I was thinking about weight loss, again, and the fact that I seem to eat a lot of sweets. I admit I have a sweet tooth. In fact, I think all of my teeth are sweet because I can’t seem to get enough cakes, cookies, homemade pies, and of course, my favorite, ice cream. Therefore, I thought I would see what information I could find on sugar and weight loss, as I continue my own battle against the bulge.
Guess what – I found out there might be some connection between how much sugar we eat and what kind of weight we gain or lose, that’s right, the kind of weight we gain or lose. Almost everyone can lose a few pounds with exercise and sweating, which tends to get rid of excess water in the body. However, long term, healthy weight loss is another thing altogether.
The first thing I discovered was that sugar may not necessarily be bad as part of weight gain/weight loss programs. At least, it may not be bad by itself but sugar has received a bad reputation because it is a main ingredient in deserts. With those items, sometimes the fats are the most troubling ingredient, not the sugar. If eaten with some moderation, sugar may not be such a bad thing, as long as we maintain a healthy lifestyle. The problem is that we don’t get any nutrients with sugar, meaning there aren’t any real health reasons to have it in our daily diet. It is just that simple sugars are part of the process that lets our body use and consume energy.
If we want to cut down the amount of sugar in our diets for whatever reason, can we substitute anything that will continue to give us the sweet taste? Well, some people have had success by gradually getting used to the natural sweetness of fresh fruit and weaned themselves off commercially produced sugar altogether. Obviously, this would seem to be a good direction to go, especially since some studies have shown that regular use of artificial sweeteners may actually add to weight problems rather than help us lose weight.