more we get used to those high levels, and the more we want.
Sugar causes weight gain: All sugars, regardless of how they are labeled, have a similar effect when it comes to raising blood sugar levels and inducing insulin production. Insulin is the body’s primary regulator of fat metabolism. When insulin levels go up, we store fat. When insulin levels fall, we use fat for fuel.
In addition to promoting fat storage shortly after a meal, over time, eating an excess of sugar, as well as increased body fat, can cause the body to become more resistant to insulin, causing an increase in insulin production, which results in storing more fat.
Adding sugar to foods and beverages also makes them more calorie-dense, making it easy to consume extra calories when eating these foods.
Artificial sweeteners are also commonly problematic, as they are hundreds of times sweeter than the sugar found in nature AND lack any genuine nutritional qualities.
Now, of course, “your mileage may vary”. Some people feel these effects more than others. Until you do your own self-experiment, you’ll never know for sure how consumption of added sugars is affecting how you look, feel, and live.
Sugar increases your risk for heart disease: Sugar increases the risk of heart disease in several ways. For example, as detailed by the Mayo Clinic, eating an excessive amount of added sugar can increase your levels of triglycerides, which are the primary type of fat in the bloodstream and fat tissue. Additional risks for heart disease include insulin resistance and diabetes, as well as increased inflammation levels.
Sugar increases inflammation: Sugar is digested into glucose and can contribute to inflammation, the body’s response to internal damage, which is associated with many chronic diseases, including heart disease, dementia, depression, cancer, and more.
Whether you’re looking to improve your immunity, lose some weight, or just feel better and optimize your health, reducing your sugar intake is a positive step.
Hormonal Disruption for Empty Calories
Added sugars are one of the quickest and easiest foods to provoke an unhealthy hormonal response. Added sugars disrupt leptin and insulin levels, create primary reliance on sugar as fuel, and cause accumulation of lipids in the liver, bloodstream, and on the body (as body fat). This drives systemic inflammation, a major risk factor for many lifestyle diseases and conditions.
In addition, these sugars are calorie-dense, but nutritionally barren — the very definition of “empty calories.”
Gut Bacteria
Sugar (and studies suggest some artificial sweeteners) also disrupt the environment in our gut, specifically altering the delicate balance of “good” bacteria and “bad” bacteria. This condition can lead to digestive distress and inflammatory symptoms like fatigue, body aches, and joint problems, and can worsen pre-existing inflammatory or autoimmune conditions.
Numerous studies have associated the use of various artificial sweeteners with various health conditions, including cancer, migraines, autoimmune conditions, and neurotoxicity. There have not been enough long-term studies on humans to definitively confirm these associations or prove a causative relationship, but a cautious approach is wise when confronted with data that suggests there may be a problem.
With potential downsides and no advantages, recommend avoiding non-caloric sweeteners in general, and significantly reducing added sugar intake.
Now, what can you do?
5 Simple Steps to Reducing Sugar In Your Diet
Step 1: Get familiar with the different forms of sugar.
Finding sugar and where it’s hiding can be confusing. Start checking labels for these ingredients and the amounts included. There are many names and aliases beyond “sugar” on an ingredient list. Learn to recognize and spot sugar and sweeteners in forms like:
anhydrous dextrose
brown sugar
confectioner’s powdered sugar
corn syrup
corn syrup solids
dextrose
fructose
high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
honey
invert sugar
lactose
malt syrup
maltose
maple syrup
molasses
nectars (e.g., peach nectar, pear nectar)
pancake syrup
raw sugar
sucrose
sugar
white granulated sugar
As detailed by the Mayo Clinic, “The only reliable way to identify added sugars is to look at the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. If you see sugar listed among the first few ingredients, the product is likely to be high in added sugars.”
Natural vs. Added Sugar
When reading a Nutrition Facts label, look to distinguish and identify added sugars on the ingredients list. These are sugars that have been added to foods and beverages for taste, texture, and preservation, as opposed to natural sugars which are found naturally in nutritious foods like fruit.
Step 2: Journal and Track a Week of Eating.
Pick a week coming up to journal all your meals, drinks, and snacks. You can easily track this manually by reading nutrition labels and jotting down amounts on paper, or an app like MyFitnessPal. Reading labels and tracking is an effective way to:
Observe how much added sugar you’re consuming intentionally, whether it’s choosing the cookies and soda at lunchtime or having dessert a few nights a week.
Grow awareness of how much sugar you’re consuming unintentionally because as we mentioned above, added sugar can and does sneak into food. This is because it is often used as filler for food products you wouldn’t necessarily associate with sugar, from yogurts, bread, and salsa, to lunch meat and canned soups.
Learn when and where throughout the day you’re consuming sugar – i.e. is it mainly after dinner or starting with a sugary breakfast? Is it candy at your desk after lunch?
Once you’ve tracked a week’s worth of eating, reflect back and tally how much sugar you’re averaging per day. For reference, 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon.
Step 3: Decide on your new goal.
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that “added sugars make up no more than 10 percent of your daily calories.”
For a 2,000-calorie diet, that means no more than 200 calories a day should come from added sugars.
The American Heart Association advises a stricter limit for added sugars — no more than 100 calories a day for most women and no more than 150 calories a day for most men. That’s about 6 teaspoons of sugar for women and 9 for men.
To put this into perspective, a 12-ounce can of regular soda has about 160 calories, or about 10 teaspoons, of sugar.
Step 4: Pick a meal or beverage with sugar to remove entirely or reduce the amount.
It’s ok to start small. Thanks to your week-long journal/tracking, you now have an overview of your sugar consumption habits, and you can pick an area to reduce, one (or many) at a time. As an example, this could look like:
Swapping out your lunchtime soda for seltzer water
Switching your morning flavored greek yogurt for plain yogurt with nuts
Opting for black coffee a few times a week in place of a sugary coffee beverage
Step 5: Test and Benchmark your progress.
There are multiple ways you can track the effects of sugar on your health.
While it could be helpful to track via subjective methods such as journaling your energy and mood levels, monitoring your sleep quality, and even tracking your weight and body fat percentage, a simple blood test that includes biomarkers like hs-CRP, hbA1c, ApoB, and triglycerides is an accurate way to see where you’re doing well and where you can improve.
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