Is Sugar Our Most Dangerous Enemy?

There has long been pretty broad medical agreement that the refined sugars which are now so accessible to us, not only in its pure form like we might add to our coffee or tea, but far more pervasively in soft drinks, candies, pastries, frozen desserts, and even in some foods we might not think of as particularly sweet, are generally bad for us and a major culprit in the obesity epidemic. Still, the World Health Organization (WHO) took an interesting step this week by publicly urging all of us to keep our consumption of sugar to only five to ten percent of our daily intake of calories, roughly half of the current amount most people consume.

It's impossible to argue that consuming a very small amount of refined sugar -- as opposed to the natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables -- isn't an excellent idea. Still, we also want to argue for an overall healthy lifestyle when it comes to eating. The potential problem with singling out sugar as a villain is that, for obese individuals, the crux of the problem is simply too many calories from any source, not just sugar, but also fat and even protein, which can sometimes be too much of a good thing. While it's very true that sugar may be the main dietary downfall of many obese individuals, for others it's the terribly fatty and simple-carbohydrate rich foods we all know such as grease-laden burgers, fries, pizza, hot dogs and so on. To tell these people they are somehow on the right track because they skip desserts and drink a sugar-fee soda with their double cheeseburger and large fries is obviously misleading.

At Dr. Feiz & Associates, we focus on overall consumption and how to avoid over-consuming calories -- any kind of calories -- by dealing with the problem directly at it's source: the appetite. If you are severely obese and need help, just give us a call. It's likely there's a great deal we can do.