Why Sugar is Making You Moody, Fat, Sick - and What You Can Do About It

Hello, dearest listeners. Welcome to the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast. I'm your host, Claudia von Boeselager, and I love to cover all things longevity and lifestyle to teach us the latest strategies, tools, practices to live better and help us reach our highest potential. I get asked a lot for my advice and tips on various topics around health optimization, longevity, and biohacking. So in today's episode, somewhat different, I want to share some of my insights with you, dear listeners, and dig deep into all things sugar today, including what sugar really does to your body, why it's so detrimental to your health, some strategies and replacements I've used that you can too to overcome sugar addictions and replace with healthier choices to turn around and optimize your health, as well as some other key tools to do so. Let me start with a little story. Have you ever found yourself craving something sweet? I mean, really craving, like you have to have it now? I remember one afternoon, several years ago, feeling highly stressed while trying to deal with all the intricacies of a particularly challenging day. My mind quickly and once again focused on, "I need some chocolate now." It was such a powerful urge I couldn't concentrate on what was on hand and found myself almost like an out-of-body experience getting some chocolate I had stashed. The taste was delicious, and within no time, the dopamine hit was circulating through my body. I was clearly sugar addicted. Thankfully, once I began my journey to health optimization and peak performance, I uncovered the strategies and tools to reverse this, some of which I want to share with you today. Let's start with the fact that sugar is addictive. Want to hear a shocking fact? Sugar is 8 times as addictive as cocaine. Why? When you eat sugar, your brain produces huge surges of dopamine, similar to the way the brain reacts to substances like heroin and cocaine. Researchers think that this might be because our bodies have adapted over time to seek out foods that are high in calories, which for most of human history was an important aspect for survival. Yet fast forward to today, with all the readily available food, and our brains still perceive sugar as beneficial releasing huge amounts of dopamine when we consume sugary, high-calorie foods. This mimics the effects of addiction and creates real cravings for sugar. As Dr. Mark Hyman says, being addicted to sugar and flour is not an emotional eating disorder. It's a biological disorder driven by hormones and neurotransmitters that fuel sugar and carb cravings, leading to uncontrolled overeating. This is the driver of why nearly 70% of Americans and 40% of children are overweight. Sadly, in one study, Harvard scientists found that a high-sugar milkshake not only spiked blood sugar and insulin and led to sugar cravings compared to a low-sugar one, but it caused huge changes in the brain. The sugar lit up the addiction center of the brain like a light bulb, similar to the effects of cocaine and morphine. On top of that, it can even lead to withdrawal symptoms when we cut it out of our diets, making it so difficult to resist sweets. So I'm here to help you too break this addiction. Firstly, what are the issues sugar is causing? Let's look at the health issues, and let's start with what sugar does to you. Sugar is really quite toxic for our bodies. Some even consider it an outright poison. It is considered the root cause of the obesity epidemic, as well as many other chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, dementia, type 2 diabetes, depression, inflammation, skin issues, and even acne, infertility and impotence, liver damage, as well as throwing your hormones off balance. Also, research is showing a correlation between mood and mental health and sugar intake. Some studies show that people suffering depression who remove sugar from their diet were able to reverse their depression. I think we can all agree that there is a strong correlation between sugar consumption and quality of life. The economic impact is astronomical too, not just from a personal perspective, but the economic impact of medical bills, sick days, medication, and more. One study estimated the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes, which is only one area of sugar-related diseases, is $327 billion, which includes $237 billion in direct medical costs and $90 billion in reduced productivity. Isn't that money, time, and energy better spent focusing on living well and the things we truly love? I think so. So where do all these issues stem from? Since over 50 years, when the US decided to wage war on fat in food, both healthy and unhealthy fat, the food industry decided to increase sugar content in food to replace the taste. What's interesting is if you look at the increase in the average sugar intake per person compared to the increase in cases of diabetes and Alzheimer's, there is a remarkably correlated existence. One statistic I came across in the US that I wanted to share: the average American consumes about 152 pounds of sugar a year. That's roughly 22 teaspoons every day for every person in America. And sadly, American kids consume about 34 teaspoons every day. That's more than 2 20-ounce sodas, making nearly 1 in 4 teenagers pre-diabetic or diabetic. And the statistics on flour is even worse than sugar. Simple carbs and processed foods—think white flour, pizza, pasta, white bread, and ready-made meals—for most people, these will be quickly broken down into sugar and raise your blood sugar levels, secreting high levels of insulin, which will store it as fat and create other health issues along the way. The average American consumes about 146 pounds of flour a year. Think about that. That's about 1 pound of sugar and flour combined every day for every man, woman, and child in America. And flour, even whole wheat flour, raises blood sugar even more than table sugar. So what happens when we consume sugar, and why is it so addicting? What happens when we ingest sugar and eat highly processed foods? Our body immediately secretes the hormone insulin, which is required to regulate the blood sugar level in your body. Insulin signals to the body's cells to take in glucose to be used as fuel or stored as body fat. That's why doctors often call insulin the fat storage hormone. Prolonged high blood sugar and insulin levels can cause insulin resistance, which leads to so many health issues, including constant hunger thanks to the spikes and crashes in blood sugar, tiredness or lethargy, difficulty concentrating, aka brain fog, weight gain and obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, type 2 diabetes, as well as cognitive health issues such as dementia, Alzheimer's, and other neurodegenerative diseases. You see, your brain also sees sugar as a reward, which makes you keep wanting more. If you eat a lot of sugar, you're reinforcing that reward, which is making it tough to break the habit. So I think it's pretty clear on how lethal sugar really is. Next, I'd like to look at where is sugar hiding. And while this isn't an extensive list, I wanted to share some of these with you. When we look at white sugar or sucrose, this is the typical table sugar, and sucrose is broken down into glucose and fructose. White sugar contributes to tooth decay, obesity, cravings, inflammation, insulin resistance, aging, and bad gut bacteria, so it's best to avoid. Brown sugar is pretty much just white sugar with a bit of molasses in it. Same deal as white sugar. Fructose is also a kryptonite. It doesn't spike blood sugar as quickly as glucose does, but it does go to your liver and trigger fat production, which builds up and causes liver toxicity over time. It also causes inflammation and cellular aging. So it's pretty important to limit the amount of fructose you take to 25 grams a day, or ideally far less. Fruit juice concentrate is best avoided. It's basically fructose with only a few nutrients left. Typically it's made from fruit that isn't presentable enough to go out on display in supermarket, which means often that it is full of mold and mold toxins, which are not good for our health. Next one is high fructose corn syrup, another no-no. It's a concentrated, super sweet fructose syrup made from GMO corn and likely covered with glyphosate, which is a carcinogenic pesticide. So definitely try to avoid it. Another one is aspartame or NutraSweet. Aspartame is widely debated, with some scientists saying it causes cancer while others saying it's totally safe. And while it's hard to know what's actually true and there are no long-term studies to confirm it, coupled with the strange chemical taste, I think that there's enough good alternatives out there to be cautious and leave this out. Next one is sucralose or Splenda. There's also debate around this. However, what is certain is that it damages healthy gut bacteria, also has a strange chemical taste, and because of the healthier choices that are out there, it's better to avoid. Coconut sugar. I get asked this a lot. Coconut sugar is actually mostly sucrose with a little bit of fructose and glucose. So it's basically a more fancy form of table sugar with some added nutrients like potassium and iron. Don't let marketeers fool you to think that it's actually healthy because of the word coconut in it. Coconut sugar comes not from the actual coconut fruit, which is where most of the beneficial coconut products come from, but instead it comes from the sap of the coconut flowers of the coconut palm. Maple syrup will sadly also spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. If you do use it exceptionally, make sure it's 100%, ideally organic, and not the fake stuff that's high fructose corn syrup with some artificial maple flavoring. A quick word about soft drinks: they contain a lot of sugars. Beware also of diet sodas. The artificial sugar used has so many detrimental health effects, including damaging healthy gut bacteria, which is so essential for optimizing your health, including mood, weight, and vitality, and much more. So what are some healthy sugar replacements? Fortunately, you don't need to cut out everything sweet to cut out sugar. There are some harmless and even beneficial alternatives that I'd love to walk you through. One is stevia, and stevia is a sweet extract from the stevia leaf, or Stevia rebaudiana leaf, which is native to Brazil and Paraguay. Stevia is about 300 times sweeter than sugar. It doesn't impact blood glucose or insulin., and it isn't fermentable by dental bacteria. Some people find that it has a bit of an aftertaste, but not as much as some of the other alternatives do. And it's a really great option for sweetening your tea, coffee, or otherwise. Next one is xylitol, which doesn't spike your insulin and barely affects blood sugar. It also inhibits bacteria that causes plaque and tooth decay, and it tastes similar to sugar as well. But just a quick word of warning that if you consume too much of it, it can cause GI distress and bloating. And also important to know is that it can be toxic for your dog. So to make sure to keep your dog away from it. It can be fatal for dogs. Xylitol is great for baking and cooking as well. Another sugar replacement for baking is erythritol. E-R-Y-T-H-R-I-T-O-L. Erythritol is quite similar to xylitol. It doesn't impact blood sugar or insulin. It doesn't affect those pesky plaque-forming dental bacteria. They can't use it as fuel. It's also easier on your gut. It's not quite as sweet as sugar, so you can use a little bit extra for your recipes, and it's really great for baking. Another popular one is monk fruit extract, which is a popular sweetener in China and Thailand and is also considered traditional medicine. Raw honey. I get asked this a lot as well. Honey is a mix of fructose and glucose, which normally wouldn't be so healthy and impact your blood sugar. But unrefined honey contains hundreds, if not thousands, of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other bioactive compounds that appear to buffer the effects of sugar. So in general, darker honey is higher in bioactive components. So go for the darkest stuff on the shelf and make sure that it's raw to preserve the precious compounds. Action plan. What can you do? So here are some of my tips. Number 1 is to cut down or cut out sugar. So how do you do this? Always read the food labels. Make sure that the sugar content is less than ideally 3 grams to 5 grams per every 100-gram serving. And be careful, sugar is everywhere. I've even seen sugar in bread. A top tip: check also the serving size on the packaging. You'll sometimes see that there's only 5 grams of sugar, but it's a 30-gram serving size. So what you want is to make sure that it's— you're calculating everything to 100 grams. So if it says that the serving size is 30 grams, multiply the sugar grams by, say, 3 to get to 100 grams. So if you're still in the 3 to 5 grams per 100-gram range, it's good. And if not, avoid it. What to replace it with? Well, focus on whole foods, on healthy fats like avocados, cold-pressed olive oil, organic cold-pressed coconut oil, high-quality MCT oil, nuts like almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts. Make sure they are raw and don't have any sugar or salt added, ideally organic as well. Another great substitute are nut butters such as almond butter, hazelnut butter, Brazil nut butter. Make sure that they have no sugar or palm oil added as well. And for chocolate lovers, if you grab some 90% cocoa chocolate, it's really amazing. Lindt do a great 90% cocoa version, and I adore Nomosu, N-O-M-O-S-U, chocolate, which is made from organic stevia as well. Organic berries like blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are low glycemic foods, which means that they won't raise your blood sugar levels like other fruit and fructose will. Stevia, as we mentioned before, which you can add to your tea or coffee. And for baking, using xylitol, erythritol, or monk fruit extract. So what are the tools I can give you today to begin your journey to sugar freedom and a much happier, healthier life? Always read the labels. Make sure that the sugar content is ideally between 3 to 5 grams per 100 grams. Focus on the whole foods, healthy fats that we mentioned before, 90% cacao chocolate and organic berries. And set yourself up to win. What does that mean? Remove all the sugar and sugar temptations in the house, be it jams, marmalades, jelly, and replace with healthy alternatives. Stock up on the nut butters, on the 90% cocoa chocolate, as well as organic berries and healthy fats that will really fill you up. Also, make a meal plan which includes lots of healthy organic vegetables, healthy fats, protein, and smaller amounts of healthy complex carbohydrates. And also, what I recommend a bunch of people who like to add a sweetener to their coffee, Just carry stevia with you when you're out and about and grab a coffee or tea. You have your sweetener with you to add to it. And if you want to try a biohack like me, try a continuous glucose monitor, CGM, which tracks in real time your blood sugar levels day and night. It's typically used by diabetics, but you can buy it online. Why is this so helpful? You can then see your personalized direct response that your body is having to different types of food, drinks, stress, and exercise, so you quickly know what is benefiting your body and what isn't and what needs to be avoided. You can buy online from Abbott Laboratories or even on Amazon. And I have the Sensor 2 model, which you can pair with your phone and you can get real-time input onto where your blood sugar levels are and what's happening in the app. Just so you know, it doesn't hurt to put it on. It's waterproof and you need to change it every 2 weeks. It was a real eye-opener for me because of the personalization. It's such a key tool to understanding your metabolic health for longevity. So in closing, I hope you found this episode insightful. As always, consult your healthcare professional before making lifestyle changes specific to you. I do want you to live a long and healthy life. Also, I'd love, love, love to hear from you. So if you enjoyed this episode or if you'd like to hear more like these, please leave a comment on Apple iTunes or Podcasts, and you can reach out to me on Instagram @longevityandlifestyle. That's @longevityandlifestyle.. And also, if there's any particular topics you'd like to hear more about, let me know there too. Don't forget to hit subscribe to the podcast to get your weekly dose of longevity and lifestyle inspiration. Choose to live well. Warmest, Claudia von Boeselager.