Beat the Sweet Tooth

Hello friends and family, I want to share with you this random approach to eating less sugar. Cameron (my boyfriend) and I one day decided to try it after listening to Dr. Lustig speak on NPR’s podcast The Food We Eat. We never thought our idea would stick around long enough to change our lives, but it has.

First, here’s a few facts from Dr. Lustig’s research:

The bitter facts

• One soda a day will increase your risk for type II diabetes by 29 percent. The average soda intake per person in the U.S. is 2.5 cans per day.
• 87% of people with diabetes don’t know they have it.
• Sugar is a proven cause of type II diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and tooth decay.
• The average American consumes 66 pounds of sugar yearly. That’s 82 grams per day.
• 1.4 of the 2.7 trillion dollars America spends on healthcare each year is spent on metabolic diseases, largely caused by processed sugary foods.
• 74% of what is sold at the grocery store contains added sugar.
  

How sugar harms your liver
Our liver is in charge of processing sugar into energy. But when we consume more sugar than the liver can handle, it has a very difficult time figuring out what to do with it all. It has no choice but to store the sugar as fat around itself and other vital organs. This type of toxic visceral fat leads to chronic metabolic disease, like type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.

After getting the bitter facts about the sweet but deadly ingredient in our food, Cameron and I decided to get creative and  take action.

Here’s how we’ve made consuming less sugar per day stick:

Start with a number
How many grams of sugar per day do you want to have?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends we eat no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day (about 25 grams). We’ve found that staying below 25 grams is surprisingly easy, so we’ve stuck with that.

The FDA recommends no more than 12 teaspoons (50 grams) daily. Pick a number between the FDA’s and WHO’s recommended dose to start out.

Make yourself accountable:
Either find a partner, create a journal log, or mark your score on the calendar- something to check in with at the end of each day is crucial. As a coach, I‘ve found that 90% of my clients’ success comes from having someone to be accountable to.

Save room for dessert:
Even sugar-cautionary Dr. Lustig is pro-dessert. We can still find sweetness in life, just save it for the end of the day. 25 grams of sugar is your new allowance, you get to choose how you enjoy those sweet teaspoon-full’s, but they go fast!  

There’s several advantages to saving up for dessert:

• You’ll save money.
  You’re less likely to indulge on pricey coffee drinks and baked goods for breakfast.

 

• You’ll naturally cut down on the unhealthy stuff.
  Sodas, energy drinks, cinnamon rolls, candy bars, donuts, oreos, caramel macchiatos- take a look at the sugar content in this stuff. One serving easily exceeds your entire daily allowance.

 

• Your body will thank you.
  Better smelling breath, clearer skin, toner muscles, and stable energy levels. These are just a few changes I’ve personally experienced. Cameron also says he has less inflammation and pain in his back now that he’s cut down on sugar.

Sweet tooth or sure sign of dehydration?
Dehydration can feel like hunger. So if you’re getting a hankering for something sweet to snack on (even though you just ate lunch) try drinking some water first. That sweet tooth will probably vanish like magic.

Make it simple.
Part of the trick here is not turning this into a science. Keep it semi lackadaisical. Cam and I count our grams of sugar from nutritional labels whenever we can. There’s also the handy internet, where you can find the grams of sugar per serving in anything.

Here’s a great website with a great food database- https://www.nutritionix.com/

Real food doesn’t count
We don’t count the sugar from whole foods like apples and carrots. The general rule is that if our food is in its original form (not processed in any way), we’re getting the fiber needed to aid the liver in breaking down the sugar.

Stay curious and have fun
Cam and I have a contest in line at the supermarket to see who can find the item containing the most sugar. So far, a can of root beer wins at 45 grams (11 teaspoons)!! You can do this with your kids too and keep them safe from the dangers of sugar.

And that’s all there is to it! Track how many grams of sugar your eating. You only get a certain allowance a day, so moderate your indulgences, and enjoy life!

Videos and Resources

Sugar: The Bitter Truth by Dr. Robert Lustig –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Sugar Is Not A Treat by Jodi Stanislaw-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tic7X3ET4gE

How Worried Should We Be About Sugar– Ted Radio Hour w/ NPR- https://www.npr.org/2016/11/18/502171330/how-worried-should-we-be-about-sugar