Don’t Serenade Your Doughnut
When The Archies smashed the charts with Sugar, Sugar back in 1969 everyone thought it was a song about an infatuated teenager…
Reading the lyrics in 2022 it seems they were probably right only the infatuation wasn’t with a girl — this guy was just obsessing over his breakfast.
Sugar! Oh, honey, honey! You are my candy girl and you got me wanting you. Pour a little sugar on it, baby!
Unfortunately, this obsession morphed into a love affair that would not only spread around the world but really stand the test of time too. Here we are 53 years later and another two generations of overexcited kids have spent their mornings pouring more than a little sugar on it baby and probably some honey too.
When The Archies released this song the adult obesity rate in the US was 14% having risen just 1% in the previous 10 years. It rose a further 1% up to 1980 but by 1990 it had started to climb much faster. By 2000 it had more than doubled. The current adult obesity rate in the US is closer to 45% and the UK isn’t far behind. source: cdc.gov
We know that love is blind. The good times are so good we obliviate the bad. We just keep listening to the songs of the sweet, sweet sugar sirens — lured towards them in all their various guises.
But like a second-rate songwriter, the sugar industry happily shoehorns in any lyric just to make it rhyme better. They may tell you, for example, that added sugar consumption has decreased over the last few years while obesity has continued to rise as if this is proof that sugar is just an innocent bystander. But these lyrics represent nothing more than a waft of dry ice obscuring reality.
They will sing you a song about the correlation between overall calorie consumption and obesity being so strong that obesity must simply be the result of eating too much. But this takes no account of the important question of “why?”.
Some sugar fans will point to the strong correlation between fat consumption and obesity and lay the finger of blame there. But a lot of fat is consumed with sugar and other carbohydrates — chocolates, cakes, biscuits and pizza for example, and the craving for these foods is more likely a craving for the carbohydrate than the fat. Having said that, the two mixed together with a salty undertone often makes for a chart-busting trio.
Obesity is complicated and the confusing barrage of ditties from various groups makes it all the more tempting to put your headphones on and listen to your own tunes. But there is one soundtrack that I believe can provide you with some easy steps to considerably improve your health in the short and long term.
An oversupply of glucose into the bloodstream is the big problem. Glucose is a great source of energy for the body but the body doesn’t need much — it can derive most of its energy from fat. High and low blood glucose levels are extremely dangerous so the body secretes insulin into the bloodstream which essentially allows excess glucose to be removed and stored as fat for future energy requirements.
The body derives its glucose from the digestion of carbohydrates but there are a couple of issues that have prevailed in our modern diet that cause a problem:
Firstly, when the body derives its glucose from refined sugar that has been added to foods or from other refined carbohydrates such as white flour where the fibre has been stripped away, it can extract the glucose extremely quickly causing a surge in blood sugar levels. This surge is met by a corresponding insulin response and the excess glucose is stored away. Often too much is stored away because the surge in blood sugar is so fast that the body overestimates the insulin requirement. When this occurs there is a resultant dip in blood glucose which causes a craving for something sweet setting off a rollercoaster-like effect.
When the body derives its glucose from vegetables it is ingesting a large amount of fibre too. The effect of the fibre is to slow the digestion causing the glucose to enter the bloodstream much more gradually. This means that there is no big spike in blood glucose, no requirement for a panicky insulin response and no subsequent dip in blood glucose levels. The fibre makes you feel fuller for longer not just by the volume of what you have eaten but by removing any subsequent cravings. The body cannot digest the fibre so you don’t have to worry about gaining weight as a result of eating more and some will also tell you about its benefits for your digestion and your microbiome too.
Secondly, we are consuming many more carbohydrates than we used to. The domestic consumption of corn alone in the US has risen 210% between 1970 and 2021 from 101,413,000 metric tonnes to 315,863,000 metric tonnes. source: indexmundi.com Corn is refined into many different products which are found in a huge number of foodstuffs under various guises such as corn syrup, but all are effectively just the same as sugar.
So the body is getting a double whammy — the consumption of more carbohydrates in general but also more refined carbohydrates which exacerbates the impact on our blood glucose levels, the insulin response, and the amount of glucose stored in our adipose tissue.
The number of health messages that we receive is crazy — many of them contradictory. But if you switch off the noise and just focus on your blood glucose levels this is the simplest way to achieve a healthy weight and long-term health.
I have been wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) for several weeks now and it has been a truly enlightening experience. I have experienced the total eradication of cravings, enjoyed effortless weight loss and feel totally in control of my body and diet for the first time in years.
Sure, many factors seem to influence our blood glucose levels including stress and sleep. But it is really all about carbohydrates and actually, the biggest factors are:
The type of carbohydrate consumed.
Whether anything was ingested before the carbohydrate.
What was eaten with the carbohydrate.
How much carbohydrate was eaten.
And here are my 5 simple measures to control blood sugar:
It is tricky because culturally breakfast has become a very sweet meal but eating refined carbohydrates on an empty stomach leads to a huge spike in blood sugar and is the worst possible way to start the day. Try and make breakfast a savoury meal — eggs are a good option — or just try and eat some fibre before consuming the carbs.
Our portion sizes have become ridiculous. Eat sensible portions of carbs — a handful of uncooked rice or 75g of dried pasta. Add a portion of vegetables to your plate or have a side salad. Try to balance your meals to include some fats and protein too. Generally speaking, the more balanced the meal the lower the postprandial peak in blood glucose.
Try and eat plenty of fibre at the start of every meal. This strategy is even more effective at cushioning the impact of any subsequent carbs on your blood glucose level. The fibre also keeps you fuller for longer and this alone makes for a huge difference in weight control as the desire to snack disappears.
If you do need to snack, snack on vegetables or fats — a teaspoon of almond butter is a great way to keep hunger pangs at bay. You will hopefully find the desire to snack completely disappears enabling you to stop thinking about food every 5 minutes and concentrate on other aspects of your life.
Remove all sweet treats from the cupboards — out of sight, out of mind.
As an aside I would always recommend that you avoid cooking with or consuming any foods containing vegetable oils. Use olive oil or other sources of natural saturated fat.
https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/4-reasons-to-avoid-vegetable-oils-cef6cfbdb1e1
Sugar is not the sole cause of obesity but I believe it is the main factor. The inability of the body to deal with excess calories makes no sense — there is clearly an issue of disregulation. Type II diabetes is an issue of poor regulation too and is directly linked to blood glucose — the end product of the consumption of carbohydrates. Surely no coincidence.
So, take control of your relationship with sugar. Close your ears to its siren calls. Don’t pour a little on anything and for goodness sake stop being such a candy girl. Or boy.
