SUGAR Part Dos

 

Well, well. Here we are.

Call me the bearer of unsweet news, the headless honeyman, edward sugarhands…whatever you choose. A few weeks has changed nothing.

SUGAR is still a NIGHTMARE on ANY STREET.

If you have ANY body composition concerns, and ask Beau, Angie, myself, or anyone else at the gym what you’re doing ‘wrong’ because you are eating ‘strict’ paleo and not getting the instant results you are searching for.  I can guarantee you will be faced with a question related to the makeup of this ‘paleo’ you speak of.

Part uno provided you with a pretty good base to start thinking on your own, but lets break your (possible)  relationship with this result-blocking horror story down by looking at a few of the sugar villians that may be standing in your way:

CARBOHYDRATES

Hold onto your movie collections, I am not saying that all carbohydrates are all bad. Quite the opposite. Many carbohydrates have place in healthy, well rounded eating, regardless of the particular goal. (That in itself is a different topic.) The point here, in Sugar Part Dos, is to hit home the fact that your food intake is made up of three parts: Protein, Fat, and Carbs. There is no part called: Sugar. In a rudimentary attempt to get you to realize the effects consuming the sweet stuff can have, I want you to recognize that CARBOHYDRATE=SUGAR. No chance you will touch a white potato, but don’t give a second thought about chowing down a banana while deciding about what to make for breakfast? Chew on this:

Am I saying don’t eat potatoes or bananas? Nope. Eat what you want. All I ask is that you start PAYING ATTENTION.

FRUIT, JUICE, AND SMOOTHIES.

Just.Don’t.Do.It.

Yes, fruit is real food. Yes, it contains ‘healthier’ sugar than in processed-food options. NO, you do not NEED an apple a day; or to round out each meal, with fruit. It’s not a great snack. ESPECIALLY if your goal is body composition. If you are looking for something sweet to end your night on, grab a few berries and then go brush your teeth.  Done-zo.

Here is Robb Wolf’s take on fruit in his Quick Start guide for paleo:

“Fruit
Limit fruit to 1 serving per day if fat loss is your goal. A serving is not a whole watermelon. If you want to screw things up and not make progress, eat all the fruit you want, it’s your nickel, ride the ride as you like. In order of preference: Berries, melons, citrus, apples, pears. Bananas, papayas and mangoes are great for athletes post workout but dodgy for folks who want to lose fat.”

Pretty understandable…right?

Juice. Step away from the juice. There is nothing healthy or natural about consuming juice. If you want fruit, eat it in it’s natural form. Aaannnd…don’t give juice to your kids. The end.

 

Speaking of fruit and juice, I am currently looking at a smoothie recipe in a ‘health and fitness’ magazine that has: 1/2 cup mango, 1/2 cup pineapple, AND 1 whole banana. That is SIXTY GRAMS CARBOHYDRATES that you can consume in, oh, depending on your susceptibility of ‘cold headaches’…approximately 2 minutes. Excuse my language, but…HOLY SHUGAR. See above for what we just said about fruit…Grab a pork chop and a handful of blueberries and you get to omit the cold headache AND the fabulous ‘spare tire’ look.

NOT SUGAR-SUGAR.

Do not fall into the trap of feeling that keeping the sweet by skipping the sugar is a good idea. Well…sucralose has been shown to decrease ‘good’ gut bacteria by 50%. What is it we are always talking about? Your gut and inflammation.  Aspartame has been reported to cause dizziness, seizures, depression, and weight gain…to name a few. Saccharrin, the oldest Frankenstein of not sugar-sugars, has shown that the body has to expend essentially no energy once the sccharrin is consumed. Hence, unlike when you are burning calories after eating natural sugars…nothing happens.

“The sweetness tells your brain that calories and micronutrients are coming in; however, when they don’t arrive, your body shouts out for nutrients and sends you on a quest to find more food.” (Source: Rich Food, Poor Food by Jayson Calton, PhD and Mira Calton, CD. p.21)

LOW FAT/LOW CALORIE BANDWAGON

For my paleo people reading, I hope you have been rid of the myth of this last example. Sugar is the only food on the planet that is fat and carbs at the same time. It is made of glucose…and fructose.  This has been, and continues to be, a reality. If you continue to reach for turkey bacon,  fat-free yogurt, or extra-firm tofu in an effort to improve your health, I beg you to reconsider. Start looking at ingredient labels. Choose words you know.  Don’t overload your liver with fructose…this paves the way to mitochondrial meltdown, which is as bad as it sounds.

“I am suspicious of anything that says low-fat or diet, because you know that means that they have had to compensate with a lot of these added sugars. If there is more than 5 ingredients…it is probably  processed food, and there is probably not much real foods in there. It is almost impossible to buy those packaged foods without getting all of those extra sugars which are going to be just toxic for your metabolism”. (Sickeningly Sweet part 2)

Eat.Real.Food.

Meats, seafood, eggs, veggies, nuts, seeds, and berries.

Keep sugar where it belongs…from natural sources in minimal quantities. Your outer-parts (a.k.a your a$$), your inside parts(a.k.a everything from your liver to your attention span), your children, and your GOALS will thank you.

Hasta La Vista, Sugar.

Until Next Time…

Mallory

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