Sweets and Added Sugars - Worth It or Not?

Today we are going to talk about sugar.

Of all the materials that are on my Top 5 NOT FOOD list, this is probably the one that you have heard the most about, and yet are likely the most confused about. Because even the word “sugar” is confusing. It comes in so many shapes and forms, and some are good and some are bad, and blah, blah, blah, that most people just throw up their hands.

So from the top I am going to be straight with you.

You really shouldn’t eat much sugar.

But on occasion and if you are metabolically healthy, it is ok to consume.

Here are the good, natural, wholesome sugars:

• Raw unfiltered honey (local is best) 

• Organic dark maple syrup 

That’s it.

Most other “sugar” that you consume should be contained in small amounts from:

• Fruits

• Vegetables (starchy tubers)

• Fermented, soaked or soured grains (if tolerated)

These whole foods contain natural complex sugars and other carbs that convert into simple sugars in the body.

I’m sure you’ve heard about the low-carb high-fat craze (LCHF), but you may not get the hype. I literally had someone ask me the other day, “What’s a carb?” So don’t feel dumb.

Carb is short for “carbohydrate,” which are compounds made up of a certain number of carbon atoms (the “carb” part) and hydrogen+oxygen atoms (the “hydrate” part). These compounds include sugar, starches, and celluloses.

So the word carbohydrate itself can confuse people for a very good reason. It refers to a large group of compounds. It is wrong to say that all carbs are bad. Just like it is wrong to say all carbs are good. That would be like saying all fat is good, or all fat is bad (as I have already explained in my previous posts).

I put “processed sugars” in their own category because they need to be singled out and vilified. They are one of the worst carbs and are not natural sugars. Just like processed seed oils, these are made in a factory or plant, do not exist in nature, were introduced to the human body only recently, and are not recognized by your body as FOOD.

Here is a short list of processed sugars:

• Corn syrup

• Crystalline fructose

• Ethyl maltol

• Maltodextrin

• Fruit juice concentrate

• High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)

• Rice syrup

• Brown rice syrup

• Etc

The amount of man-made sugars is so huge that I am not able to list them all here or it would take up an entire blog post, but you get the idea. Go ahead and search it up yourself. Food manufacturers have found countless sneaky ways to hide these processed sugars in your food, and you want to know why?

Because processed food tastes nasty without them.

It would feel WRONG.

Your brain would sense that something is “off.”

And your mouth would immediately reject it and spit it out.

Food manufacturers figured out long ago that if they just sweetened everything (sometimes even unnoticeably), humans would eat anything, even if it’s NOT FOOD. They use processed sugars to essentially trick your brain into accepting the material you are chewing as palatable and delicious.

And what is in real FOOD that makes it palatable and delicious? You already know because I have already talked about it. 

That’s right.

FAT.

Specifically, saturated fat. 

So yes, all of these nasty processed sugars that food manufacturers created find their origin in the ridiculous fear our government instilled in Americans of FAT, and the need to replace the palatable deliciousness of saturated fat that had existed in our foods for centuries with an easy, cheap, and convenient substitute. Oh and make sure it can sit on a shelf for months or even years. Gross.

Processed sugars are NOT FOOD.

Now, I realize that occasionally you will want to sweeten something. Raw honey and maple syrup work fine for some things, but are not great for most baking. What do I use myself when I make cookies at Christmas, pies for Thanksgiving, or the occasional dessert? First of all, I make sure that I am using lots of saturated fat, usually butter, in my recipes. The better the quality of butter (i.e. grass fed), the better the flavor. Second, I always cut the amount of sugar in recipes by at least half (sometimes more, if I can add vanilla or heavy cream or get away with even more butter). Third, depending on the recipe, I use a combination of coconut sugar, maple sugar, and a sugar substitute called Lakanto (made from monk fruit, buy it here). This combo seems to give the best flavor without the blood sugar spike. If you prefer the taste of an unprocessed organic cane sugar (from the sugar cane plant), it is fine on occasion if you are metabolically healthy. Again, these natural plant sugars are to be used sparingly and only on occasion.

Speaking of blood sugar spikes, this is another problem with processed sugars. Because they are unnatural highly refined mutant versions, they cause unnatural and strange reactions in the human body. We all know that high blood sugar is not a good thing, but rarely does someone wake up one day and instantly have chronic high blood sugar. It starts insidiously with chronic blood sugar spikes from processed sugar that eventually can no longer be regulated by the body. There are many signs early on that Americans are NOT taught to pay attention to.

I explained before how seed oils cause the energy storage of the cell to stay switched ON way too long. This phenomenon, combined with processed sugars that are rapidly conveyed to the blood stream with hardly any time in the gut, puts an enormous strain on your insulin pathway. Plus, these over-refined sugars combine with the rancid seed oils to further damage the blood vessels, leaving a sticky hot mess of destruction in their wake. And usually both of these items are combined in the same processed material you have been led to believe is “food.”

Conclusion: That donut hole you are talking yourself into “just this once” is a fireball of destruction, and it is NEVER worth it.

The seed oils switch problem leads to what is called “Metabolic Syndrome.” You will develop visceral fat storage issues around your waist and your fasting insulin will be off. This should be a major red flag. The processed sugar contributes to induce “Prediabetes,” meaning you start having chronic blood sugar spikes and your fasting blood sugar, or overnight blood sugar, will be too high. Your triglycerides will slowly rise. Unfortunately, it’s not routine for doctors to check for Prediabetes or Metabolic Syndrome, which is why I am sad to say that many of you reading this ARE one of these people and don’t even know it. If you don’t stop the problem now, obesity and even full onset diabetes could be in your future, bringing along with it a much higher chance of coronary heart disease, cancer, and dementia. Not to mention a weakened immune system.

Before you think, “that’s not me,” consider the statistic that 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy. Are you in the top 12% of the entire nation? Think about that.

REMOVE ALL SEED OILS. 

REMOVE ALL PROCESSED SUGARS.

Back to the LCHF craze. If you want to pursue this eating plan, I support you. An even more strict version of this plan called “Keto” is also very useful at times. On these plans, you eat no added sugars and dramatically cut carbs. These plans work for some people because they force the body to use up all the stored sugar and fat in their cells and help to restore some metabolic flexibility. But keep in mind what I have already discussed. If your LCHF plan is allowing you to consume seeds oils and processed sugars, reject it immediately. It is causing internal damage that will eventually catch up with you. And remember, seed oils only contribute to your fat being stored, not burned. With LCHF you MUST be able to burn your own stored body fat for fuel, or you will have no source of energy.  Eating seed oils blocks this process. So Keto will ultimately fail you, and you will give up. This is what happened to many of your friends who decided keto “just wasn’t right” for them. 

Chose a LCHF plan that focuses on eating the way our ancestors ate. No gimmicks, just whole foods. Eat adequate natural fats. And yes, you do need a carb re-feed on a somewhat regular basis, especially if you are a woman or an athlete. There are those rare people who thrive on keto for years, but that is not most people and it probably won’t be you. It certainly is NOT me (and believe me, I know, as I will tell you about later). I do best by using keto as a tool on a very regular basis.

Don’t rely on plans to fix you. Remember, your body is your responsibility.

Just simply giving your body back its ability to flip the switch to “I’m full” will do amazing things. You alone have the ability to tell your body that it doesn’t NEED to store fat. 

And then metabolic flexibility, which should be the health goal of every human, will be yours for the taking. 

More on that next time…