The Negative Effects of Sugar on Weight Loss

So, you have decided that you want to lose some weight. The number of pounds you want to shed doesn’t really matter. If you and your doctor feel that your overall health and well being can benefit from losing, even a few pounds, then that is all that is really important.

Where to Begin....

Where do you begin in your weight loss program? No doubt, the first thing that popped into your head was, “Eat less fat!” While that is true, the very best thing you can do is to cut back on the total amount of sugar you eat. Unfortunately, there are excessive quantities of refined sugars hiding in many of the processed foods and beverages we consume every single day. Basically, these sugars can sabotage your weight loss efforts because of all their negative effects on your body. Here are a few interesting facts concerning sugar.



Sugar can be called many different things when you read a food label. It can be called cane sugar, palm sugar, glucose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, invert sugar, maltose, sucrose, molasses, honey, corn syrup or just syrup.

Every type of sugar contains 4 calories per gram.

When consumed by themselves, simple sugars have absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. They are “empty” calories. This is a very important fact to keep in mind when you are trying to lose weight.
Health experts say sugar can constitute up to 10% of our total energy intake, with the majority coming from processed foods and not additional sugar added to meals
According to the US Department of Agriculture, it is estimated that the average American citizen consumes an average of 76 pounds of sugar per year.

Negative Effects of Sugar on Any Weight Loss Plan

Sugar scarcely has any place in an effective weight loss regimen; it is still a good idea to know what it can cause to prevent pitfalls when dieting.

Sugar adds a lot of empty calories to your overall daily intake of food. Sugar can end up replacing other important foods rich in vitamins, minerals and other valuable nutrients.
Eating sugary foods elevates the body’s blood glucose and insulin levels. This process  causes the body to store fat, by inhibiting the effect of catecholamines  rather than burning it off.
Sugar can also cause a drop in insulin levels, after the surge mentioned above. When that happens, you end up feeling tired, as well as hungry again very quickly. Not a good thing when trying to lose weight because you’ll end up eating more than you should!
Sugar needs vitamins and minerals in order to be digested properly. The body draws these valuable nutrients from stores that already exist in the body. These nutrients are actually reserved for more important purposes, like burning fat and building muscle mass.
Closing Point- Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Sugar Intake
There are many ways you can consciously reduce your sugar intake while losing weight and afterwards to keep the weight from returning, and while they may initially not be very easy, they will become a part of you after a couple weeks practice.

Eat naturally sweetened foods, rather than those with added sugar.

When cooking or baking, reduce the amount of sugar in your recipe. Replace it with healthier alternatives like sweet spices, fresh fruit or frozen fruit juice.
Read nutrition labels carefully when grocery shopping to help identify hidden sugar content in processed foods.
Don’t buy sugary foods like cookies, chocolate bars, etc.
Drink unsweetened juices and other drinks.
Try eating plain yogurt and add your own fresh fruit. Many flavored yogurts are full of extra sugar.