I think that sugar, in it’s many forms, is one of the biggest causes of weight gain and obesity. It’s in nearly every bit of processed food you put in your mouth. Heck, take a look at the sugar content in the SALADS at fast food places; you’ll be shocked.
And now, there’s another reason why you should be cutting your intake: too much sugar may contribute to vision loss!
In a study published by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was noted that a diet high in refined sugar has been linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This condition is known to affect the retina and affect your vision. The study found that the higher in refined sugar your diet is, the greater the chance that you could suffer from AMD. Conversely, the study also showed that those who ate a lot of fruits, veggies and other low-glycemic foods were found to have lower risk for AMD.
Hmmm…interesting. Eat a lot of sugar and possibly hurt your vision, or eat healthier, protect your eyes AND lose weight. What choice are you going to make?
Lose Weight With Me 
July 17, 2007 at 10:23 am |
Great point. I did not know about AMD.
Sugar has been the biggest culprit for my weight gain and mood shifts throughout the day. Once I cut sugar out (refined sugar that is) entirely from my diet, many positive things have happened to me. My cravings went down enormously. I no longer suffer the sugar crash that would hit me around 3 in the afternoon. I lost weight. Sugar packs so many calories and is buried in so many bad foods such as donuts, cookies, cakes, etc. Moreover, my mood swings from sugar have ceased.
It took about three days to abstain from sugar entirely, before it became a broken habit. I now get my source of sugar from fruit (cantaloupe, strawberries, apples, etc.) but do refrain from pineapple, honey dew, watermelon or have them on a very limited basis (once every three months) and I only consume them either after lunch or after dinner to assuage their impact on my glycemic index.
I did not know about AMD but I do know about diabetes and sugar is definitely to blame. Thanks for your note.
-Jesse
July 17, 2007 at 2:53 pm |
“The study doesn’t show exactly what caused AMD. It’s not clear that diet was solely responsible for any cases of AMD. Participants weren’t followed over time, and they weren’t asked to change their diets for the study. However, the researchers estimate that a fifth of the advanced AMD cases in their study might have been prevented by eating foods low on the glycemic index.”
I think that there are many great reasons to reduce sugar consumption or switch to more natural sources of sugars (fruit, etc.), but I think it’s far too early to include AMD among them. Correlation does not equal causation and all that good stuff. I’ll wait for more research, personally, and take my sugar-reduction motivation from other sources! 🙂
July 19, 2007 at 11:22 pm |
Honestly, I’m not surprised by anything linked to sugar. The human race has been doing well before it was processed (and our civilization would probably have evolved toward better foods/health anyway with or without sugar :P), and since then, things have started to go downhill. Maybe I’m seeing a connection where there isn’t, but somehow I don’t believe in coincidences to such an extent.
July 20, 2007 at 12:44 pm |
I’ve been reducing my sugar. I don’t know if I see better but I don’t see any worse!
October 31, 2007 at 1:40 am |
I think xylitol is a good natural alternative. A bit more expensive though.
December 11, 2007 at 11:55 pm |
Sugar is simply bad news. A study a few years ago demonstrated that just one teaspoon of sugar is sufficient to reduce the effectiveness of your immune functioning. Sugar is empty calories and if someone just invented sugar today, the FDA would have to ban it.
And what’s even worse is that most of the sugar substitutes are just as bad if not worse than sugar except for stevia (an herb for Paraguay) that tastes very much like sugar but has no calories. A teaspoon of it is equivalent to a cup of sugar.
January 2, 2008 at 5:06 pm |
Glad that you mentioned AMD as those who work for opthamologists have been saying this for years. One other thing you may wish to inform your readers: look for the sugar/simple carbohydrate offshoots in the list of ingredients on food labels. For example, several brands of whole grain or multi-grain bread list corn syrup (high fructose or otherwise) as one of the first five ingredients. Consider alternatives that actually use the sugars from the actual grains themselves.
Learning to read food labels and knowing what is a “sugar under another name” will go a long way toward helping you reduce sugars from your diet.
January 9, 2008 at 12:04 am |
Good advice. I’m trying to reduce sugar but it is surprising where you can find it! They sneak it in everything! They make it hard to eat right and keep to your diet.
January 22, 2008 at 8:08 pm |
I tried to reduce my sugar. it was brutally hard, but I did for four months. After about six weeks the craving subsde. My cardiologist told me my improvements where off-the-chart good. Unfortunately I fell back to my craving ways. For me there is no middle ground.
January 25, 2008 at 3:01 pm |
[…] Lose Weight With Me gives us yet another reason to reduce our sugar intake. […]