Skip the Sugar

If you need a quick boost, it may be tempting to reach for a something sweet like a soft drink or a candy bar. Thanks to people’s sweet tooth, not to mention a generous helping hand from the sugar industry, sugary snacks are cheap and readily available.  

The problem is that these drinks and snacks are not only bad for you, but they’re also an inefficient way to get through your day. These types of foods are good for quick energy, but they’re processed quickly and once they’re gone, you’re left feeling shaky and empty. Any excess calories you consume goes straight to fat cells, which does little to help your waistline. 

Sugary drinks like cola are particularly insidious because they turn off the body’s natural appetite control since liquid calories aren’t as satisfying to the body as solid food. If that weren’t enough, sugar is also bad for your heart and your liver. Your liver processes sugar in a similar way to alcohol, converting dietary carbs to fat. Over time it can lead to fatty liver disease, which contributes to diabetes and in turn raises your risk of heart disease. It’s a snowball effect you can do without.

Speaking of heart disease, sugar affects the heart in various ways. Consuming too much sugar can increase blood pressure and chronic inflammation. 

Because sugar is so common, it’s also hard to avoid. Reading the labels on the food you eat is one of the best ways to avoid it. Sugar comes in many varieties. Look out for labels that contain words like brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, malt sugar and molasses. 

Avoiding sugar altogether may be tricky, but if you plan ahead and make sure you have access to healthier protein snacks, you can save your waistline and your health. The sugar industry may not thank you, but your body will.