The August 2009 Issue of Circulation (the Journal of the American Heart Association) contains the AHA’s Scientific Statement on Sugars Intake. It finds that Americans consume an average of 22 teaspoons of added sugar, over 350 additional calories, every day. This is almost 3 times the recommended amount of calories from sugar (as advised by the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines), and provides no nutritional benefit. In the past 25 years, the intake of sugar increased by more than 70 extra calories every day. If these extra calories are not offset (and there is a substantial amount of evidence that they are not), the extra calories could cause a gain of approximately 7 pounds per year. The AHA’s position (echoing many underlying research authors) is that the increasing trend in consumption of added sugars, particularly colas/ sodas, correlates to the increasing trend of cardio-vascular health risks and obesity. It is possible to improve this condition by being more mindful of what is eaten.

Sources of Sugar in our Diet

Aside from the table sugar in coffee, tea, or baked goods, simple sugars (mono- and di-saccharides) are a significant and natural component of our diet. Carbohytrades such as lactose and fructose are in milk and fruit, and complex sugars (polysaccharides) are starches (for example, potatoes). A significant portion, typically in the form of high fructose syrups, is added to processed food to improve its taste. Citing Guthrie and Morton, the authors report that the biggest sources of added sweeteners are from regular soft drinks and candy (amounting almost to 50% of all added sugar, or approximately 175 additional calories per day). It pays to read the ingredients, and to pass up anything that looks like a glow-in-the-dark chemical formula that has been sweetened to make it “delicious and nutritious.”

Cutting Empty Calories to Lose Weight

As we have written before, an increase in the level of blood sugar is a principal input for insulin to store extra energy as fat; please see our prior article on Low Carb Diets, Weight Loss and Fat. If you are trying to lose weight, reducing the 330 calories that come from sweets should be examined closely. An immediate benefit of reducing the amount of sugar that you eat is a simple reduction of calories consumed per day, making it easier to meet daily caloric targets. Another, longer-term benefit is that cutting down on sweets improves signals of satiety (fullness from food, similar to our discussion of palmitic acid in the Low Carb article referenced above). Unless there are health reasons to avoid sugar altogether (such as your doctor telling you so), simple reductions in amount of consumed sugar, will work wonders over time. And, becoming more aware of what you eat and making simple small, adjusting changes is unlikely to become unbearably difficult, making it more likely that a diet is successful in its goal – to lose weight.

Citing Oettle
et al. (1987), the AHA authors write that consuming “sugary, refined-grain snacks resulted in higher glucose and insulin levels…” than eating other food choices, such as fruits and nuts that were offered during the experiment. Translation: when you eat, your body has to do something with the energy in the bloodstream. Either it will be used to provide energy for life, being used by the cells in your body, or it will be stored away as fat. For a large percentage of us, the second choice, because of our sedentary lifestyle and chronic over-eating, occurs far more frequently than the first. Your body also knows what type of food provides energy that is easiest to use – that comes from carbohydrates, of which sugars are members. The difference is that there are carbs that provide nutritional benefits (for example, fruits and full grains that provide healthy fiber), and there are carbs that simply provide calories with little nutritional value (for example, the donut that you ate this morning because you were running too late for a proper breakfast).

3 Easy Steps for Losing Weight Quickly and Permanently

Frequently, we sabotage our own intentions. For example, we want to lose weight fast, but are so busy that we eat infrequently, or we eat junk food that has little actual nutritional value. When we eat infrequently, blood sugar drops to a very low level, and your body signals that you are “starving.” When you are starving, it is too easy to over-eat or eat something that is not necessarily what you should be eating. One possible solution is to eat smaller, more frequent meals and snacks.

• Have a real breakfast and have it at home. Contrary to popular belief, a coffee and donut is not a proper breakfast, nor is it faster (it takes 60 seconds to make scrambled eggs in a microwave, even less to open cottage cheese or pour milk over a whole-grain cereal). When dieting, controlling your food intake is critical, and the last thing you need is a sugar-laden rush that will make you want to devour your next meal. Avoid high-sugar processed foods such as a lot of sweetened cold cereals, donuts or white breads and stick to the basics – whole grain cereals and breads, eggs, cheeses, yogurts, or other food items that at least resemble something that nature produced.
  
• Pack your lunch/ dinner. Eat a variety of balanced meals that have lean protein, vegetables, whole grains, or legumes. You will find that as you become more aware of what you eat, you will tend to eat better. Divide your portions so that you have smaller, but more frequent meals. Eat the same amount of food, but in smaller portions. The value of this is that smaller, frequent meals tend to maintain blood sugar levels within a particular range, which tends to control hunger better. Controlling appetite is a key factor of dietary success.
  
• Pack your snacks. It is easier to pack quality snacks at home rather than to run out and get something when you are hungry. Not only will this be a savings of time and money, but it will improve your nutrition because you will eat better foods – raw vegetables or full (not canned/processed) fruits/ nuts. Compare that to sugar- and calorie-loaded bars or salt-laiden, hydrogenated oil-cooked chips. There are so many healthy snack choices that it is highly unlikely you will ever be bored. And, you are already grocery shopping, right?
  

In packing your own food, you gain critical control. Aside from packing healthier food options, you can easily reduce the amount of sweets that you consume, without making large changes in your diet or lifestyle. This enables true diet success – an easy method to keep a food diary because you know what you will eat and can keep track of it. You will find that over time, maintaining a food diary, ideally including your weightings and exercise, allows you to learn how much you should (and should not) eat, and of what. This is also an invaluable tool to use when working with your healthcare professional, such as your doctor or dietician, whom you should consult before you start on any diet or weight loss plan.

If you have a real sweet tooth, it’s OK. Unless, for medical reasons, you are trying to follow a particular diet, having some sweets is perfectly fine. The meaning of the above research is to raise awareness of ways that we consume sugar but may not be aware of it. There are many high-quality chocolates (particularly dark chocolates) that could be enjoyed in moderation without blowing your diet. Better yet, try having dried fruit or a combination of the two (raisins or nuts covered in dark chocolate are amazing, and you do not need to eat a lot of them to feel that you “enjoyed the moment”). And, the fiber that such snacks contain is good for other reasons – check out our article on Raisins and Weight Loss.

That is the true value of keeping a food diary and following a sensible diet – in finding ways to enjoy your diet, it is easier to stick to it.

If you do not want to pack your own food for some reason, sign up with a reputable meal plan (see Diet Meal Plans in Additional Resources, below). The benefit of these plans is that they take all of the guess work of preparing your food and snacks for you, allowing you to stay within your diet parameters and not think about it, and the price is reasonable (average price for diet meal plans is about $350 per month, and you get program structure and support and depending on the plan you pick, breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as snacks. Going out for lunch each work day, at an average cost of $10, is about $220 – not including your breakfasts or dinners).

Additional Resources

Diet Meal Plans

Arranged alphabetically. Please note that prices are set by these separate companies, not 20BMI.com, and may change at any time. Disclosure: 20BMI.com may be compensated by the below vendors.

BistroMD – Dieting is easier when you love the food. Various plans, from approximately $390 per month.

MediFAST – medically designed to produce a calorie deficit. Approximately $300 per month.

NutriSystem Select – Restaurant Quality Food with a wide Selection. Approximately $400 per month, with specialized men’s, women’s, senior, and diabetic plans.

Works Cited

Frayn, K., Kimgman, S.M., Dietary Sugars and Lipid Metabolism in Humans,
Am J Clin Nutr 1995;62(suppl):250-63S.

Johnson, R. K., Appel, L. J., Brands, M., Howard, B. V., Lefevre M., Lustig, R. H., Sacks, F., Steffen, L. M., Wylie-Rosett, J., Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association, Circulation 2009;120;1011-1020; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192627

Murphy S. P., Johnson, R. K.,
The scientific basis of recent US guidance on sugars intake,
Am J Clin Nutr 78 (4): 827S.

Oettle
G. J., Emmett P. M., Heaton K. W., Glucose and insulin responses to manufactured and whole-food snacks, Am J Clin Nutr 45, 86-91.

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