Is sugar the enemy? – Part 1

I am sure many of us have heard the term, “You are what you eat.” This phrase is not to be taken literally, but contains much truth. When it comes to how our diet affects our health, sugar plays a huge role. There are various things we consume that can often be much more detrimental to our diets than beneficial, and many people consume them in large quantities. Some say everything in moderation is ok. Coming from a fitness perspective, some things are completely bad for our health and others should be avoided as much as possible. If you’re aiming toward being a lean, mean fighting machine, then sugar -- is one of those key ingredients in our diets that should be avoided as much as possible.

Sugar is a sweet, crystalline substance that’s obtained mainly from the juice of the sugarcane and the sugar beet. Both are members of the same class of carbohydrates as lactose, glucose, or fructose. Lactose is found in most dairy products. Fructose is very sweet sugar, naturally occurring in many fruits and honey. Glucose is a sugar that has several different forms occurring in many fruits, animal tissues and fluids and having less sweetness than of ordinary sugar, and not naturally occurring in the body. As you can see sugar comes in all shapes and sizes and we want to try to keep it simplified -- what to avoid and what and when it is acceptable or even beneficial.

There are certain times when the body may need sugar--but remember sugar comes in many forms. Normally, the less sugar in your diet the better, however, sugar is key ingredient in many of the foods we eat and is almost impossible to avoid. Most of us are going to consume sugar. Many of us are going to eat way too much of it. The good news is there are certain times when your body may require it and it won’t have such a negative impact.