NO MORE SUGAR! NO MORE CRAVINGS!

How much sugar should you consume daily?

In this modern era, added sugar is the worst enemy to our health and should be avoided at all costs especially when you purchase your goods at the grocery store. Ensure that you check the food labels on your packaged food to know exactly what you are feeding your body.

The American Heart Association advises men to consume a maximum of 37.5 grams of added sugar daily, whilst women are advised to consume a maximum of 25 grams added sugar daily.
Consuming too much sugar can lead to health complications such as diabetes, chronic illnesses, blood sugar spikes and weight gain. Prevention is better than cure therefore, strive to be a bit cautious on what you eat to increase longevity and basic wellness.

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF CONSUMING ADDED SUGARS.

• ACNE- Have you ever eaten some delicious chocolate bars or doughnuts and after 4 hours or more you suddenly breakout? According to the Healthline, sugar contains oxidative properties that are shown to provoke acne and breakouts. Sugary foods once ingested, convert quickly into glucose and cause the body’s insulin levels to rise leading to bursts of inflammation on the body. Research shows that insulin spikes play a huge role in producing excess sebum or skin oils and this contributes to clogged follicles plus a worse skin complexion.

• HYPER ENERGY- I am sure most people are aware of the dangers of giving children candy and how uncontrollable they become afterwards. I remember when my little cousins came over to my place and ate some candy. Oh, my goodness, how I wished they hadn’t eaten those doughnuts! They couldn’t settle on one place, some were running all over the house and I had to chase them, some were laughing nonstop and it wasn’t even something funny to laugh at. Can you imagine a kid laughing like crazy after every 10 seconds? It was like that. They were high and hyper. After some time, they eventually lost all that energy and slept like babies. Whew, that was over finally! My point is, don’t give children treats that contain sugar, rather buy sugar-free sweets or make healthier snacks for them like fruits etc.

• WEIGHT GAIN- sugar is high in calories while offering few other nutrients, they are often referred to as empty calories, as they are high in calories yet void of nutrients, Consuming small amounts of added sugar is unlikely to cause weight gain, but regularly eating food with added sugars may cause you to gain excess body fat quicker and more drastically. Food high in sugar are less filling thus one tends to eat more in order to feel satiated. This causes one to eat an excess of their daily allowance and results in weight gain.

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LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF CONSUMING ADDED SUGAR

• PREMATURE AGEING– We all need the fountain of youth, however, that juice you had for breakfast or the dessert you had before bed is sabotaging your goals. Sugar ages all both internally and externally. Here is something interesting: According to Dr Nish from the Unity Point Health Organisation, when you put a banana out on the counter and unpeel it, It gets brown within 24 to 48 hours. The sugars in that banana are reacting with proteins, causing cross-linking and the brown colour (browning reaction). The exact same reaction happens in our bodies thus we are browning from the inside out. The more sugar we have, the more our skin starts to suffer. This leads to acne, the appearance of wrinkles, sagging in neck and chin, development of dark spots, slower healing of cuts & scraps, etc.

• WEAK IMMUNE SYSTEM– According to a study done by researchers at Loma Linda University in Southern California, sugar impairs white blood cells. The main purpose of white blood cells is to fight bacteria and viruses that enter the body, however, sugar wears them out so that they can’t get that critical job done.

SUGAR ALTERNATIVES

1. Honey- Instead of adding cubes of sugar in your tea or coffee, why not replace it with natural honey? Raw honey contains less fructose and is the only natural sweetener with health benefits such as anti-microbial effects, promotes heart health and contains anti-inflammatory effects.
2. Instead of having fruit juice, drink plain water with lime or lemon fruit to taste.
3. Include cinnamon in your tea for sweet taste.
4. Snack on dried fruit instead of candy.
5. Maple Syrup- unlike sugar, maple syrup contains more than 50 beneficial compounds including antioxidants and a molecule with anti-inflammatory properties. The darker the syrup, the higher the concentration of these compounds.

Natural foods are always the best.
Check out more of my healthy low-carb recipes on the recipes page. Enjoy!

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