As we age, there is a tendency for our weight to increase, and obesity is becoming epidemic. I have seen so many patients struggle with the battle to lose weight, mostly unsuccessfully. There is a simple reason so many of us are losing this battle: We have been given bad information. But this is starting to change, at least partially.
The “experts” have told us for years that the primary driver for obesity is calories. Just eat fewer calories and burn more of them by exercising, and that will fix the problem. So it should make sense to avoid the most calorie-dense foods: fats. This thinking has led to an explosion of fat-free foods, to the extent that is it difficult to find, for example, yogurt made from whole milk.
The reason I put the word “experts” in quotation marks above is because their advice is wrong — and much of it is influenced by the food industry. Our weight is not a simple math equation of unburned calories getting converted to fat. Our weight is regulated, just as our blood pressure and blood sugar are. And like with those other bodily functions, for many of us the system that regulates our weight is seriously out of whack.
The problem starts with a hormone imbalance that many of us trigger every day — actually, every meal. Eating grains, sugar and other refined carbs causes our blood sugar to go up enough to trigger an insulin response. Insulin is a fat storage hormone, so the sugar that is eaten primarily gets converted to fat. It also prevents our bodies from accessing stored fat, even when we exercise. A meal that does not trigger insulin will not be stored as fat. Afterward it is easier for our bodies to access stored fat to burn it for fuel. When insulin is triggered by every meal, fat storage becomes the norm.
The new FDA dietary guidelines finally address sugar consumption. They suggest that added sugar, not including the sugar that naturally occurs in foods, supply no more than 10 percent of our daily calories.
To put this into perspective, the average adult American is suggested to consume about 2,000 to 2,400 calories per day, so added sugar should account for no more than 240 calories.
Sugar provides 4 calories per gram, so that means 60 grams per day would be the maximum. But the average American’s sugar consumption is more than double the new recommendations. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the average American teenage boy consumes about 135 grams of added sugar per day.
For example, a common breakfast of one cup of “healthy” low fat Banilla — banana and vanilla flavored — yogurt has 35 grams of sugar by itself, more than half the daily dose.
Add to this a large glass of orange juice, which has up to 50 grams of sugar in a tall glass, and this puts you way beyond that suggested limit — and it isn’t even time for your “ energy drink,” which you will need in a few hours, because of the excess sugar in your system. This adds 27 grams of sugar for a small 8-ounce can.
You likely will need another one a few hours later to recover from the sugar crash you get from that can.
Compare that to having a glass of water — zero grams of sugar — and a cup of regular yogurt, which has no added sugar and only 12 grams of natural sugar. Put in a half-cup of blueberries, which would add 4 grams of sugar, again naturally present in the food. For your energy boost, add a cup of tea or coffee, with a single spoon of sugar, at 4 grams. This is a diet our bodies can handle, even thrive on.
Another way our bodies naturally regulate our weight is through our appetites. When we eat, we feel full. But sugar interferes with this, perhaps even more than it blocks fat burning. I have many patients who complain they never feel full, even after a large meal. They find themselves “munching,” typically not on carrot sticks but instead on sweets. This has been shown to occur with rats, which will binge on sugary food but not on healthy foods and even show signs of withdrawal.
The wellness perspective on nutrition I was taught in chiropractic school has served me well. I was taught to avoid processed foods, and sugar clearly falls squarely in that category — as do fat free foods, artificial sweeteners, fruit juices, etc. Avoiding these foods can help you not only avoid obesity and even lose weight, it is the best disease prevention step you can take.
Dr. Michael Noonan practices chiropractic, chiropractic acupuncture and other wellness therapies in Old Town. He can be reached at noonanchiropractic@gmail.com.