Everyone’s talking about sugar at the moment. It comes in the wake of media reports of US researchers describing sugar as ‘toxic’, and stories of seemingly miraculous weight loss occurring when people cut all sugar from their diets.
At the most extreme end of the scale, several scientists have called for sugar to be regulated as a harmful substance like alcohol and tobacco. So should we all be getting on the no-sugar bandwagon?
It seems all nutrition experts agree that too much sugar – particularly the added sugar found in highly processed foods – is not good for anyone. But it’s useful to understand some context before we do anything extreme.
There is some interesting research going on into sugar and its effects. The findings so far seem to suggest, but not prove, a link between excessive sugar intake and chronic diseases such as heart disease, obesity and insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes). Critics have pointed out that much of the research has been on animals, and both these and the few human studies have had subjects consuming vast amounts of sugar in forms that are not readily available in real life. Research is ongoing, and fascinating. But right now all the scientific community seems ready to agree on is that more research is needed.
In the meantime, what are we to make of the ‘cut out all sugar’ diets? Our experts agree it's a good idea to minimise the added sugar in our diets, and doing this will almost certainly have an effect on weight, since sugary foods tend to be energy dense. This is especially true if you’re eating a lot of sugary foods and drinking sugary drinks to start with. But demonising one particular food, no matter what it is, is not really helpful or sensible. The reasons people are overweight are complex, and rarely due to over-consumption of just one thing. And if we simply concentrate on eliminating one element from our diets without making sure the rest of what we eat is as good as it can be, we run the risk of being no healthier at all in the long run.
In health, as in many things in life, it is human nature to look for a magic solution; a quick fix. When it comes to weight loss we tend to love rules, and if they seem very simple – cut out all sugar – even better. It’s a lot simpler and more dramatic than ‘eat less and move more’, or ‘everything in moderation’. But I feel like we’ve been here before. Remember Atkins and the other low-carb diets? Or the extreme low-fat diets of the ‘80s? My feeling is that anything extreme is not sustainable, and we tend to end up back where we started, with the weight back on. Also worrying, is that cutting out all sugar is restrictive and difficult, and could encourage an unhealthy relationship with food. As happens when we concentrate on restricting anything in our diets, we focus on what we 'can't' have.
What we do agree with the no-sugar advocates about is that sugary drinks are no-one’s idea of healthy food, and that a diet of fresh, whole foods with lots of colourful fruit and veges and a minimum of processed foods is ideal.
But long-term health – and keeping weight off long term – is not about avoiding one food completely. It is about eating a wide variety of good food, in reasonable portion sizes, every single day for the rest of your life. Get everything else right, and a small sweet treat occasionally is not going to kill you.
For more on sugar and your questions on sugar and sugar-free diets, see the latest issue of Healthy Food Guide magazine where senior nutritionist Rose Carr looks at the science in more depth.
9 Comments. Add yours
Thank you for being the voice of reason in a mad, mad, mad, mad world!
There are other reasons for cutting out sugar as opposed to weight issues - just like there are repercussions for drinking alchohol or taking drugs - consumption and their consequences are not all weight related. For me, sugar causes massive hormonal-related headaches every month. The more sugar I have, the worse my headaches are. Zero -or at least very little sugar - means no headaches. It is toxic. That it might cause some people to put on weight is a side issue - not the main one!
Certainly sugar has a lot to answer for. I began a sugar free lifestyle last October when I found I had Candida. The symptoms of candida are horrific especially when it has spread all through your body. For 4 months I was staunch on the no sugar thing and I felt so much better. I found that eating proteins and vegetables was the way to go and my energy levels were amazing. After 4 months I let my lifestyle go a bit and have suffered for it. Now I am off sugar again and after just 3 weeks, I'm feeling so much better again. What amazed and shocked me is that unless your food is fresh, the food companies put sugar in everything! It can be as addictive as tobacco or alcohol. I really believe that sugar is a major epidemic and if people don't start looking at what they are eating then they will suffer for it. Everyone keeps going on about fat but at less our bodies are able to burn that, not like sugar. So I say eat fresh!
I got told by the doctor in January that if I did not cut out sugar from my diet, then I would very likely have diabetes by the end of the year. So I have and it was incredibly hard as I have always had a sweet tooth and with a fatty liver telling me that I needed more sugar it was even harder. But 5 months later and I have lost more weight, I no longer have scary sugar cravings and I am a very good role model for my students especially those who do not want to have a roll of fat on their tummy from eating too much sugar. Stick with fructose and lactose and say NO ADDED SUGAR!
Thanks Nikki for some sensible advice! I work in the allergy food sector and people I meet through work seem to be constantly jumping on the band wagon of some diet or another without seeking medical advice first. Although I know some people are better without sugar, I think for most of the population it is more about everything in moderation. Yes, some people have intolerances, IBS, candida, risk of diabetes - but this is dealt with best on a case to case basis rather than instilling fear around a food or group of foods.
It scares me to think health professionals are giving out advice such as "everything in moderation" with regards to sugar when you look at the list of health problems it causes. It certainly deserves to be demonised. Before the turn of the 19th C sugar consumption is the US was just over 5lb's (2.2kg) per person/year. Now Americans, and probably Kiwis are close, consume a massive 135lb"s (over 60kg) per year each. I would like to ask our brainwashed "experts", what is moderate consumption when it comes to sugar? Sugar is addictive and harmful. Use small amounts of unrefined sugars such as rapadura or jaggery, which still contain some minerals, unlike refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
I'd just like to reiterate that we are not saying 'sugar is great'. We are saying 'a little bit of sugar won't kill you'. Of course if you're eating excessive amounts of sugary foods and drinks, it's a really really good idea to cut down, and, cruicially, replace those sugary foods with fresh, whole foods. You'll definitely see an improvement in your health.
The best research we can find says that NZers eat around 17kg of added sugar per person per year. It is actually down by about 2kg per year in the last 10 years. The WHO recommends an added sugar intake of below 10% of our total energy intake, and NZers average is below this.
It's worth noting that high-fructose corn syrup is not a common ingredient in NZ foods; it is used extensively in the US but very rarely here, mostly due to cost, so it's not a major feature of our diets.
The healthy fitness fiantics to the sporty and athletic to those who just love to indulge in the fine foods not a care in the world to those coutch potatoe chips with dip to the Dvd Choco holics to the $2 sweetie packets selling at Reception. We all don't need to answer this question just eat sugar day in day out & you will see a overwelming amount of weight gain in a short time. Sugar reaches ones Tummys to Thighs to your facial feature, remove the toned look of the neck to acne. No No No naughty but true to sugar & your diet for your life of fighting the buldge will be over. Replace it will sugar free. The world will be a better place for us all. Some live on sugar & have no weight gain but your skin is not that peachy rehydrated mirror of beauty but a slow aging concern. You may also take a look at the back of your thighs sugar paints a ghasly picture of indented fat pockets that would not be there if sugar was out of your life. I believe in sugar when you are have a sugar low but I can not comment as sugar to me is out of fashion. Re educate your diet and you will be healthy and very happy & your body will love you for it. Every thing in moderation sugar feeds on the brain, once touches the taste buds and enters you world it turns to fat. Remove it and you will see and over night change to a life time of natural energy. This is what I think. No to sugar in great amounts if not at all. Bec Ball
As a nutritionist working in the health promotion field it never ceases to amaze me how many people I meet are on restrictive diets and live their lives going from one diet to the next. I do not believe that sugar is particularly good for you, but it is ridiculous to think it can have detrimental effects when consumed in moderation with a healthy diet and regular exercise, especially as current studies are inconclusive on this topic. I do not doubt that people unfortunately suffer bad effects from consuming sugar (other than weight gain), such as migraines, as many people suffer intolerances from certain foods. I wish people would stop looking at food as the enemy (we have to eat to survive!), and instead treat sugar as a treat food and if you can live without refined sugar then that's great, just make sure you are not compensating for this elimination by consuming other unhealthy foods. I believe that saturated fat has a lot more to answer for, but that's another story!