To Your Health: The sweetest time of the year

By Gillian Slade on October 29, 2018.

Thanks to Halloween and a lack of common sense we will end up having an abundance of sugar in our homes this week.

If you have not noticed yet let me remind you of the negative impact of that sugar. Children are often hyper-active, you are probably craving more sugar too if you have been indulging, and you may not be sleeping as well at night. Those are only some of the outward signs — there is also the damage taking place in your body that you are not even aware of — yet.

A British scientist warned more than 30 years ago that sugar was our enemy. He warned that our addiction to sugar would make us fat, lead to heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and rot our teeth. We seem to only believe the bit about rotting teeth.

The amount of sugar we consume on a daily basis far outweighs what people consumed just a couple of generations ago.

In the 1950s kids were lucky if they were allowed a pop once a week.

During and after the Second World War sugar was scarce and most people simply could not afford to put even one teaspoon of sugar in their cup of tea or coffee.

Our consumption of processed foods has skyrocketed and sugar is added to most processed foods including soups. The average North American consumes about 22 teaspoons of sugar a day.

In “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” by Robert Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, refers to the British scientist’s work as “prophetic.”

Sugar is addictive and somehow saying that we have a “sweet tooth” has been our excuse for indulging, sugar in tea and coffee, on fruit, and those sugary pops and cereals.

We are finally beginning to recognize that sugar affects our appetite too. The low carbohydrate diet has been attacked for the amount of fat consumed. Stick to your low fat diet if you like but also cut down your consumption of sugar and that means reducing consumption of processed foods that cleverly hide sugar.

It does not mean you have to deprive yourself and never again enjoy a slice of pie or cake. Bake it yourself so that you control the sugar content, make it really special, and enjoy it in moderation occasionally.

Here’s to a healthy diet with less sugar and here’s To Your Health.

To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or 403-528-8635.

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