Is Sugar Truly "Bad For You"? Take A Look At This Research And Decide For Yourself

Is Sugar Truly "Bad For You"? Take A Look At This Research And Decide For YourselfNow that the holidays have commenced, let's give some thought to the foods that are part of this time of year.

I'm not here to demonize sugar--the dose makes the poison--BUT a little reality check about it can help keep our food choices in perspective.

​Researchers recently evaluated the impact of "free sugars" on 83 health outcomes.

"Free sugars" include table sugar, honey, or maple syrup. Sugar found in fruits, vegetables, and milk isn't free sugar.

Their findings of 8,601 studies on sugar were particularly damning of sugar-sweetened beverages.

​They concluded that "widespread public health education and policies worldwide are urgently needed and more needs to be done given the known health dangers of sugar."

Like Alzheimer's disease...

Since 1990, Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses have increased by nearly 150%.

Only 5% of Alzheimer’s predisposition is hereditary.

The rest is partly determined by...yep, your lifestyle and environment.....

“80% of people with Alzheimer’s disease have either diabetes or insulin resistance. The link between insulin resistance and Alzheimer's disease has led some researchers to call Alzheimer's "Type 3 diabetes."

People with Type 2 diabetes are 2-3 times more likely to suffer from the most common form of dementia.

The earlier your diabetes diagnosis, the more likely you'll develop Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia.

In rodents, insulin resistance causes cognitive decline in a few weeks!

Diabetes and AD share other characteristics:

🥤Nearly 2000 participants were tracked for 19 years. Those who consumed more sugary drinks were more likely to get dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

🥤 Data from about 4000 people in the Framingham Heart Study found a strong correlation between sugary drinks, brain shrinkage, and poorer memory performance even after controlling for other lifestyle and demographic factors.

🥤If you regularly drink sugar-sweetened beverages, you’re 25% more likely to acquire Type 2 diabetes. Adding just one to your daily routine increases your likelihood of diabetes by 13%.

....and like accelerated aging....

Excess added sugar may change how cells function and lead to an accelerated biological age.

Consuming added sugar biologically aged cells faster than their chronological age even in people who ate a healthy diet.

🍩 The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that someone who eats about 2,000 calories a day consume no more than 50 grams (12 teaspoons) of added sugar daily.

🍩 The average person consumes 17 teaspoons per day, mostly from sugar-sweetened beverages, desserts, and snacks.

🍩 To slow biological aging, experts recommend consuming 25-35 grams of added sugar daily.

🍩 Eliminating 10 grams of added sugar per day over time would turn back a person's biological clock by about 2.4 months.

🍩 A 12-ounce can of soda contains 39 grams, the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of sugar.

🍩 Eating more sugar-dense foods can crowd out eating more nutrient-dense foods.

🍩 Sugar hides in foods you might not expect, including salad dressings, frozen meals, and pasta sauces.

Our fruits and vegetables have even been genetically altered to make them sweeter.

The state of our health reminds us that we didn't evolve to eat this way!

Too much of anything is....well, too much.

What's the right amount of sugar for you?