By Richard Tardif
It isn’t. Last year the World Health Organization announced it would eventually chop the organizations’ daily sugar recommendation of 10 percent of total sugar intake to five. Less rigid is the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommendation of 25 percent of daily calories from sugar. Canada’s Food Guide is laissez-faires over sugar consumption serving up moderation as the key.
The message is sugar, too much of it, just isn’t good for anyone.
Not for John Goodman. The actor known for his father role in the family sitcom Roseanne in the 1980s, but known more for his struggle with obesity, has cast off 100 pounds and counting thanks to daily exercise, an end to alcohol consumption and a drastic cut in sugar.
Just like aspartame, your brain reacts to sugar. Your taste buds send a direct-message to your brain, incroyable! Devine! Once the sugar is in your stomach it’s sent to your intestines and broken down into simple carbohydrates (glucose, sucrose and fructose). In general, when people eat a diet that is high in calories and high in fructose, the liver gets overloaded and starts turning the fructose into fat. Reducing fructose and eating small amounts and eating more fiber these carbohydrates can be regulated in a healthy way.
Be on the lookout, though. Manufacturers may be sabotaging you without you knowing.
What about those hidden or added sugars? Confectioner’s sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, honey, invert sugar, maple syrup, raw sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar, sugar beets, lab-concocted high-fructose corn syrup just to name a few, makes reducing sugar intake, and knowing how much you are ingesting, near impossible.
Best advice I received was to educate myself on these hidden sugars, eat wholesome (no processed or packaged products), get back in the gym and drink more water.
