Babies at the breast gorge themselves on a mother’s milk rich in fat and sugar. And then they fall so blissfully asleep. Their parents do too. Is it any wonder we take a tub of ice cream with us to bed in the evenings?
But what’s good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander. Children need to grow their bodies and brains fast. Fat insulates brain cells (much of the brain is fat) and sugar serves as its fuel. After growing up, however, we need a much leaner fuel to cruise along safely for decades of adult life.
What makes a leaner diet? Scientists have swung for years between thick fats and thin sugars. Which are worse? Thick fats are saturated fats, which are literally thicker as a molecule and thicker at room temperature too because chemistry and physics are both directly related. Thin sugars, on the other hand, are refined sugars — the “white” in our white foods. They were stripped from the whole grains like corn, wheat or rice, removing all fiber and nutrition. What if sugar, not fat, is our bigger enemy?
Sugar is a white food. Bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, well, these are white foods, too. White foods turn into sugar. Turn around any can of food, read its ingredients and see how everything has sugar. So many foods that are not white also have sugar in them. Soups, tomato sauces and most sauces, sausages, boy, oh boy, they say “where you seek so shall you find.” Processed packaged foods generally always have sugar and salt to boost their flavor and make them tasty. Why? They destroy the real flavors in the processing. Now, science suggests that sugar is even worse for our overall health and our hearts.
Here is a tricky bit, though: what happens when we pour white sugar into a glass of water? Like magic, it disappears. It becomes invisible. We can no longer see it. Where did it go? So … every sugary drink is also a white food. Bottles and cans of soda, ice tea and even juice hide what they really are: mostly water and sugar. So our sweet drinks are also white foods too.
Diets high in carbohydrates and sugar may be twice as bad as those high in fat. A half-century of growing research suggests that sugar doubles our health risks comparedto dietary fat. All of our boxed, bagged, white foods — including all of the sugar in cans we do not see — cause inflammation in our bodies. High sugars inflame our arteries and our guts. Inflammation causes severe irritation, and arterial inflammation leads to clogging. Diabetes, which features some of the highest blood sugar levels, terribly clogs arteries of all sizes.
Fiber is the other half of this equation, as sugar and fiber are intimately connected. Processing foods into cans and boxes removes the surrounding fiber and nutrients. More white food sugar and refined carbohydrates (long forms of energy that turn into lots and lots of sugar) means fewer vitamins, minerals and fiber. Here is a big shout-out to the food industry: congratulations for inserting barely any vitamins and minerals back into the foods they took everything out of. So today’s inflation means paying more and more for even less and less than real food.
Fiber does wonders for our guts. It provides the scaffolding on which healthy intestinal bacteria grow to calm inflammation and correct absorption. Dealing with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)? Eat more fiber. Obesity? Eat more fiber. Diabetes? Eat more fiber. Fermenting that fiber supercharges its benefits; think real sauerkraut, real pickles and real yogurt.
How much sugar may be safe? The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons — the total amount found in a single can of soda, , assuming absolutely no other hidden sugar is consumed. But, heck, MSN reported that the research has been swayed by the sugar industry for more than 60 years. So, eat even less. As Harvard University’s public health resources note: “The effects of added sugar intake — higher blood pressure, inflammation, weight gain, diabetes, and fatty liver disease — are all linked to an increased risk for heart attack and stroke.”
What can you do? Eat at home. Cook food from scratch. Single parenting taught me a huge surprise: cooking is relaxing! Walk after lunch. Cut your white foods in half. Incorporate more nuts, beans and vegetables into your meals. Relax in nature — relax, relax, relax. Lower your stress and stop buying that next case of soda or bag of Doritos, Pringles and pretzels. These comfort foods come prepackaged for our inconvenience, threatening our health.
Our bodies don’t need us to eat so white.
*https://safebeat.org/cardiac/heart_health/the_sweet_danger_of_sugar/
*https://www.health.harvard.edu/diabetes-and-metabolic-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar
Dr. Stefan Topolski is an academic physician and country doctor serving Franklin County. Dr. Topolski welcomes any questions you may have at public@cottagemed.org. His opinion is for educational and informational purposes and should not be used for diagnosing or treating any health problem without first consulting with a licensed physician. Never disregard or delay seeking professional medical care because of something that you read. The views expressed here are those of the writer, their research colleagues and no other organization.