Research is consistently showing how diets high in sugar are having a detrimental effect on our health. Nutritional Therapist and College of Naturopathic Medicine graduate Emma O’Connor explains why the white stuff has literally become our sweet poison!
When eaten, sugar gets broken down into glucose. This glucose enters the bloodstream and insulin gets released by the pancreas in response to the increase in blood glucose levels. Insulin’s job is to move the glucose to the cells to be used as fuel. Excess glucose gets stored by the insulin as fat. This is why sugar is being labelled as a “demon” in the obesity epidemic- the more sugar consumed, the more fat gets stored in the body.
Obesity isn’t the only illness linked with a high sugar diet, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, fatty liver disease, cancer, high cholesterol, Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory illnesses such as arthritis all have links to sugar.
A complete ban on all things sweet is not necessary when reducing sugar. Here are my 4 top tips:
- Avoid added sugar: check the ingredients list on packages to determine if sugar has been added to the product, if it is listed in the top 5 ingredients it’s definitely a no!
- Always eat protein or fat with carbohydrates. This slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream.
- Avoid artificial sweeteners added by manufacturers to replace the loss of sugar. They can still cause cravings for sugar.
- As a replacement for adding sugar to food try stevia, xylitol or raw local honey- all in moderation!
Emma practices in Cork and can be contacted at www.vitabella.ie
