The Great Sugar Debate

I read it, the I Quit Sugar Book by Sarah Wilson. I attempted the eight-week detox program too “” attempt being the operative word. I followed up by reading That Sugar Book by Damon Gameau, whose journey to consume 40 teaspoons of sugar a day for 60 days was eye-opening to say the least. Then I read Don’t Quit Sugar by Cassie Platt, just to hear the other side of the story.

And guess what? I just ate a choc chip cookie.

I tried to put my sugar cravings to the wayside for my health, but the truth is, I am already pretty healthy.  I run, swim and walk to stay fit, I drink at least two litres of water a day, eat three well-balanced home-cooked meals and yeah, enjoy a tasty snack every now and again “” and it’s not carrot sticks!

Does craving a “snack” make me a sugar addict? I don’t think so; I can certainly go without my choc chip cookie for a day or so. But as we have been told time and time again, sugar is addictive, it is that sweet poison we can’t escape. We crave it, our children cry for it and our tastebuds dance whenever it is around.

The problem we are facing with this sugar epidemic, as the experts like to call it, is the facts. We are bombarded with fact and figures on the evil affects of sugar, it is being blamed for our nation’s “fat crises”, our children are being told they can’t eat muesli bars for morning tea at school and our friends are scalding us for enjoying a slice of cake with our coffee.

The facts are, we can’t escape sugar, it’s everywhere; in our pantries, our fridges and our fruit bowls. It is said to be found in 74% of packaged foods sold in supermarkets, hidden in low-fat yogurts and milk and even in baby food. Yep, what do you think fruit juice concentrate is? Sugar, my friend.

Sugar is a minefield, and packaged food labels are probably the most confusing of all. We have all heard people talk about the sugar content of a chocolate milk “” it’s 13 teaspoons “” but on the label it says 47 grams and unless you know your maths vs kitchen utensils, it’s a difficult one to work out.

Then there are the sugar doppelgängers, the sugars that hide behind other names such as sucrose, agave, palm sugar and rice malt syrup, evaporated cane juice, high fructose corn syrup, malt, molasses, and turbinado sugar, to name a few.

Nature has sugars too, these double agents are called glucose, lactose, sucrose, fructose, maltose and stevia. See these on the back of a label and get your Google app ready because understanding what it means is only just scraping the surface.

There are some easy-to-remember words when searching for sugar in your food, which Damon Gameau points out in his book. He said, look out for the words ‘natural’, ‘mother nature’ or ‘valley’ and a picture of a bee, flowers, a rolling meadow or a bright sun. These are the foods he said will often contain ‘evaporated cane juice’, ‘organic palm sugar’ or ‘fruit juice concentrate’ “” in other words, sugar.

So, what happens if you do quit sugar? Will I go crazy with cravings?

As explained in Cassie Platt’s book Don’t Quit Sugar, every cell in our body needs sugar for energy to power movement and grown, for repair and reproduction, and when we restrict our sugar intake, our cells become stressed, which has an effect throughout the body. Sarah Wilson agrees with Cassie in her book I Quit Sugar, but believes we can push past this point, and our bodies will recognise it does not need sugar for these functions “” but it’s a hard slog getting to this point.

Then you may ask, is quitting sugar the answer to achieving a healthy weight?

Sara Wilson and Damon Gameau say yes, however, Platt says: eat a balanced, nutrient-dense diet and exercise regularly. She recommends 5g of sugar for every 1 kg of lean body weight, for someone who’s physically active.

If you are planning on quitting, don’t forget that there are good sugars, the ones you want to eat. These are the fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and whole grains, which contain simple sugars. When simple sugars are naturally found in whole food, they come with all sorts of other goodies too, such as vitamins, minerals, protein and fibre. The presence of fibre makes a significant difference because it slows down the absorption of sugar, which moderates its impact on blood sugar.

So, my conclusion is: sugar is good, when it’s the right kind of sugar. But too much sugar is bad for your health, and it is addictive”¦ for some people, probably.

This debate could go on forever, so I made my mind up to stick to my choc chip cookie, and go for a run.

What’s your decision? Do you think sugar is addictive?