By: Chris Gates
In this article, I’m going to break down exactly whether or not sugar is healthy or unhealthy for you, but first I want to explain what inspired me to write this article.
The answer is twofold.
The first moment that inspired this article occurred when I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts in the car. During that podcast, I heard an advertisement for a “healthy” cereal, and the cereal was described as healthy because it had “only one gram of sugar” and was “keto friendly.”
Immediately, I shook my head. And I couldn’t stop thinking about that type of marketing.
After hearing that advertisement, I posted a poll on my Twitter account to get a feel for what other people think about sugar.
It became pretty clear to me that most people consider sugar to be “unhealthy.” You may have that perspective, too.
So I think it’s important for us to break down exactly what makes different foods, and different nutrients “healthy” or “unhealthy” and discuss the truth about sugar.
Let’s dive into some background information on sugar itself, and then we can break down the composition of food and what truly makes a food good or bad for your overall health.
Your Body & Sugar
It’s important that you have a basic understanding of how your body receives and processes sugar, and what some of the health concerns of consistently high sugar consumption are. So let’s dive into that first… And I promise we’re not going to get too technical with the medical lingo.
Quite simply, after you eat food with sugar in it, your body breaks that sugar down and coverts it into glucose, which is released into your bloodstream and delivered to tissues throughout your body to be used for energy. This is where insulin gets involved — it helps move glucose from the bloodstream to the cells of your body.
Eating sugar can also cause dopamine to be released in the body (dopamine is a chemical that makes you feel pretty damn good).
You’re probably also aware that a quick dose of sugar can provide you with energy, but consuming sugar in excess can eventually lead to the “crash” that you’ve probably experienced before.
These are all normal reactions from your body, and with low to moderate sugar consumption your body can typically carry out these processes without any issues. Problems occur when the doses of sugar get extremely high, and/or you have consistent doses of high sugar on a consistent basis, because that will lead all of those bodily processes to get kicked into overdrive.
And when anything gets kicked into overdrive consistently, problems inevitably occur.
People who consistently consume high amounts of sugar may find themselves experiencing one or more of the following health issues:
- Excess weight gain
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Depression
- Organ disfunction
I’m hopeful you can see that your body is well-equipped to handle sugar, but at the same time I’m hopeful that you can understand there’s always going to be a point where you can have too much of a good thing.
What Does “Healthy” Mean?
We often categorize food as “healthy” or “unhealthy” based on one or two specific factors.
Take that example I shared at the beginning of this article… The cereal was categorized as “healthy” because it had “only one gram of sugar” per serving.
You’ll see this all over the place, and it has trickled into the way we talk to each other about food. We regurgitate the packaging and marketing, and over time it becomes truth and part of our belief systems about food.
So a food that is sugar-free, or a food that is low fat, is often described as a health food, or “healthy.”
You might also consider that baking something with low-calorie, or all-natural ingredients makes that food “healthy,” or healthier than the alternative.
But at the end of the day, a food is going to be “healthy” or “unhealthy” for you based on your relationship with that food.
All foods have some combination of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Additionally, all foods have ingredients that skew from all natural to heavily processed (and everywhere in between). And certainly, there are combinations of all of those elements that would make a food more, or less, nutritious for you to eat.
But at the end of the day, the foods that are going to be most detrimental to your health are the ones that you have a good or bad relationship with. And they’ll also be the ones that conflict with your health history, and current health status.
It’s not realistic to think you’ll only ever eat “healthy,” unprocessed foods. I’d actually argue that it’s probably most “healthy” for you to have some foods that people consider to be “unhealthy,” because if you love a certain meal or sweet treat, it’s OK to indulge and have it from time to time.
Restriction isn’t healthy.
Moderation is key.
You can have a piece of cake, or eat half a pizza, or pig out on some Doritos every once in a while, and it’s not going to ruin the outlook of your overall health.
What you can’t do is eat those foods constantly, because it will lead to excess weight gain and all of the health complications I mentioned earlier in this article.
So if you’re consistently eating more candy bars than apples (both of which contain sugar), yes. Sugar may be unhealthy for you. But that’s only because of the way you’re managing your diet.
And that’s where it comes back to your relationship with food. If there are certain foods that have caused you problems in the past — foods that cause you to binge, or get out of control, or conflict with your current health status — then those are foods that would be considered “unhealthy” for YOU, and you should avoid them.
Health is person-specific, and you should take a hard look at what works (and doesn’t work) for you.
Nutritious Foods
Rather than categorize each and every food as good or bad, “healthy” or “unhealthy,” you should instead look at how nutritious individual foods are to determine the health benefits.
Typically, more nutritious foods have fewer ingredients. They’re also often foods that provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body can use to build you up.
Fruits and vegetables are obvious candidates (and no, fruit isn’t bad for you because it contains sugar).
Lean protein sources, such as chicken, turkey, steak, fish; and whole carbohydrate sources like rice, bread, oats, etc. are fantastic options to build out the majority of your diet as well.
If you have ~80 percent of your diet comprised of highly nutritious food sources, you can confidently indulge in some of those other foods you love, regardless of how nutritious they are (or aren’t).
The Truth About Whether Sugar is Healthy or Unhealthy
So, is sugar healthy or unhealthy?
Well, the answer is really specific to you.
Sugar isn’t inherently “bad” or “unhealthy.” It’s perfectly fine to consume sugar in some of the foods you eat. And as described above, your body is designed to process it.
So instead of asking whether it’s healthy to eat sugar, ask yourself these questions…
- How do you handle sugar?
- Does sugar make you feel good? Or does it make you feel crummy?
- When you eat sugar, can you eat small servings of it? Or does it typically lead you down a path of overeating?
- Is sugar found in most of the foods you eat? Or is the majority of your diet comprised of whole, nutritious foods?
- Do you have a health condition that suggests you should limit your sugar intake? Are you overweight or obese? Would cutting out sugar help you to navigate your way to a better health status?
Asking yourself those questions will allow you to really evaluate your relationship with sugar to determine whether it may be more more or less healthy for YOU.
And that’s what this all boils down to.
What’s your relationship with sugar?
The answer to that question will tell you everything you need to know.
I hope this helps!
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If you’re interested in learning more about how you can manage your own nutrition to hit the health and fitness goals you have, contact me or visit my coaching page to learn more about online personal training. If you’d like to talk specifically about your goals, fill out a coaching application form and I’ll reach out to you!
Thanks for reading!