Sugar can be downright addicting. Have you ever had those moments of weakness when you have reached for a box of donuts or bag of chocolate?
Our intentions are never to eat the whole box or the whole bag, however if you are like most people who are trying to lose weight, then gobbling up every last piece of sugarcoated goodness just seems to happen.
Foods high in sugar can be directly related to an increase in weight gain. If you don’t believe this to be true, just take a look at the foods in your refrigerator or cupboards that are bad for you.
Now take a look at the sugar content in those foods. Shocking isn’t it?
We have been told all of our lives that fatty foods are the reason we put on so much weight. The problem with this line of thinking is that we sometimes get the false idea that eating everything BUT fatty foods will help us to lose weight.
Unfortunately this just isn’t the case, which is why we will take a look at the role of sugar and weight loss throughout this article.
Why Is Sugar So Bad?
Fructose is the sugar that you have probably heard of that causes all the problems in weight gain.
However, why is sugar or fructose specifically, so bad for you and your body?
In one word – Leptin. Now you may not be familiar with what leptin is, but it is something that you need to learn more about if you’re eating lots of food high in sugar, and finding that you just can’t lose the weight.
The effects that fructose has on leptin is staggering. Leptin is a hormone that is held by our fat cells. When we are eating normally and healthy, some of what we eat gets stored within our fat cells.
As our brains begin to see that our bodies are storing enough in fat, it sends a signal down to the rest of our body with a message that we don’t need to eat anymore.
This beautiful chain of events is supposed to keep us from putting on too much weight. The body and brain both sense that there is leptin to be found, meaning that we do not need to eat anymore.
Fructose on the other hand, messes up this chain of events and actually blinds the brain from seeing the storage of leptin. When the brain sees that leptin is low, it sends a signal that our bodies need to eat more and need to burn less.
Are you starting to see just how detrimental fructose can be on our bodies?
As we become resistant to leptin from consuming too much fructose, our brains get extremely confused. It does not see the leptin being stored and in turn sends a signal that we need to eat more and burn less.
This strong signal is a reason why it is difficult to just stop eating. Some say it takes willpower, however if you have ever been on the other end of this then you know just how difficult it can be to utilize this willpower.
This is how a diet high in fructose can wreak havoc on our bodies and actually work against us in the battle against weight-loss.
Fructose Leaves You Feeling Empty
Drinks and foods high in fructose just don’t provide the type of hunger satisfaction that glucose does.
While food and drinks high in glucose can help curb your hunger and make you feel more satisfied, fructose just doesn’t cut it.
What this means for you is that you will continue to keep eating and drinking, well beyond what your body actually needs, and if you’re trying to lose weight this can cause all kinds of problems.
Because fructose does not make you feel fuller after a meal, you will more than likely reach for extras and more foods than you should. And as you probably know, by doing this you will be putting on more weight.
Are you starting to see just how problematic a diet high in sugar, specifically fructose, can do you more harm than good when it comes to trying to lose weight?
It’s Downright Addicting
While the jury is still out on how addictive sugar can be on the human body, it really doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that foods high in sugar are comforting for people. That is why they call it comfort food.
Think about how many times you have had a craving for ice cream, candy or just a soda. Think about how your brain starts firing in all directions when you start thinking about having your favorite sugary snacks.
For some these snacks could be things such as ice cream, for others it could very well be candy bars and for others it could be large portions of your favorite sugary drinks like soda.
When you think about it, these types of drinks and snacks are in a way just like drugs. On some level we all know that they’re bad for us, but we just can’t seem to walk away from our favorite drinks and snacks.
If you knew just how much problems this was causing your body, you may be tempted to turn and walk away from these sugary snacks.
However, just like anything that can become addicting, it just isn’t that easy. For some of us, we just can’t seem to turn down our favorite drinks or snacks when it comes to sugar content.
So What Do You Do Now?
Now that you know just how dangerous sugar can be on your weight-loss goals, there are some things that you can start to do, starting today.
One of the things that you can do is to try your best to eat or drink your favorite sugary snacks in moderation. What does this look like?
Well at first it may look a bit difficult, however if you’re serious about your weight loss then you should get serious about moderating the foods that you love, because honestly they could be slowly killing you.
One way that you can moderate the amount of these types of snacks, is to try to taper off the amount that you consume on a regular basis and replace them with a healthier alternative.
For instance, let’s say that you have a tendency to drink several cans of soda in one day. For this example let’s say that you drink three sodas a day, one with every meal.
What you can try and do is to cut back to just two sodas a day. In this example you can replace your lunchtime soda with a glass or two of water. It may seem weird at first, but the more that you do it the easier it will become.
When you’re ready you can take this even further, and taper off even more. In this case perhaps you could replace one soda a day with water, then replace another soda a day with perhaps a cup of tea, but don’t add any sugar to the tea.
Some teas have been found to help speed up the drinkers’ metabolism and help in the assistance of weight-loss.
Another thing that you can do is to start looking for healthier alternatives to the food and drinks that you have in your home.
On your next grocery shopping trip, take a look at what you normally buy, THEN take a look at the other brands to see if there are reduced sugar alternatives among them.
You can do this with the foods that you stock your home with, as well as the drinks that you normally buy for you and your family.
You can also cut back on the portion sizes of some of these high sugar foods and drinks. For example, if someone pours you a glass of soda, fill your glass with more ice or ask them to pour a smaller amount so you can control just how much of it you put in your body.
Just Walk Away
One last tip we would like to leave you with is this. You probably have a lot of friends and family who like to feed you. One of the problems with home cooked meals and home-baked goods, is that oftentimes we just don’t know what the cook is putting into it.
While the person may be well-intentioned, there may be a ton of sugar and fat that is going in to those foods.
What this means for you is that you really don’t know how much sugar you’re taking in by indulging in these sorts of meals.
One of the things that you can do is just walk away. Now, please understand that we don’t mean for you to be rude, turn your back and just walk away. No, what we’re talking about is being able to politely decline and walk the other way so you can avoid eating things that can ruin your diet.
As you can see the role of sugar in weight loss is a big one. If you are ill prepared to deal with it, you could be ruining your diet without even knowing it.
Our intentions are never to eat the whole box or the whole bag, however if you are like most people who are trying to lose weight, then gobbling up every last piece of sugarcoated goodness just seems to happen.
Foods high in sugar can be directly related to an increase in weight gain. If you don’t believe this to be true, just take a look at the foods in your refrigerator or cupboards that are bad for you.
Now take a look at the sugar content in those foods. Shocking isn’t it?
We have been told all of our lives that fatty foods are the reason we put on so much weight. The problem with this line of thinking is that we sometimes get the false idea that eating everything BUT fatty foods will help us to lose weight.
Unfortunately this just isn’t the case, which is why we will take a look at the role of sugar and weight loss throughout this article.
Why Is Sugar So Bad?
Fructose is the sugar that you have probably heard of that causes all the problems in weight gain.
However, why is sugar or fructose specifically, so bad for you and your body?
In one word – Leptin. Now you may not be familiar with what leptin is, but it is something that you need to learn more about if you’re eating lots of food high in sugar, and finding that you just can’t lose the weight.
The effects that fructose has on leptin is staggering. Leptin is a hormone that is held by our fat cells. When we are eating normally and healthy, some of what we eat gets stored within our fat cells.
As our brains begin to see that our bodies are storing enough in fat, it sends a signal down to the rest of our body with a message that we don’t need to eat anymore.
This beautiful chain of events is supposed to keep us from putting on too much weight. The body and brain both sense that there is leptin to be found, meaning that we do not need to eat anymore.
Fructose on the other hand, messes up this chain of events and actually blinds the brain from seeing the storage of leptin. When the brain sees that leptin is low, it sends a signal that our bodies need to eat more and need to burn less.
Are you starting to see just how detrimental fructose can be on our bodies?
As we become resistant to leptin from consuming too much fructose, our brains get extremely confused. It does not see the leptin being stored and in turn sends a signal that we need to eat more and burn less.
This strong signal is a reason why it is difficult to just stop eating. Some say it takes willpower, however if you have ever been on the other end of this then you know just how difficult it can be to utilize this willpower.
This is how a diet high in fructose can wreak havoc on our bodies and actually work against us in the battle against weight-loss.
Fructose Leaves You Feeling Empty
Drinks and foods high in fructose just don’t provide the type of hunger satisfaction that glucose does.
While food and drinks high in glucose can help curb your hunger and make you feel more satisfied, fructose just doesn’t cut it.
What this means for you is that you will continue to keep eating and drinking, well beyond what your body actually needs, and if you’re trying to lose weight this can cause all kinds of problems.
Because fructose does not make you feel fuller after a meal, you will more than likely reach for extras and more foods than you should. And as you probably know, by doing this you will be putting on more weight.
Are you starting to see just how problematic a diet high in sugar, specifically fructose, can do you more harm than good when it comes to trying to lose weight?
It’s Downright Addicting
While the jury is still out on how addictive sugar can be on the human body, it really doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that foods high in sugar are comforting for people. That is why they call it comfort food.
Think about how many times you have had a craving for ice cream, candy or just a soda. Think about how your brain starts firing in all directions when you start thinking about having your favorite sugary snacks.
For some these snacks could be things such as ice cream, for others it could very well be candy bars and for others it could be large portions of your favorite sugary drinks like soda.
When you think about it, these types of drinks and snacks are in a way just like drugs. On some level we all know that they’re bad for us, but we just can’t seem to walk away from our favorite drinks and snacks.
If you knew just how much problems this was causing your body, you may be tempted to turn and walk away from these sugary snacks.
However, just like anything that can become addicting, it just isn’t that easy. For some of us, we just can’t seem to turn down our favorite drinks or snacks when it comes to sugar content.
So What Do You Do Now?
Now that you know just how dangerous sugar can be on your weight-loss goals, there are some things that you can start to do, starting today.
One of the things that you can do is to try your best to eat or drink your favorite sugary snacks in moderation. What does this look like?
Well at first it may look a bit difficult, however if you’re serious about your weight loss then you should get serious about moderating the foods that you love, because honestly they could be slowly killing you.
One way that you can moderate the amount of these types of snacks, is to try to taper off the amount that you consume on a regular basis and replace them with a healthier alternative.
For instance, let’s say that you have a tendency to drink several cans of soda in one day. For this example let’s say that you drink three sodas a day, one with every meal.
What you can try and do is to cut back to just two sodas a day. In this example you can replace your lunchtime soda with a glass or two of water. It may seem weird at first, but the more that you do it the easier it will become.
When you’re ready you can take this even further, and taper off even more. In this case perhaps you could replace one soda a day with water, then replace another soda a day with perhaps a cup of tea, but don’t add any sugar to the tea.
Some teas have been found to help speed up the drinkers’ metabolism and help in the assistance of weight-loss.
Another thing that you can do is to start looking for healthier alternatives to the food and drinks that you have in your home.
On your next grocery shopping trip, take a look at what you normally buy, THEN take a look at the other brands to see if there are reduced sugar alternatives among them.
You can do this with the foods that you stock your home with, as well as the drinks that you normally buy for you and your family.
You can also cut back on the portion sizes of some of these high sugar foods and drinks. For example, if someone pours you a glass of soda, fill your glass with more ice or ask them to pour a smaller amount so you can control just how much of it you put in your body.
Just Walk Away
One last tip we would like to leave you with is this. You probably have a lot of friends and family who like to feed you. One of the problems with home cooked meals and home-baked goods, is that oftentimes we just don’t know what the cook is putting into it.
While the person may be well-intentioned, there may be a ton of sugar and fat that is going in to those foods.
What this means for you is that you really don’t know how much sugar you’re taking in by indulging in these sorts of meals.
One of the things that you can do is just walk away. Now, please understand that we don’t mean for you to be rude, turn your back and just walk away. No, what we’re talking about is being able to politely decline and walk the other way so you can avoid eating things that can ruin your diet.
As you can see the role of sugar in weight loss is a big one. If you are ill prepared to deal with it, you could be ruining your diet without even knowing it.
