Is there a 'better' sugar?

Thanks to Dr Katz for this link about sugars (a good advantage of following some people you know who are professionals and are watching for the same kinds of things you are).

Are Sugar Really That Different? This article walks us through a wide variety of the options (note they are all natural sweeteners) and gives us the low-down on how healthy they are.  Turns out the basic bottom line is "choose your favorite" and "limit your consumption" - No, REALLY limit your consumption.

From the article:  "Ultimately, at the digestive level, your body doesn’t differentiate the food sources of any of these simple sugars. The American Heart Association recommends that most men and women limit their intake of added sugars to no more than 150 calories for men and no more than 100 calories for women. That’s not a lot.  For example, one tablespoon of table sugar has approximately 48 calories and about 12 grams of sugar. So women should limit their intake to two tablespoons (six teaspoons) max and men, three tablespoons (9 teaspoons). How much sugar do you add to your morning coffee? How much is in the cereal you eat for breakfast? Many people are already in excess of their daily sugar intake before their mid morning snack!"

One teaspoon of granulated sugar is about 4 grams (since most of the labels give portion size in grams). A little detective work in your grocery store can quickly show how fast sugar adds up. Raisin Bran for breakfast is already 18 grams of sugar in one serving (assuming you only take the one and one quarter cup serving!). That is already 4.5 teaspoons of sugar... almost all of what women need for the day and fully half of what men need, just at breakfast!

So what about artificial sweeteners? You can check out a Harvard study for some insight.  Generally, the research I read says replacing natural sugar with artificial sugar is the classic 'jumping from the frying pan into the fire'.

Resources for Healthy Eating...

I've just posted a number of resources focused around healthy eating. Here is a quick look at them all:

1. Calorie Density by nutrition label and by food group. This is a very practical look at how to get the best combination of calories (we need those for energy) and nutrients (we need those to build and maintain our cells). This is especially helpful if you are prone to getting too many calories and want to reduce calories but not nutrient level.

2. Food labels are important... the advertising hype seldom is.  This is a quick look at how food companies try to influence us to buy their product and how to see past their efforts. And sticking with food companies (there are only about eleven of them that are responsible for all the thousands of different processed food products) this is a look at addictive food, how the companies know what they are doing and why we need to be informed. And sticking with food labels even longer, David Katz shares some very helpful info about sugar in general and "total added sugar" specifically to help us make informed decisions.

3. Sometimes the perception is that the really healthy food is just too expensive. This article gives helpful hints at buying affordable organic food. And this one takes a look at providing healthy food for the food banks and those who rely on that source of food.

4. There is an article on how to use the sense of "feeling full" to our health advantage. And also a look at exercise in the work place - specifically at the work desk - to boost productivity (and health at the same time!).

5. Plus a quick look at a very helpful book: "God, Health and Happiness" by Dr Scott Morris. Easy to read and a though-provoking look at our health care system, the church's role in that system, and a biblical view of whole person health.

Dr David Katz - total added sugar.

I appreciate the work of Dr David Katz. He has a recent article that has much to say about sugar. The second point he makes is about 'total added sugar'. We've been posting recently about food labels a couple different times. This section from Katz highlights the efforts by the food companies to make the product look healthier than it is. Sugar can come in many forms with many names and by separating them into the various names, it is possible to make the product look like it has less sweetener in it than it really does. Katz argues for simplifying things and forcing the label to have a line: "total added sugar". Makes good sense.

The other stuff he says in the article is helpful also, as is his NuVal food scoring system and the work he does with Lifestyle Medicine. I commend his work to you for keeping up on what is healthy - or not. (Other helpful approaches to medical care are called Integrative Medicine andFunctional Medicine.)

Fat Shaming

I focus on three things in my workshops: exercise, diet and play.  When I talk about the 'diet' piece I almost always have shown a series of slides from the CDC on the obesity crisis.  I'm always try to make the point that, in this Western world so full of sugar and food additives, some people just have extreme difficulty keeping their weight where they want it.  I've met lots of people who are working hard at exercise (some of them very hard) and are careful with what they eat (some of them very careful), and they still are classified as obese.

This article tackles the issue of 'fat shaming' - that, sad to say, even shows up in our Presidential politics.  It starts early, it affects women more than men, and people who are obese even 'fat shame' themselves. Hopefully the church community is a place to find forgiveness, and friendship and support.