Bye Bye, Sweetie!
“Sugar and spice and everything nice.” When we were children some of us took to heart that rhyme about what little girls are made of and we gobbled candy and other sweet things. Not so that we’d become sweeter—it just tasted darn good! It certainly sounds better than “Slugs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails”—what little boys are made of. It turns out sugar is not nice—to little girls or big girls or big or little boys, and many of us have suffered the effects of too much sugar. Now it’s time to leave childhood rhymes behind and remedy that sweet tooth we’ve had since we were kids.
Good nourishment is not only what we put into our body. It also includes what we don’t put into our body. In my opinion—and a number of doctors agree with me—the most damaging thing you can eat is sugar. Inflammation is a major factor in aging and has been linked to heart disease and obesity, arthritis, gastritis, colitis, dermatitis, and other chronic conditions, and sugar is a major cause of inflammation.
How many grams of sugar are you eating a day? Numbers can be very important, but few are more important to your health than the number of grams of sugar you’re consuming each day. I say grams rather than teaspoons because you’re probably aware of how many teaspoons of sugar you put into your coffee or oatmeal, but you may not be mindful of the sugar you consume in bottled drinks and packaged food—and those show the amount of sugar in grams.
To convert the grams into teaspoons, divide the number of grams by 4. For a drink that contains 32 grams of sugar, the equivalent is 8 teaspoons!
Here is a very important habit for you to undertake: every time you go to the grocery store, put “look at sugar” on your list. Then when you’re shopping, check to see how much sugar is in the bottled drinks, cereal, canned goods, packaged food, kefir, nuts, milks, and so on. You’ll be amazed.
My anti-aging doctor gave me a goal of no more than 15 grams of sugar a day; preferably 5 grams at the end of each meal, rather than all 15 grams at one time, to avoid rapid glucose fluctuations in my bloodstream.
Ask your healthcare practitioner what your daily limit of sugar should be, and if you should count fresh fruit or not. I don’t count them because fruits are full of nutrients, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. However, I believe even fruits should be limited since they can spike your blood sugar.
What’s sweet and does not spike your blood sugar? Stevia is my favorite—it’s plant-based, has a zero glycemic index, and is 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar per teaspoon. And although experts disagree, some prefer agave or monkfruit sweetener, which is a natural, calorie-free sweetener derived from the fruit of the Siraitia grosvenorii plant.
So say, “Bye bye, Sugar!” and get on the road to healthier sweeteners. You’ll live longer and feel better.
Ellen Wood of Questa is an artist using the name Maruska as well as the award-winning author of the series of books, “The Secret Method for Growing Younger,” available on Amazon. Contact her at ellen@howtogrowyounger.com. Her website is www.howtogrowyounger.com.
