Sugar…Does a Body Good [Sugar is not always the devil]

Up for a fun experiment?

Grab a jar of sugar, a teaspoon, a plate and a glass of orange juice, Vitamin Water or Gatorade. Then, dump one teaspoon of sugar onto the plate. Repeat this six more times. Do you know what you have? The amount of sugar in ONE 8 ounce glass of OJ, or bottle of Vitamin Water and Gatorade.

Four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon.

By now, you’ve probably heard of the sugar crisis sweeping the nation.

Sugar: One word…lots of emotion.

The average American now eats the equivalent of about 31 teaspoons (124 grams) of added sugar every day. Moreover, annually, most kids in the U.S. consume 116 lbs. of sugar each year, not far behind the adults at 160 lbs. (per person)—that’s upwards of 72,575 grams of ADDED sugar from your foods every year.

And often times, this sugar consumption happens in sneaky forms: salad dressings, ketchup, BBQ sauce, peanut butter, cereals, granola bars, deli meats, spaghetti sauce, sandwich bread, smoothies, coffees…

Even your ‘low sugar’ foods like…

Quest Bars

Crystal Light

Sugar free pudding and Jell-O

Chobani yogurt cups

Fat-free Fudgesicles and Popsicles

Sugar-free muffins

Sugar-free candy/gum

And beyond…

…contain artificial sweeteners that are just as detrimental, if not more, to your health (another topic for another day).

Essentially, this is no bueno.

Check out any one of these articles alone and you’ll see why:

Diabetes and Sweetener Link Scrutinized

Risks: Sugary Drinks Linked to Heart Disease

Risks: Fructose Intake Is Linked to Visceral Fat

Avoiding Sugared Drinks Limits Weight Gain in Two Studies

America’s Diet: Too Sweet by the Spoonful

The Claim: More Sugar Leads to More Cavities

Is Sugar Toxic?

Ya, ya, ya.

You know it: Sugar is bad for you.

You’ve heard it before:

• It rots your teeth
• Depletes your energy
• Strips your body of nutrients
• Makes you feel wired, then depleted
• Gives you headaches
• Leads to weight gain, obesity, Diabetes, heart disease
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Funky mood/depression
• Hormonal imbalances
• And on and on…

And, yet, with all this knowledge and awareness about sugar…it still continues to be a pressing issue, and a harsh reality that is difficult for many to “escape from.”

Why?

Plain and simple: It’s addicting.

To some extent…many people have trained and conditioned their bodies (physiologically and psychologically) to neeeeeed sugar (even those hidden sugars in foods you eat regularly or crave).

On the flip side though, while sugar does get a bad rep for causing waistlines to expand and diseases to surface…there is something to be said about the opposite:

A little bit of sugar can actually do the body some good (Or, in the words of Mary Poppins: “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”).

Yup. You heard me right.

You do need—and actually can thrive—upon some sugar in your body.

Crazy talk, huh?

First things first…WHAT EXACTLY IS SUGAR? Can you define it? 

“Something sweet?”

“It’s in everything that’s good?”

“It’s a drug?”

“That white stuff I put in my coffee?”

Those describe sugar…but to understand why some sugar is actually OK for you…it’s important to first understand WHAT SUGAR IS…

Simply put:

“Sugar is a natural ingredient that has been part of our diet for thousands of years. Sugars are carbohydrates that provide energy for the body. The most common sugar in the body is glucose which your brain, major organs and muscles requires to function properly. Other sugars include: Lactose, Fructose, Sucrose, and Maltose.

Some sugars are found naturally in foods (e.g. fruit, vegetables and milk) while others are used during processing, baking and cooking. The body does not distinguish between the different types of sugar and breaks them down in exactly the same way. For example, the sucrose in an orange is broken down in exactly the same way as the sucrose in your sugar bowl.”

Get it? Got it? Good!

So why is some sugar ok–even good for us?…

I’ll use circa de THRIVE Lauryn as an example.

In the throws of my chronic dieting days, I restricted my intake to pretty much three things: turkey patties, steamed vegetables and protein powder.

These foods comprised the bulk of my daily meals…and to say the least, I was lacking quite a bit of nutrition—particularly carbs and fats (which I avoided like the plague).

At my rock-bottom moment, my blood glucose levels were revealed to be somewhere in the 20’s and 30’s (as a baseline, ‘normal’ glucose levels are 70-100).

In laymen’s terms: I was walking around with a very poor functioning brain (appropriate glucose levels help regulate your blood sugar and feed your brain power).

Without getting too technical, normal amounts of healthy glucose levels in your body can be achieved through a balanced diet, inclusive to your meats, veggies, healthy fats, some starch, fresh fruits (natural sugars) and even some natural sweeteners (raw honey, maple syrup).

Sugar is Essential!

My body, your body, is made up of billions upon billions of cells that serve as the delivers of nutrients, the building blocks of our tissues and muscles, and conductors of all our metabolic processes.

Energy (i.e. healthy food) is crucial to allowing our cells to do their jobs (grow, repair, ‘run the show’)—and a big part of that energy comes right back to glucose—the quickest and most preferred source of fuel that is most commonly found in…sugar (i.e. carbohydrates).

When our cells do NOT have enough glucose instantly supplied to them (i.e. low carb, no carbs, dieting), they then turn to other measures to find energy (first breaking down glycogen stores in the muscle through gluconeogenesis)…

And when our body runs out of reserves here…the body’s need for energy stores (glucose) then begins to take a toll on your hormones—namely your adrenals and cortisol levels (i.e. ‘fight or flight mode’) and…you suffer.

Taking away your body’s preferred and most easily accessible fuel source will only made it more stressed.

Your body was not wired to live off stress…and without the correct energy intake…it remains stressed.

While it’s important to remain aware and weary of the added sugars you consume on the daily…a little ‘dirt’ never hurt.

Here are some natural sugars that may do your body good, particularly if you’ve been avoiding them:

• Fresh fruit
• Raw honey
• Raw Maple syrup
• Sweet potatoes/potatoes
• Carrots, squashes and other starchier veggies
• Coconut butter (tastes like candy!)
• Baking sugars—coconut sugar, date sugar, sucanant
• Some properly prepared (pre-soaked) rice and other whole grains (quinoa anyone?)
• Even…just even…some raw real sugar (over that artificial stuff in limited and small amounts)-call me crazy! But in all honesty if your diet is clean and consists of real foods (proteins, veggies, fats, water as the basis), some real sugar ain’t gonna kill ya on occasion

The word sugar need not just apply to ‘treats’ like candy, cookies, and ice-cream.

It’s ok to listen to your body’s gentle asking for some carbs in the diet.

Got sugar?

Try this easy chicken recipe for a fix of some essential fatty acids (animal meat) and a hint of sweetness for ultimate satisfaction.

Chicken Thighs with Honey Mustard Marinade

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 6 chicken thighs)
• fine sea salt, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
• onion powder, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• paprika, to taste (optional)

For the mustard sauce

• 2 tablespoons ghee, butter, olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons raw honey

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, place chicken thighs on the skillet.
• Sprinkle each thigh with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and paprika.
• Once the skin has browned some, about 5-6 minutes, flip and cook for 5-6 more minutes.
• While chicken is cooking, add all honey mustard ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
• Place chicken in glassware baking dish. Drizzle sauce on top of cooked chicken, then place in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes, until no pink remains.