Sugar, we think of it as that white powdery substance that makes everything taste so good. It gives you that feeling of pleasure when you consume it. Just thinking of eating that delicious creamy ice cream or drinking that can of pop makes you want it.
It may make you feel good but Sugar messes with your hunger. In the past, they would eat sugar cane which in the raw which didn’t give them that huge jolt of sugar. We now have refined and processed it down so much that we have not evolved into registering those calories to represent the number of calories it contains. For example: compare an apple to apple juice. You will experience a very different type of hunger and fullness with the same number of calories. Eating one apple will give you 1/3 of a cup of apple juice. Will you feel full having that amount of apple juice over eating one apple? When you eat that apple, you will feel fullness but drinking that small amount of juice will not have you feeling satiated.
Sugar is not helping with our weight loss. When we have it, we love how it tastes and don’t want to give it up. However, that sugar affects our hunger as well as giving us more calories than our body needs.
Anything fat free or reduced fat will have sugar added into it. The food industry does this because by swapping out sugar for fat, that way they can then lower the calories. Sugar has 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. The problem with taking out the fat is this. Fat keeps us feeling full longer but with lowering fat content, it results in filling up with more sugar, making you hungry an hour later. Examples of fat free or reduced fat foods are: peanut butter, salad dressings, yogurt and almost all packaged snacks.
Read your food labels because some items that you would least expect to contain sugar and sometime they have very high amounts of it present. For example: breads, processed meats, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, granola, flavored coffees, protein bars and shakes, vitamin water, pre-made soups, cereal bars, the list can go on forever. Even regular table salt has added sugar in it. Don’t be tricked by organic foods because yes, it is a natural source of sugar but it is still sugar!
The food industry knows that by adding sugar into the foods, they will have you wanting more. It is important to be aware that sugar comes in many forms. Here are some names of sugars to be aware of:
-Agave nectar
-Barley malt syrup
-Cane Juice/sugar
-Coconut sugar
-Honey
-Fructose
-Corn syrup
-Dextrose
-Molasses
-Maple syrup
-Lactose
-High Fructose Corn Syrup (the worst offender)
-Caramel
-Toffee
-Maltose
-Maltodextrin
-Fructose
-Sucrose
-Galactose
-Sorghum
-and any fruit juices
Is is so important to know that sugar is in most if not all packaged and processed foods we eat. If you are saying to yourself, “how come I can’t stop eating” or “why do I want it so bad”, this is one of the reasons why! Your hunger is affected by sugar!
If this resonates with you and you would like help in losing weight, please reach out to me at karenschaible.com
