Tidbit Tuesday - Sugar & Your Sanity

Hello,

Welcome to another Tidbit Tuesday where we aim to teach you something new about health, nutrition, lifestyle, training, and so much more, every week!

Today we are talking about Sugar, your health, and your sanity!

Sugar might not be the villain it has been played out to be.

Sugar is a perennial buzzword in the mass media, serving as inexhaustible fuel for controversy, debate, and best-selling diet books.

Sugar is typically painted as the arch enemy of humanity. And why even dispute this?

After all, who struggling with weight doesn’t have a sweet tooth?

Population statistics of overweight and obesity are concerning, indeed. And the conversation only gets scarier when you bring up diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in 2014, 8.5% of adults aged 18 years and older had diabetes. In 2019, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths.

And these terrifying statistics are rising rapidly!

In the battle against diabetes and obesity, sugar is commonly preached as the singular most common enemy of greatest magnitude.

In 1942, The American Medical Association’s Council on Food and Nutrition suggested that it “would be in the interest of the public health for all practical means to be taken to limit consumption of sugar in any form in which it fails to be combined with significant proportions of other foods of high nutritive quality.”

Sugar remained under the microscope until the 80's, when fat became the villain!

But they had the right idea back in 1942 when they said "to be combined with significant proportions of other foods of high nutritive quality.”

The WHO recommends that added sugars be limited to 10%, and preferably below 5%. However, this rather extreme approach to sugar restriction has been criticized as unrealistic.

A study, summarized, stated that "it would be very difficult for the average American to follow such a restrictive diet for an extended period with no allowance for any indulgences. While it is important to minimize discretionary calories, it is also important to follow a diet that is sustainable for the individual. The proposed free sugar recommendation from the WHO is likely too restrictive and unachievable for most Americans.”

I believe the key words here are "sustainable for the individual."

Another review, done by Khan and Sievenpiper, of a multitude of available systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials is worth quoting directly since it strongly challenges the pop-diet narrative:

“Using the totality of the highest quality evidence from controlled feeding trials, we demonstrate that fructose-containing sugars can lead to weight gain, increase in cardiometabolic risk factors and disease only if it provides the excess calories. When the calories are matched, fructose-containing sugars do not appear to cause weight gain compared to other forms of macronutrients including complex carbohydrates, fats and protein, and in low doses fructose might even show benefit. […] In summary, there is nothing unique about the sugar, fructose. It is harmful when in excess but potentially beneficial when taken in small amounts—providing evidence that it is the excess energy that is causing harm and not some unique metabolic effect.”

In contrast to the WHO, the Institute of Medicine sets the added sugar limit to 25% of total energy.

That is a big jump from the 5-10% that the WHO recommends.

It appears sugar has gotten a very bad reputation and the claims may be far more exaggerated than what it is actually responsible for.

This doesn't mean you can consume as much sugar as you want. You should still be careful, too much sugar may still present other health problems aside from weight gain!

Sugar often gets the blame for what actually amounts to combinations of carbohydrate and fat within highly processed/refined foods that are hyperpalatable and easily over consumed.

It’s practical to set a discretionary calorie range of 10-20% of total intake from essentially whatever your little heart desires.

That is, in the event your other 80-90% of food intake is whole, minimally processed, nutritionally dense foods.

The science, although not perfect, shows that so long as your daily Calories are in check. And you are consistently hitting your macronutrient and micronutrient intake goals. You should avoid any major health concerns and maintain a steady BMI.

If your health goals are more in line with everyday living, and not becoming a top athlete or competing as a bodybuilder. Perhaps it really is in our best interest to allow ourselves some slack!

So, stay consistent with your habits. Drink more water, walk and move around lots, choose more whole foods, but don't be afraid to have some dessert!

Enjoy!

Your friend in health & fitness,

Coach Sean