I LOVE sugar. That sweet, sweet taste is hard to beat, isn’t it? Yet I encourage everyone to watch out for sugar in all of its forms and to also cut it out of your food supply. And, just for the record: I’m not the food police and I’m even known to be caught eating sugar occasionally. I just try to keep it in moderation.

We all know that sugar can be bad – it causes weight gain and can lead to diabetes. But what you really need to know is that sugar is highly inflammatory and is a leading cause of heart disease.

Yes, in the category “Everything You Know is Wrong” you can add the fact that sugar is highly implicated in heart disease – more so than cholesterol.

Here’s the deal. Sugar is inflammatory. It causes inflammation in the blood stream and leads to damage in blood vessels. Cholesterol’s role in this process is as the good guy. It comes along to ‘patch’ up the damage. Yes, it then builds up in the blood vessel, but it’s trying to fix the problem.

A better solution is to cut back on sugar.

I also don’t recommend artificial sweeteners. One reason is that so many of them are not good for us. But, more importantly, as a society, we need to reduce our sugar craving, not feed it. Using artificial sweeteners just reinforces our craving for something sweet. AND, in my experience, artificial sweeteners never fully satisfy that craving and so we tend to overeat anyway!

If you want to satisfy your sweet cravings, try fruits and sweet tasting vegetables instead of sugar or sugar substitutes.

[1] Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Do Not Cause Coronary Heart Disease
[2] Illustrated History of Heart Disease 1825-2015
[3] Cholesterol Myth: What Really Causes Heart Disease?
[4] The Big Fat Cholesterol Myth

Sugar Crystals Photo Courtesy Aeyoun via Flickr

Candy Photo Courtesy Alexandre Duret-Lutz via Flickr