Sugar, fiber, and other carbs all fall under the carbohydrate category, and they all affect your insulin differently. Fiber works to slow down digestion, regulate blood sugar, and can even aid in weight loss. Because it goes completely undigested in the body, it is calorie free. Sugar has no fiber and is purely glucose, fructose, or sucrose, which means it will get processed immediately in your bloodstream and is excreted even quicker, which raises your glycemic index faster, your insulin levels spike fast, and cause your cells to store fat. As soon as it leaves your bloodstream you become tired and crave more sugar to pick that blood sugar level back up to where it was. See the vicious cycle here? It’s why food companies find all kinds of ways to add sugar to food - the body becomes dependent on it. The “nutritional tea” rage that you see so many drinking is often marketed as “sugar free”. Nothing is sugar free. It is simply sweetened with added sugars or chemical alternatives that still wreak havoc on your body. Take a look at your carbohydrates and see how much of those carbs come from fiber. The more, the better. Optimally, any high carbohydrate food like grains or fruit should have at least five grams of fiber per serving. Salt and sugar are both added to EVERYTHING these days! Why? Because they make food taste better, leaving you wanting to eat more - which means more profits for food companies. Sodium is NOT the enemy. In fact, the body needs it to stay balanced - just not in the form of highly processed foods. Real salt, or high mineral salt, is the type of sodium your body wants. High mineral salt comes from high quality sea salt, Himalayan salt, black salt, or other unrefined types of salt. If the ingredients label simply says “salt”, I encourage you to keep looking for something of higher quality. You want the sodium count of your foods to be less than 200 mg (or preferably 100 milligrams) per serving from processed foods. Even better, buy whole foods with no added salt, along with whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats. I encourage my clients not to fear fat, just be aware of the type of fat you are consuming. Looking under the fat grams on a label you’ll see a breakdown of mono, poly, and saturated fats (not all labels will list all three, but many do). If trans fats are listed, you will always want to keep them at zero or low as possible. Optimally, you want the majority of your fats to be monounsaturated. Polyunsaturated fats are fine, but avoid those in the form of vegetable or processed oils like canola. Monounsaturated fats from raw nuts, seeds, avocados, dark chocolate, and olive oil are some of the best choices you can make. Saturated fats that come from plant food are also good for you and have been found good for your heart and cholesterol. If you buy any kind of processed foods, be sure to stay clear of anything with trans fats. After that, it depends more on where the fats come from than the total fat content, to decide if the food is healthy or unhealthy. 94 SEPTEMBER 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM
