Quote:
Originally Posted by NewPhin
I started pondering my sugar intake. I love, freaking love, sweets. I probably have something sweet every other day to eat. Yet, I don't think I have that high of a sugar intake. Then I realized why: I don't drink sodas. Many people drink 3-4 sodas in a day, which is just an insane amount of sugar, I would think. That's, basically, like eating a desert with every meal and plus an extra one for good measure. Of course, lots of people drink diet cola. That is probably opening up a whole other can of worms, though.... who knows what the longterm effect of all that artificial sweetener is going to be on people.
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When is the last time you got your blood sugar levels checked? It's always good to monitor your blood sugar levels if you're not sure.
Im exactly the same. I love sweets as well, however, I started reading up on them, and the more info I found, the more I stopped putting them into my body. Sweets are one of the worst things anybody can eat. And I don't mean to say this out of discouragement since you enjoy them, but just expressing this as harsh truth.
Most sweets contain "refined" sugars. Refined sugars are rich in calories, but they are what we call "empty" calories. Refined sugars have no usuable nutrition whatsoever that is why they call them "empty" calories.
Because all the nutrients that come from the original sources like sugar canes and sugar beets are lost. The nutrients become exacted and gone once they undergo a refinery process providing no usuable nutrition for the body whatsoever. Refined sugars contain no vitamins and minerals.
Not only do they provide zero nutrition, also, your body can't metabolize them properly since they have no vitamins and minerals. So your body has to call upon its reserves of vitamins and minerals to metabolize it properly. That throws a lot of things off-balance. And, they pose several health risks, i.e., tooth decay, obesity, and diabetes.
Refined sugars feed off the germs and bacteria in your teeth which causes a breakdown in the enamel. But one thing to keep in mind, refined sugars are VERY HIGH in the glycemic index, meaning, they instantaneously become released into bloodstream, and the energy is produced at a rapid pace rather than gradual, this is known as "sugar high". This has a fast and pronounced effect on blood sugar levels, its not even funny. It causes your pancreas to release lots of insulin to meet the demands of the sugar intake and your blood sugar level rises way above the normal standard.
Don't get me wrong, its okay to intake sugars, but what you want are sugars to come from natural sources as you are now aware...i.e., fruits, raw honey, these are examples of natural sugars that are not extremely rich in content as opposed to refined sugars but they also contain usuable nutrition. Id also reccommend foods low in the glycemic index as well.
You are doing the right thing by not drinking cola. I think a can of coke has the equivalency of 8-10 tsps which is about 35-40 grams of sugar. And that is all artificial sugar btw. Insane amounts yes, and I can tell you that many americans are putting themselves at risk with the consumption of 3-4 cans of cola per day. Thats just insane and absolutely not necessary.
*Oh diet cola is deceiving. These coke companies are smart but they also make me laugh because they try to distract people by leading them into thinking, "hey this can of diet coke has very little calories in it? cool!" but then on the other hand, because people are distracted, and deceived, it neglects them from even realizing the potential health effects a can of diet coke has. Yes it is artificially sweetened, you are right, and the artificial sweetener they use for it is "aspartame" which is like one of the WORST things for your health. you know how potent aspartame is? It so potent that it has about close to 100 different side effects. You're probably just better off drinking a regular can of coke? Thats not saying much though.