Introduction
Sugar is everywhere. We eat it in our food and drink it in our drinks, and sometimes, we’re told that sugar is good for us. But the truth is that processed sugar is terrible for your health—not just physically, but mentally as well. Research has shown that sugar can make us more stressed out, fatter and unhappy than ever before. It’s also addictive, so cutting out processed sugar can be difficult at first but once you get started with your new lifestyle you’ll notice an improvement in all areas of life!
Processed sugar is so dangerous for our physical and mental health.
The average person in the United States consumes about 22 teaspoons of sugar per day, which is more than three times the recommended amount! This insane amount of sugar can make you fat, tired and cause your body to age faster. Not only that but processed sugar makes you crave even more sweet foods over time so when you give up processed sugar for good you’ll notice that you no longer have cravings for things like candy bars or soft drinks.
It causes us to neglect our health. Processed sugar makes us feel good for a short time, but it also causes our brains to release a chemical called dopamine. This is the same chemical that is released when we take drugs like cocaine and methamphetamines! The more you give in to these cravings, the stronger they will become. And the worst part is that some people actually become addicted to sugar!
Processed sugar can also cause blood sugar levels to spike and drop which leads to mood swings, irritability and fatigue.
It hurts our brain, it makes us fatter and it makes us more stressed out.
Sugar is an addictive substance.
Yes, you heard that right! Just like cocaine and heroin, sugar affects our brain in a way that makes us feel good for a brief period of time, but then leaves us feeling worse than before. It’s a vicious cycle because when we crash after eating sugar, we need more sweet foods to help us recover from the low mood caused by withdrawal (much like alcoholics require more booze to get over the hangover). This leads to a vicious cycle where our bodies become dependent on something that makes them feel good for only seconds at a time — which explains why some people have trouble kicking their sweet tooth despite their best efforts.
It also hurts our relationships because of its addictive properties.
Processed sugar is addictive. It’s a drug, and it can be just as addictive as cocaine or alcohol. So when you’re having an argument with your spouse or partner, sometimes it’s because of the processed sugar. Many people don’t realize that their anger and mood swings are a direct result of what they eat.
Processed sugar also causes anxiety and depression in people who eat too much of it (aka most people). The more processed sugar you eat, the more depressed and anxious you become, which then leads to more eating of processed sugars…and so on!
So, we need to stop using processed sugar completely.
So, we need to stop using processed sugar completely and start eating more vegetables, fruits and nuts. We also need to eat more whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat.
- Healthy Snacks: try roasted chickpeas (roast in the oven until they’re crunchy), air-popped popcorn covered with chopped nuts or seeds and non-dairy cheese shreds.
- Avoiding Processed Sugar in Your Diet: look at the ingredients list of any packaged food product you buy; if there is any form of sugar listed as one of the first four ingredients, don’t buy it! This includes “fruit juice concentrate” or “maple syrup solids” which are just other forms of concentrated sugar added during processing – yuck!
- Avoiding Processed Sugar in Your Food Choices: when choosing a meal at a restaurant, avoid anything that is high in carbohydrates; instead ask for vegetables as your side dish.
We need to avoid processed sugar everywhere we can because it is bad for us on so many levels.
We need to avoid processed sugar everywhere we can because it is bad for us on so many levels. It is addictive, bad for our brain and makes us fat, stressed and unhappy.
Avoiding processed sugar is hard. It has become a very important part of the food industry, but there are still ways to live without it if you want or need to.
Conclusion
We’ve all been told to avoid processed sugar, but it’s hard to actually do that. But if we are serious about our health and fitness goals, then we need to make the effort. We need to ditch the processed sugar wherever possible and replace it with more natural alternatives like honey or maple syrup. We also need to be aware of hidden sources like breads and cereals that contain high amounts of sugar without us realizing it!
