Fashionable nutrition myths: Sugar is the reason you are overweight
These myths are not helping you lose weight because they are either overly simplistic or just not true.
Myth: sugar is the reason you are overweight
Right now you'll find book after book and article upon article about how sugar has single-handedly caused the obesity epidemic we are currently experiencing.
It's a compelling statement because it sounds both plausible and attractively simple.
“You mean if I just cut out sugar from my diet I'll be thin?” Well, you MIGHT lose some weight ... but that's not the point.
The point is that sugar is NOT the only reason people get fat, and getting rid of it will not cause the end of obesity and ill-health.
Why?
Well, for starters, when people cut out sugar they usually just find a chemical-laden replacement. Not drinking regular sodas anymore? Just drink the 'lite' version. It's got NO SUGAR in it. Instead it contains some really harmful sugar alternatives like aspartame.
Now the purpose of cutting out sugar was to make your fat cells smaller right?
Now the purpose of cutting out sugar was to make your fat cells smaller right? But when you take in toxic chemicals, they get stored in fat cells as your body attempts to protect you from their toxicity. Result? Bigger fat cells ...
So cutting out sugar has to be a guided exercise. You can't just swap sugary things for their sugar-free equivalents.
Other lifestyle factors need to be considered
Also, and possibly more importantly, the 'sugar made you fat' argument ignores various lifestyle factors like lack of exercise, stress, medications, depression, lack of sleep, alcohol intake, and smoking as weight gain stimulants.
All of these things are part of what makes people gain weight, and any single one, or a combination, could be a cause of weight gain. Telling someone who is on four chronic medications and only sleeps three hours per night (due to stress) that they need to cut out sugar to lose weight is pretty unfair in my opinion.
Maybe fix the real problems first?
The bottom line is that the state of YOUR body is a result of MANY MANY factors at play in YOUR life. Generalisations and blanket solutions, while they may seem attractive, are usually unfair and can be really harmful to the many people who don't fit the mould.
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