This man lost pounds in just a few months using this one simple trick! Doctors have no strong opinions on him! Keep reading to find out more!
Hi again everyone!
I know I've already done a blog about dieting, but I decided I should do one that's more focused on this one specific diet. In case it wasn't obvious, the bit above is parodying those ads you always see ("one simple trick, doctors hate him", etc.)
Essentially, cutting sugar out of your diet can be very beneficial.
Now, before I go any further, I should do a disclaimer: I am by no means a nutritionist, or a dietician, or a doctor, or any other fancy thing like that. I have taken middle school level biology, first year level chemistry, and around 2 decades' worth of common sense and logic training (AKA living), so I do know some things on the subject, but really not enough to be considered a valid, scholarly source.
When I say "cutting sugar out", I don't mean you should stop eating fruits, or carbohydrates that can break down into sugar (for instance: bread, pasta, potatoes...), or even, say, scones with a bit of sugar in the ingredients. You probably could- though speak to a professional first so you don't run out of energy or something- but that's a bit hardcore.
What I'm talking about is things that are made for the sake of being sweet. Ice cream, candy, cupcakes/other baked goods, and chocolate (though, side note- dark chocolate (say, 80% or higher) can actually have less sugar by mass than a lot of other stuff; I considered it an exception to the rule when I was trying this diet). If you find yourself craving this stuff, try instead a glass of milk, or some fruit, or my personal favourite, a glass of milk with fruit (no joke- get a blender, fill it around 35% with frozen strawberries (or 45% with blueberries), the rest of the way with milk, and blend it. No sugar or cream needed).
Why specifically go after sugar? Well, a couple reasons.
- Sugar is a source of energy. The general formula: CH2O + O2 -> CO2 + H2O (which, fun fact, is [part of?] why you need to breathe oxygen). I don't know the exact processes, but cells can instead turn carbohydrates like sugar into fat, to be used later. Cutting sugar out of your diet will help to lose weight- you don't necessarily need to stop eating fat.
- Not eating excess sugar will lower your odds of getting certain types of diabetes. Again, I don't know the specifics, but I've been told one type of diabetes is caused by excessive sugar intake, and the other just happens, for whatever reason. It should then go without saying- eating less sugar will decrease your risk of a disease caused by eating too much sugar.
- It's good for your teeth. I can't remember the formulas for this one- they're a tad more complicated- but as I understand it, sugar gets turned into acids by some bacteria in your mouth. This raises the overall acidity of your saliva, which can cause hydroxylapatite (main ingredient of tooth enamel) to dissolve more. (the actual process has to do with removing ions from your mouth that are then replaced by those in your teeth, but we can simplify). Two side notes here: firstly, carbonated drinks contain carbonic acid, which can also affect your enamel. Secondly, toothpaste contains fluoride ions, which turn the enamel in your teeth into fluoroapatite, which is less soluble, and therefore less affected by saliva acidity.
- It's easy. I can say this from experience- it's really not that hard cutting sugar out of your diet. As I said in my other blog, I managed for months, and ultimately only stopped because I forgot I was even doing it. Since the diet I'm proposing is only cutting out excess sugar, like deserts or overly sweetened things like cereal, it won't have a huge impact on what you normally eat (I hope). Cutting, say, meat out of your diet would likely have more of an effect- personally, I'd have to change most of the things I eat regularly in that case.
I would say those are four pretty solid reasons to consider going no/low sugar. It's worth saying again though- this isn't a magical diet. There are other ways to lose weight (such as exercise). Diabetes probably isn't much of a risk anyways, and if it is, this diet probably won't be as easy for you as it was for me. I don't know the stats for tooth decay, but I'm fairly confident it's the most significant point here- but even then, all you need to do is regularly brush your teeth with fluoride-containing toothpaste, and rinse your mouth with water if you eat something overly sweet or acidic. Don't expect any sort of drastic results either. It's not like you wake up after a week able to jog across North America, or find yourself losing 15lbs in a month- at best, I lost 10lbs in half a year.
That said, this diet does help your overall health in a variety of ways, probably even some I didn't mention here. Definitely consider it if you want to become somewhat healthier with little effort. Or if you're bad at remembering to brush your teeth.
Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed today's post!