| It’s been a while since our last blog article and I hope you’re doing very well. Today I want to talk about something that you consume every single day, but may not be paying enough attention to – SUGAR! Sugar is pervasive and has made its way into many of the foods we eat every day. The average American adult consumes over 150 lbs. of sugar every year! Sugar is extremely addictive, and it’s easy to see why this would be the case – not only does it taste good, but we’ve also created such strong psychological ties with sugar. For example, Halloween, Christmas, Birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and just about every special event would not be the same without sugary treats and sweets. This has been ingrained from a very young age and these associations are tough to break.
Sugar can wreak havoc on our metabolism, and can contribute to many of the common chronic diseases we face today – diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, and more. Consuming any type of sugar can also reduce immune cell function by 50% for up to five hours. Cancer cells love sugar, since they can use this as a fuel source much more efficiently than normal cells.
I get asked all the time, “but Dr. Morsillo, I only use natural and organic sugar or honey – isn’t that okay to use?” The answer is no. Sugar is sugar! Your body doesn’t care if the sugar came from juice, candy, honey, dried fruit, etc. – it recognizes it all as sugar and it all has the same effect on the body.
Here are some tips for how you can lower your total sugar intake every day:
1) Stop having junk foods. In fact, remove all of the candies, sweets, and cookies from your house right away! The more accessible these junk foods are, the more you’re going to have them. Out of sight, really is out of mind.
2) Watch what you drink. Many people are so diligent with their foods, yet don’t consider the amount of sugar that’s in their beverages. Specialty coffees, pop, juices, and milk are all loaded with sugar. Even the seemingly healthy coconut water or kombucha drinks will typically contain lots of sugar.
3) Don’t juice your fruits and veggies. Although this is a great way to get a lot of micronutrients, juicing removes all of the fibre from your fruits and veggies. Since you can juice more fruits and veggies than you would normally eat, you’re getting much more sugar overall.
4) Sugar is sugar. It doesn’t matter if you use white sugar, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or agave. Your body treats it all the same, so you should avoid any form of sugar as much as you can.
5) Not all fruits are created equally. Some fruits are much higher in sugar than others. It’s best to limit bananas, grapes, mangos, and pineapple, as these contain very high amounts of sugar. Berries and melons, however, are better choices since they contain less sugar.
If you follow these five tips, you’ll be well on your way to reducing the sugar in your diet and improving your health. If you’d like to make any changes to your diet and you’re not sure where to start – we’re here to help you! Just call or email our clinic and we’ll schedule an appointment to get you on track as soon as possible!
Yours in health,
Dr. Michael Morsillo, H.B.Sc., N.D.
Newmarket Naturoapthic Clinic
16655 Yonge St., Newmarket, Ont.
905-898-1844 ext. 135
dr.morsillo@gmail.com
www.drmorsillo.com |
