It makes little sense how we let this white grainy sweet stuff take charge of our lives so much. It fools us by looking good, tasting very good & being socially unacceptable to decline.
We love it, crave it, eat it secretly, celebrate with it, yet we hate what it does to our bodies, how it makes us feel and the energy it drains from us.
BACK STORY… (bear with)
The human body is truly incredible. Designed to work in line with the earth’s seasons we would have only eaten available natural foods that literally let you know through reactions whether there is a problem or not. The problems were simple when we were hunter gatherers. Poisonous food would make you feel sick, give you the runs or worst of all kill you. Good food would give you energy to hunt, cook & bear children and potentially lead a long life. If you ate berries that made you feel sick, you’d soon learn not to eat them again.
Sugar was only available in natural foods so the quantity was controlled. With these being seasonal you would eat whatever was available, giving you the most natural diet on earth. You would have walked everywhere and every aspect of life would have involved physical activity, so burning the sugar off was no problem. Portion control & willpower wasn’t even necessary, yet alone an actual thing.
It’s a given that sugar is added to pre-prepared and processed food and drinks that you don’t even consider to be sweet. We’re just used to things tasting that way and don’t like it (or buy it) if the sugar is removed. With food so accessible and busy lives the balance has tipped too far the other way.
Our bodies struggle to adapt to the amount we eat and we tend not to notice the reactions we have when sugar is consumed in the quantities we have in our diet today. Tiredness, lethargy, low mood, anxiety, brain fog, self-doubt, low self-esteem, low tolerance and weight gain are just a few symptoms you may feel are familiar for you or someone you know.
If you feel sugar could be causing you some issues, try making notes about what food you eat and how you feel within an hour of eating and maybe even a few hours after too.
Rate things like energy levels, alertness, how your stomach feels & mood from 1 to 5 (1 = low or bad & 5 = high or good).
This alone may help you reduce your intake of sugar & encourage you to take a closer look at the sugar content in the food you eat. On a food label, the stuff you’re looking out for is the amount of Sugar under the heading Carbohydrates.
Remember natural sweet food such as fruit will have an effect but are less of a concern, unless of course you’re eating a huge amount of it.
More to come on this subject. If you’d like to chat about how you might change some habits to reduce your sugar intake, book in for a consultation with a tfd trainer.