Sugar and Insulin and how it makes you fat
In one of our programs, we suggest participants give up on sugar for a week and observe their body’s response. Here is a transcription of an email sequence that explains it all:
Hi Everyone!
I have to admit, I am feeling a bit sore in the legs today……but looking forward to this afternoon’s session J
As you suggested Sharn, I am mentally preparing myself for the “no sugar†next week…….could you let us know, is no sugar mean all types of sweeteners…or just processed sugar?
Thanks!!
Terri J
Hey Girls, you’re all doing so well.
No sugar means no refined sugar. That includes hidden sugars (check food packages) like dextrose, maltodextrose, maltodextrin, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), corn starch, and a variety of other cunning names.
Eating sugar triggers the release of insulin, the most amazing hoarder you’ve ever met. Imagine a slightly creepy relative, one that is overly obsessive about cleaning; except for the fact that they don’t have a rubbish bin, they just clean everything constantly, but put the dirt and rubbish into the cupboards. This is insulin. Now imagine giving that hoarding weirdo a line of cocaine, laced with speed and mixed into a litre of coffee, topped with a mother drink. Their behaviour is similar to what insulin is like, when fed sugar. It packs everything (and I mean everything) into the lovely little storage spaces in your body we know as fat cells. Just remember that fat cells are not necessarily cells, they are empty bags waiting to be filled. They will always be there, and they are always ready to be filled with junk… On top of this, insulin is a real sugar junkie. If it gets a sniff or a taste, it just wants more. You feel this as hunger. Even though you just ate half your body weight in mcdonalds; 10 minutes later, you’re ready to go again, and feeling a little sick (because you’re dehydrated). Oh, that’s right, insulin doesn’t just pack the food into the cells, it lines it with water.
Sooo, cutting out sugar will reduce your insulin resistance. If you are overweight, it is because of the sugar in your diet, not the fat. This next week, you’ll discover how much sugar you actually eat (every cereal except of oats is high in added sugar). Because we are constantly barraging our bodies with sugar, (and a lot of the time not even knowing it) our little hoarder friend is hypersensitive to sugar, and is like the junkie who is fed more and more of the delightful cocktail of yuck that I described to you earlier. Hoard, hoard, hoard; before you know it you’re the size of a dump truck and your heart is being crushed in your chest; all the while that hoarding little sh*t is screaming at you “I want more!” like the movie Oliver, except this week, you’re gonna slap that kid in the face and kick him in the balls.
So, next week will be a really, really interesting week. Some of you will discover the depth of your (until now) unknown addiction, while some of you will discover a willpower you never thought you had.
Exciting stuff!!! I can’t wait to hear about it.
Finally, if you’re here tomorrow morning, we’re doing a bit of running, which will happen in the rain (unless it goes away). So bring a towel for your car. Remember that running in the rain makes you 50% more hard core. (from the Australian Bureau of Statistics).
Love you all
Julius!
P.S. there’s sugar in wine. and beer.
Hey Guys
Ok, so with the sugar…. I usually eat Ski D’lite yoghurt for afternoon tea. Is the sugar in that a no no?
Also, a question re wheat (and sugar I guess). I was thinking of having an ‘Ultraslim’ shake for breakfast instead of my usual Sultana Bran. I’ve read the ingredients but it doesn’t really shed any light for me.
If it’s a no, can you please give me some breakfast suggestions? (ps I don’t eat seafood).
Thanks
Shelly
Here’s something you might not have known: on food labels, the list of ingredients is not random, its listed in order of quantity. So on a Ski delite, the ingredients list goes like this:
LOW FAT+ MIXED BERRY YOGHURT INGREDIENTS: SKIM MILK, CONCENTRATED SKIM MILK, SUGAR, FRUIT (4.5%) (STRAWBERRY, CHERRY, RASPBERRY
PUREE, BLACKCURRANT), CREAM (FROM MILK), FRUIT JUICE (0.6%) (RECONSTITUTED STRAWBERRY JUICE), GELATINE, THICKENER (1442) (FROM MAIZE), FLAVOURS, ACIDITY REGULATOR (296), FIRMING AGENT (509), LIVE CULTURES (S. THERMOPHILUS, B. LACTIS, L. ACIDOPHILUS).
so the third ingredient is sugar. If you look at the next, it’s fruit (4.5%), which means that sugar is more than 4.5% of the contents. Now, the strawberry, cherry and raspberry puree is concentrated, which increases the sugar content. It is also processed highly, making the sugar easier to digest (hits the blood stream quickly). So I’d consider that type of processed fruit to be a sugar. Keep going with the list and we’ve got fruit juice as well as a thickener made from maize (corn) – another hidden sugar. If we then look at the nutrition label, you’ve got nearly 30g of sugar in one little tub (the size of your hand). 30g of sugar is a tablespoon and a half. Even the food standards of Australia say that this is more than one third of your daily sugar needs. In one measly tub of yoghurt. But all the marketing leads us to believe that its good for us because it is low in fat.
Now here’s some interesting stuff about fat:
Fat does not give you an insulin response, the way sugar does. Fat makes you feel full (for longer), which you need to curb your cravings. So if you look at the typical low fat diet, it contains a huge amount of sugar. That sugar gives an insulin response, making you hungry – and you don’t have any fat to make you feel full, so you’re always eating. This is why sugar is the enemy and not fat.
Here’s a solution for you then Shell. Look for the yoghurt with the lowest number of ingredients on the back. Should be just skim milk and cultures. Then get some grapes or lychees and cut them up into your yoghurt: better taste, and you can eat more!
Hope this helps, can’t wait for the running in the rain tomorrow!
Julius.