Sugar excess + 12 tips to moderate sugar in holiday treats, desserts and sweets

Do you know that the average American eats 100 pounds of sugar each year? (1). When we wonder why our metabolism is off, blood sugar is whacky, we can’t lose weight and we’re suffering from an obesity epidemic, could sugar be the culprit? Just like in last week’s article with inspiration for drinking less alcohol (more sugars!), I cannot emphasize enough the importance of simply eating less sugar. Considering sugar, like alcohol, is addictive, we need a plan – not just willpower – to overcome infinite, pervasive longings for sweets.

Sugar addiction is more than mental, though – it’s biochemical. In truth, we’re physiologically designed to crave it! Sugars produce energy in our cells and turn into fat which, historically, was essential for survival – hence the dopamine (pleasure) response to sugars. (2)

As you can imagine, sugar cravings are a regular topic of conversation with my clients. We discuss when, what, where, why and how much, plus behaviors, emotions, mindset and habits, to understand underlying root causes of the cravings. Biochemically, sugar cravings often are stress-related (surprise!), yet can arise from various conditions, like poor sleep, fatigue, impaired digestion, hormone fluctuations, emotional eating behaviors, disordered eating patterns – and more. Some people – up to 20% – have a genetic predisposition to crave sugar (3), which makes holidays temptations especially challenging. 

When ready to eat less sugar, start with small changes. What if you decide not to purchase packaged treats? Perhaps commit to making all baked goods at home, allowing you to modify recipes and know your ingredients. Or replace sugary foods, like candy and cookies, with well-balanced snacks. One of my favorite hacks is to eating dessert in the afternoon vs. after dinner. If you combine these three suggestions, you’ll replacing one snack each afternoon with your homemade, well-balanced dessert – an effort that will save you from a lot of excess, mindless sugar consumption (and guilt).

The first and most obvious tip to improve your holiday desserts is to eat fewer of them. Small reductions in sugar intake adds up to big improvements over time. Let’s do some math. The average American consumes 17-34 teaspoons of sugar each day (1, 4), which equates to 68-136 grams daily and adds up to a whopping ~55-110 pounds of sugar each year. What if reduce our intake by half?

One easy habit change you can commit to right now: reduce intake of Christmas candies like chocolate-shaped trees and Santas, candy canes, nougat, mints, peppermint bark, gumdrops and more. Each serving of these treats equals 23-34 grams of sugar, about the same as a can of soda (or 9-10 teaspoons of sugar). And that’s just sugar in candy dishes at home, in the office, at the bank, at parties, department stores, retail outlets and grocery store check-out lines. We haven’t accounted for sugars in sodas, energy drinks, coffee drinks, sweet tea, kombucha, eggnog and cocktails – ranging from ~25-83 grams of sugar (5) each – nor other holiday desserts like cookies, gingerbread and yule logs. See how sugar easily adds up over the winter holidays?

It's time to make new dessert commitments to keep your sugar intake in balance and improve your overall wellbeing. For the record, I eat dessert almost every day of the year – and I enjoy doing so! The foundations of choosing less sugar are multi-fold: knowledge and empowerment; mindful eating; quality ingredients; well-balanced treats; honoring my mind-body; cultivating food values; balancing blood sugar issues; improving meal habits; and creating a viable, pleasing plan. That’s a lot to tackle.  

In the mealtime, let’s begin with a list of guidelines I implement in my own home and life and suggest often to my clients.

1.     Read labels. Choose products with less sugar.

2.     Ask about ingredients in pre-made desserts; opt out of desserts with refined sugars.

3.     Avoid refined flours, sugars and sugar alcohols whenever possible.

4.     Commit to a specific sweets plan so you can enjoy some desserts and avoid others.

5.     Make your own baked goods, treats, sweets and desserts.

6.     Replace refined white flours with whole grain flours.

7.     Replace refined white sugar with coconut, turbinado, cane sugar, honey, maple syrup or whole foods like bananas, applesauce, figs, dates.

8.     Cut sugar in recipes by one-third to one-half.

9.     Add protein, like nuts, seeds, quinoa, protein powder, tofu and legumes, to dessert recipes.

10.  Choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate and candy.

11.  Respond to sugar cravings with whole food choices containing natural sugars, like fruit.

12.  Treat desserts like mini-meals: Eat – and only eat – without multi-tasking.

The article I wrote and share more often than any other article is called, “10 reasons to eat dessert in the afternoon.”

If you’re feeling frustrated with your sugar cravings, imbalanced metabolism and hormones, weight gain, brain fog, fatigue – or other symptoms compromising your quality of life, consider signing up for my Liver Detox & Energy Reboot program. Or, reach out to discuss!

References
(1) https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/gfnd/gfhnrc/docs/news-articles/2012/the-question-of-sugar/

(2) https://www.weforum.org/stories/2015/05/the-evolutionary-reason-humans-crave-sugar/

(3) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/crave-sugar-maybe-its-in-your-genes/

(4) https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/php/data-research/added-sugars.html

(5) https://www.rethinksugarydrink.org.au/how-much-sugar

 Originally written for my column, “Clean Food, Messy Life,” published by 5bGazette.com