Sugar Pains? Sugar – One of our Biggest Enemies! (updated 7/14/22)

Your diet plays a huge role in your health. It is a major contributing factor to whether you get a cold or flu, struggle with fatigue, or brain fog. It also contributes to a mental health condition like anxiety or chronic pain.

Many people think when they get cancer or some other chronic illness it’s just bad luck or they blame genetics. But actually, lifestyle and diet greatly influence and are a determining factor in whether or not those genes turn on. This is called epigenetics. My very first blog post is about sugar not by random choice, but because sugar plays a significant role in everyone’s health!

Many people are addicted to sugar without even realizing it! One study says 80% of people eat more than the recommended amount of sugar daily (often three times the recommended amount). 

If you are struggling with any physical health condition or mental health battle, sugar could be a contributing factor or even hinder improvement. It is one of the primary causes of people developing ongoing health conditions.

Sugar’s Effect on Kids

It could definitely be a factor in why some kids have too much energy, can’t go to sleep at night, don’t stay asleep, or struggle with behavioral problems. Kids may consume even more sugar than adults because most popular kid snacks contain loads of sugar.

There is no sense of a correlation between pain and sugar for kids. All they know is they want to consume more. Young kids can’t comprehend the concepts of eating healthy. Therefore, an adult/parent will often eat even healthier than their kids do. Yet it is more essential for the kids to eat healthy as their bodies are still developing. To improve your kid’s sugar intake view these 30 clean snacks and desserts.

This book is great at explaining the importance of taking care of your gut so that you can also take better care of your mind. The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health

One of the Top Reasons People Over Consume Sugar 

One of the top reasons people overcome sugar is due to hidden sugar. Many people consider their sources of sugar desserts such as ice cream, cookies, popsicles, candy, chocolate, and sodas. Sadly, this not the case. Sugar is in everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!

There are loads of unnecessary sugar in popular brands of ketchup, peanut butter, yogurt, protein bars, bread, salad dressings. There is even additional sugar in syrup and honey (which are already naturally sweet – completely unnecessary). In addition, many sweet treats like soda, candy bars, cookies, cakes, and even some snacks with “natural” or “organic” labels contain more than the recommended amount of sugar to consume daily.

I was shocked when I realized how much I was over consuming sugar just from my condiments and beverages alone. I wish someone would have pointed that out to me sooner.

Sugar Leads to Pain

There are no exceptions to the rule, having too much sugar is bad for your health! It will likely make things worse for you in the future. You can’t eat extra vegetables or work out extra hard to make up for the excess sugar you eat.

What are Shot Term Effects? Can Sugar Cause Muscle Pain?

All over body aches after eating sugar are common. Short-term pain after eating sugar may include achy joints or muscles, low energy, migraines, back pain, abdominal pain or brain fog. I can always tell I’ve had too much sugar because I usually feel a bit lethargic. However, even if you don’t see anything wrong short-term, too much sugar will affect your body in the long-run.

Long Term Effects of Too Much Sugar – Sugar and Chronic Pain 

Sugar hurts our health in so many ways! First, it is the reason for significant increases in obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes in the last decade (View scientific study NCBI). It is also linked to the development of some cancers. But, even if you are not obese or show no signs of developing these health conditions, you are still at risk for many other chronic health conditions.

Sugar can create inflammation. “Excess sugar in the diet can definitely lead to chronic, low-grade inflammation, which can cause chronic disease,” says registered dietitian Samantha Bartholomew, MS, RDN (Betty, 2020). Chronic inflammation is the root cause of many hard to diagnose, modern health conditions. In the present, it can be the reason for ongoing brain fog, fatigue/loss of energy, abdominal pain, headaches, and more!

Sugar weakens your immune system. It can suppress the immune system making it harder for it to fight off bacteria. It can also damage your body over time causing leaky gut. In leaky gut syndrome, gaps in the intestinal walls allow bacteria and other toxins to pass into the bloodstream (Eske, 2019).

Leaky gut is said to possibly contribute to other diseases including autoimmune diseases (diabetes, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, mental illness, celiac disease, chronic liver disease, fibromyalgia, and so on…). Symptoms of leaky gut can include food sensitivities, IBS, thyroid disorders, fatigue, and so on.

The scientific, nutritional reasons why sugar is so bad for us is covered in this book written by a nutrition expert. A great read if you want to understand to what degree sugar is harming our health, and how the truth has been covered up. Pure, White, and Deadly: How Sugar Is Killing Us and What We Can Do to Stop It

High Fructose Corn Syrup is Our Worst Sugar Enemy!

High Fructose Corn Syrup is from Genetically Modified Corn.

It is an artificial sweetener made from genetically modified corn (designed in a lab). High Fructose Corn Syrup is linked to diabetes, heart disease, liver failure, dementia, and many more health issues.

One of the first things my naturopathic doctor and the nutritionist told me to do to improve my health is to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (which I did a couple of years back).

High Fructose Corn Syrup is Linked to Inflammation

High fructose corn syrup is 55% fructose, which fruits are converted into. However, unlike fruit, it is highly processed and the body doesn’t digest it the same way. It is converted to glucose first as stored carbs or fat by the liver. Too much fructose is shown to create inflammation in both the mind and the body. Inflammation is where toxins can’t get out of your cells and vitamins, minerals, and hormones can’t get in. Inflammation is linked to many common chronic health conditions today, and can even lead to cancer.

High fructose corn syrup also has no nutritional value and actually steals nutrients from the body. There are also studies that show high fructose corn syrup could actually prevent you from feeling full and therefore can promote overeating. View: WebMd or ScienceDaily.

There are Many Names for Sugar

Sugar has more than two names. Sugar is labeled as corn syrup, corn syrup solids, corn sweetener, fructose, glucose, dextrose, galactose, agave nectar, maltose, sucrose, cane juice crystals, crystalline fructose, glucose syrup solids, maltodextrin, and more! So it is important to read over the nutritional facts and ingredients.

Also watch out for things that say “sugar free” because that label is there to perceive you. It usually means there is an artificial sugar such as “sucrose” in it. I can usually taste it – I can tell if someone put “sugar-free” syrup in my coffee because it has a nasty flavor. In addition, getting “diet soda” is worse than drinking regular soda due to the artificial, sugar sweetener.

Other Forms of Sugar

What About the Sugar from Fruit?

Eat the fruit, not the juice.

Sugar from fruit does play a role in our overconsumption of sugar, as well. But, it is for the most part from consuming fruit juice vs. just eating fruits. There is a lot of sugar in a glass of orange juice or apple juice because you are consuming juice from multiple oranges or apples. So you are actually better off just eating one apple or orange.

Eating too many fruits high in sugar can also be a problem. This isn’t as big of a concern, but you should avoid eating too many fruits high in natural sugars such as bananas, mangoes, cherries, oranges, grapes, watermelon, and pears. So maybe don’t eat these high sugar fruits every day, and only consume 1-serving in a day (i.e. 1 orange, 1 banana). Some fruits with the lowest amount of sugar include strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

How About Sugar from Beverages?

Not only do you want to avoid soda, but also consuming too much milk isn’t a good choice either. Besides the health problems with consuming too much milk (view my danger of milk blog), it can also contain a lot of sugar. Be especially careful with chocolate milk or egg nog because the sugar per serving is almost twice what you should consume in a day. In addition, alcoholic beverages contain loads of excess sugar.

How About Foods Your Body Turns into Sugar?

Refined (processed) carbohydrates are part of the problem, as well. Whether it is white flour or wheat flour your body processes it as sugar. Too much bread, pasta, baked goods, etc. can also cause the health issues mentioned above. In addition, eating too much could also lead to gluten intolerance. So would you rather enjoy some or none? How much is too much? That’s tricky. I discuss this in a blog post on the dangers of refined carbohydrates with all the need-to-know details.

Why Do We Think Sugar Isn’t That Bad?

Society influences us to think that if we are not over-weight, in good shape, and doctor’s tests look fine we are healthy. That’s what I thought as a young teenager in high school in excellent physical shape, eating loads of sugar, processed carbs, soda, and other horrible foods.

The truth is most of us are not as healthy as we think we are. But, it is not necessarily our fault either. Why don’t we already know the dangers of sugar? Why were we deceived into thinking fat is our biggest enemy for nearly five decades? Find out in my blog post: How We Were Tricked for 50 Years by the Sugar Industry

Americans on average consume today 150 lbs of sugar per year! (Roughly 6 cups of sugar a week!) 100 years ago Americans consumed only 4 lbs of sugar a year. 

How About a Plan to Reduce Your Sugar Intake?

View my blog: Guidelines for Consuming Less Sugar. I not only provide guidelines for how to cut back on sugar but also a step-by-step guide to slowly transition to a diet with significantly less sugar. Not only do I consume very little sugar, but I also have the experience of avoiding processed sugars including wheat products for over three consecutive months. So I can give you some personal tips too!

You might not need to cut sugar out of your life completely though unless you have a serious health condition. I certainly wouldn’t choose to.

Download this Free Guide:
Roadmap to Eating More Real Food & Reducing Sugar Consumption

View More Healthy Eating Blogs

• 8 Tips on How to Eat Less Packaged Food (Less Junk Food)
• Over 30+ Gluten and Dairy Free Breakfast Ideas (& Sugar-Free)
• Reading and Decoding Food Labels & Toxic Ingredients
• 11 Superfoods for a Diet Higher in Nutrients
• 30 Clean Snacks and Desserts (Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free & Dairy-Free Options)
• How to Choose Healthier Dairy Products & Alternatives to Dairy
• The Truth About Milk – Why We Don’t Need it to Stay Healthy
• Guidelines & Steps to Reduce Sugar Intake
• Wild Caught vs Farm Raised Fish – What is the Difference? Which is Healthier?
• How to Choose Healthier Meats
• What Does Non-GMO Mean? Are GMOs Safe?
• How to Eat Real Foods & Why It Is Essential for Your Health
• When is Organic Really Worth it? 
• Organic vs. Natural: What is the difference?
• Is White Flour Bad For You? Should We Be Eating Less Carbs?
• How the Sugar Industry Tricked us for 50 Years
• Sugar Pains? Sugar – One of our Biggest Enemies!

Resources

Gold, Betty. (2020, March 2). REAL SIMPLE/How Sugar Causes Inflammation—and What You Can Do About It. Retrieved from: https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/recipe-collections-favorites/healthy-meals/sugar-inflammation

Dr. Axe, Josh. (2016, September 29). Dr. Axe/High Fructose Corn Syrup Dangers and Healthy Alternatives. Retrieved from: https://draxe.com/nutrition/high-fructose-corn-syrup-dangers/

Jabr, Ferris. (2013, July 15). SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN/Is Sugar Really Toxic? Sifting through the Evidence. Retrieved from: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/is-sugar-really-toxic-sifting-through-the-evidence/

Eske, Jamie. (2019, August 21). MEDICAL NEWS TODAY/What to know about leaky gut syndrome. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326117#:~:text=Leaky%20gut%20syndrome%20is%20a,LGS)%20as%20a%20diagnosable%20condition.