How much sugar is good for you?

No amount of any sugar, even the so-called natural sweeteners is good for you, says the frank and well-known local nutritionist Preet Marwaha.

Not a welcome truth to hear, but it is consistently aligned with Preet’s philosophy that everything we eat either improves our health or degrades it. It also affects the health of our planet.

In his sugar workshop, Preet highlighted some interesting things about sweeteners that may surprise you or make you re-consider your household sugar consumption, particularly if you have a young family and/or health issues.

Preet’s sugar highlights

• In the 1900’s the average person consumed 4 lbs of sugar per year. Today, the average person consumes 165 lbs per year. Even if your sugar consumption is lower than the average, it is likely still pretty high.

• To meet the worldwide demand for sugar, massive portions of our precious amazon rainforest are being cleared to grow cane sugar. The resulting loss of plant diversity is creating additional environmental chaos.

• Children in particular are consuming excessive amounts of sugar through pop, sweets and processed foods, a habit that is contributing to the rise of health issues like atttention deficit disorder, obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and so on.

• Artificial sweeteners  like aspartame and sucralose are 100% toxic and to be avoided at all costs because they are indigestible and cause major damage to your health. You probably already knew this.

The scary thing is that because sucralose cannot be broken down within our bodies or in the environment, it is flushed out of our systems and ends up in our water supply. So even those of us North Americans who would never go near sucralose, likely have it in our systems.

• All other sugars, including most of the so-called “natural” sweeteners are hugely processed and packaged with a lot of marketing fluff. Although they aren’t as toxic as the artificial kind, they still cause the same addictive and disruptive effects in our bodies.

• If you really want something sweet, natural fruits are your best options because they contain all the good things like minerals and fibers that are naturally absorbed and enhance our health.

• While you’re weaning yourself off of daily sugar consumption, use healthier sweeteners like organic medjool dates, local, unpasteurized honey, lucuma and green stevia.

Call to action

If you’re like me and so not ready to give up your daily treats, let’s take small steps by being more mindful of how much sugar we are consuming per day and focus on using the sugars Preet recommended.

And let’s remember Preet’s final words that “The power of the people will always be greater than the people in power.”  We can make the choices to restore balance on earth.

Check out the Galloway’s education page to learn more about upcoming workshops – many are offered at no cost.

Image courtesy of -Marcus- at FreeDigitalPhotos.net