t he Well Now page 2
Tlw SiimJchi Hr»l(h Omcr NcwUdtft
Limited satisfaction found in sugar
By Tsktilm Ktrnrr
People eat 132 pounds of
sugar a year in America per
person, accounting for a
quarter of total calories con
sumed. That's a lot consider
ing sugar adds none of the essential nutrients
to our diet. In fact, by eating sugar we dis
place foods we could have eaten that would
have been beneficial to our bodies. So why
do we cat so much of it?
Beyond the "it tastes good factor Iks
manv people’s rationalization of eating sugar
because they think, “I have no energy, I need
to stay awake to study."
What happens when we cat that "satisfy
ing Snicker"? The answer depends on how
resistant people are to changes in their blood
sugar levels.
Some peoples bodies can maintain an
even balance better, but others may not. If
the blood sugar concentration docs rise (a
state called Hypoglycemia), people may feel
a rush of energy or a "sugar high."
The body senses an imbalance and pumps
out large amounts of insulin to remove sugar
from the blood into cells. If the body overre
acts and pumps out too much insulin, there
will Isc too little sugar or glucose for proper
brain functioning.
The body will then send out a danger sig
nal and secrete adrenaline to start the process
of putting some glucose back in the blood.
This process can also make a person get
shakcv, apprehensive, and anxious.
Adrenaline also increases the heart rate.
So, great, now you get “stressed out" from
sugar and the exam you’re trying to stay
awake for. The final result is that you feel
worse after eating sugar, and so for a quick
fix you cat some more sugar, but now to get
the same pick up, you have to increase the
amount of sugar you eat. The whole process
resembles trying to go from 0 to 60 mph in 3
seconds and screeching to a halt repeatedly
in a "Yugo.” It's physically and mentally
exhausting!
We cat sugar in food and may not even
know about it. Think about this: ketchup is
29% sugar compared to ice cream which is
21% sugar; non-dairy creamer is 65% sugar
compared to a chocolate bar which is 51%
sugar.
Now I know what you’re thinking—the
I icalth Center says. "Sav no to drugs, say no
to unprotected sex," and now " Say no to
sugar.” This article is not aimed at eliminat
ing all sugar from the planet.
I lerc arc a few suggestions to cut down on
sugar intake:
1. Use about I /3 of the sugar called for in
recipes.
2. To make treats with less sugar taste
sweeter, add things like cinnamon,
cloves or allspice and heat the food or
add a tiny bit of salt.
3. Read labels. Look out for companies
that break down their sugar lists so
sugar won’t appear as the first item on
the ingredients. Dextrose, sucrose, glu
cose, and levulosc are all refined sugars.
4. Finally, when you have exams, don’t
depend on sugar to keep going.
Sugar is fine in moderation, especially if it
makes you more likely to eat very nutritious
foods by making them a bit tastier. However,
most people usually do not eat sugar in mod
eration.
EATING
( ontmurJ from pOft /
In 1981), Knight and
Boland did a study on eat
ing and food ‘labeling.’
Subjects answered a ques
tionnaire and their answers
determined whether they
were to be classified as
"restrained or unre
strained" caters.
Subjects were also asked
to rate foods on a scale from
ihc least to the most "for
bidden." Foods like milk
shakes rated high on the
scale, whereas celery rated
low.
The study revealed that
labels such as "forbidden"
were a larger influence on
"restrained" caters food
choices than actual caloric
value or fat content. I hc
labels had no bearing on
what the "unrestrained"
caters chose to cat.
Often a paradox is creat
ed because the label given to
a food is misleading. For
instance, a 12-ouncc milk
shake and a chcTs salad have
approximately the same
number of calorics, depend
ing on how they arc made.
Nonetheless, the milk
shake is labeled “forbidden"
by most “restrained" caters,
but a chef s salad is not con
sidered “forbidden.
There has been a great
deal of contradiction crcat
cd because of our relentless
emphasis on thinness.
The foods we begin to
‘ prefer" often do not coin
cide with our liking or our
tastebuds, but rather arc
determined by our physio
logical desires and cultural
factors.
People cat for a variety of
reasons. Some arc healthy
and sonic aren’t. Snacking is
healthy if we pay attention
to it and supplement our
diet with nutritious snacks.
If you arc not sure whether
you’re using eating as a “psy
chological crutch," think
about it.
Do you ever feel out of
control when you cat? Do
you find yourself always eat
ing when you arc in certain
moods (e.g.. when depressed
or stressed)? Recognizing
these behaviors is the first
step toward curbing a psy
chological addiction to food.
If you feel that you have
a problem with rating, aren’t
satisfied with your own self
image, or think that you are
addicted to food, consider
seeing a nutrition counselor.
Contact the Student
I lealth Center's Health Edu
cation Program in order to
set up an appointment with
Jane Katra, our Nutrition
Educator, or a Peer Health
Advisor in nutrition.
Call the Health Educa
tion Room at 346-4456 for
more information.
' Look into Books
These hook* will help you learn how to help your
■ sell cur more sensibly and set up a diet and exerttse plan
| vou can enjoy.
i IANF. BRODY’S GOOD FOOD BOOK bv Jane
j Brody.
By tar the best cookbook I have seen as lar as getting
started on a low lat lifestyle. This is a nutrition
almanac, cookbook and how-to guide all in one. Easy,
enjoyable reading.
THE NEW LAUREL'S KITCHEN by Robertson.
Flinders and Ruppenthul
This is a vegetarian, low lat, high liber cookbook.
l*his is still a good reference lor meat eaters because it
offers insight on how to reduce meat in the diet to
reduce lat intake. Excellent guide for learning to cook
legumes and different grains.
THE NEW FIT OR FAT by Covert Bailey.
This book will show you how to devise your own
I litness program, whether you’re an athlete or a begin
ncr. Daily clarifies the relationship between litness and
fatness.
THE FAST FOOD GUIDE: WHAT’S GOOD,
WHAT’S BAD AND HOW TO TELL THE DIF
FERENCE by Michael Jacobson.
This biKik first informs readers about the basic ele
ments ol proper nutrition and IimkIs to avoid Jacobson
gives the lowdown on the culoric/nutricnt makeup ol
last foods in a straightforward, often witty manner. It
you MUST eat last food, you should take a look at this
IxMik!
HABITS
Contmurti from paft I
sugar put back into foods
such as icc cream, candy, soft
drinks, and Hostess
Snacks—can also cause the
stress that we, by eating
these foods, seek to alleviate.
Refined sugar can cause
mood swings because of the
way it reacts with our body
chemistry. Glucose in the
blocsdstream rises quickly
with ingestion of high sugar
foods.
Glucose immediately trig
gers the secretion of insulin,
a hormone produced by the
pancreas that hastily brings
energy and emotions down.
Therefore, the sugar
addict alternates between
blood sugar-related ups and
downs.
Many people also tend to
reach for the other extreme
— salty foods (i.e. potato
chips, salted nuts, and pop
corn) — when they're
stressed.
High salt consumption,
especially in salt-sensitive
individuals, increases the
chance of high blood pres
sure.
The higher the blood
pressure, the more reactive
blood pressure will be during
stressful times,
Thus, there is some evi
dence that high salt con
sumption increases the
chance of a physical break
down. such as a stroke or
heart attack.
These arc a few of the
stress-nutrition links.
Yet, the question being
begged is: What should/can
I cat to combat a stressful
day and enable me to be
positive and energetic all day
long?
There arc primarily three
things a person should do to
ensure good health and max
imum stress-resistance.
First, cat a balanced, con
sistent diet with sufficient,
but not excessive, calories,
vitamins, and minerals (i.c.
zinc).
Second, minimize the fol
lowing responsc(s) to stress:
undcrcating, overeating,
excessive intake of alcohol or
caffeine (no more than one
or two drinks per day), and
“sugar hits."
Third, follow' these simple
principles toward optimal
health in your diet:
• 1 ow salt less ihan 6 grams per day
• 1 ow far, especially sanitated fat-levs
than 30 percent of caloncs through
fat. lew titan 10 percent from
sat mated fat
• low cholesterol less than 300 milli
grams per slay
• l ow refined sugar intake
• High complr* carbohydrates-50
percent or more ol total calorics
• High fiber-20-,30 grams pet day
• 1‘lentv of water~b-H glasses per das
With all of the reasons
why we get stressed through
out the day, the one area
which most of us have full
Control over and the most
variability is in what we eat.
Instead of contributing to
our already stress-filled life
by consuming large amounts
of sugar or caffeine, we can
reduce our stress level by
taking the time to cat and by
eating nutritionally.