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Cutting Sugar Improves Children’s Health in Just Ten Days: What Could it Do For You?

November 10, 2015   10 Comments

I don’t like talking about one factor when it comes to health or weight loss.

Cutting Sugar Improves Children’s Health

To me, it is too simplistic to blame a single nutrient or one lifestyle choice for bad health. I am holistic in the way that I view my own health – a mixture of taking care of myself which includes healthy eating, exercise, and lots of sleep.

But, the research on SUGAR is turning my head. Researchers at University of California, San Francisco removed foods with added sugar from a group of children’s diets and replaced them with other types of carbohydrates so the children’s weight and overall calorie intake remained the same.

They took a group of children that were at a high risk of diabetes and related disorders and asked them to catalogue what they ate. Then, the researchers put them on a reduced added sugar diet in compliance with the World Health Organization suggested amount to 10% of their total calorie intake.

From the paper:

This “child-friendly” study diet included various no- or low-sugar added processed foods including turkey hot dogs, pizza, bean burritos, baked potato chips, and popcorn that were purchased at local supermarkets.

I believe they weren’t being served imported wild Alaskan Salmon with a side of organic spinach and quinoa salad.

The goal here was to leave their diet the same except for lowering the added sugar. What did they find?

The children showed dramatic improvements despite not losing weight! The markers for their diseases improved in only 10 days.

From the NYT Dr. Robert Lusting:

“This paper says we can turn a child’s metabolic health around in 10 days without changing calories and without changing weight – just by taking the added sugars out of their diet,” he said. “From a clinical standpoint, from a health care standpoint, that’s very important.”

The FDA says there isn’t enough scientific evidence to support recommending 10% of our calories to be consumed in added sugar. Studies like this one will (hopefully) change the minds of the health experts that make the recommendations.

I find hope in this study. If you quit smoking, eventually your body replaces the lining of your lungs so the damage can be undone. The same can happen in only 10 days when you quit added sugar. You can start to turn your health around. What would happen with a whole month of less sugar?

Isn't that kind of amazing?

Have you tried to lower your added sugar? Has it helped your health?

Other posts you might like:

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10 Comments:

Daniel proved in 10 days to his Babylonian guard that he and his friends were much healthier and fit by eating a vegetarian diet as compared to the young men who ate the rich food from the Kings table.

I gave up almost all sugar in July ( and had stopped all artificial sweeteners in Feb). My A1C dropped from 6.4 in March to 5.9 in October. I have lost 15 lbs(I was 141 in Mid July). I do choose to eat some dark chocolate occasionally and a graham cracker now and then. A "regular" cookie tastes wildly oversweet to me now. I have to admit that some of the weight loss is also cutting back on processed carbs ( but not all carbs- I eat whole wheat bread, healthy crackers, grains, beans, occasional tortilla chips plus fruit and veg of course)

Last summer, after reading your wonderful book, I gradually reduced my sugar intake by 75% and my triglycerides went down by 81 points. Thank you for your realistic approach to getting healthy!

Remember, sugar is not a nutrient, just empty calories. So eliminating from your diet can only be more healthy for you.

I've been tossing around the idea of cutting out added sugar for weight loss. Now, I see it can help so much more than just my weight! I love this article, and I love Snack Girl! :)

My 9th grade daughter and I watched "Fed Up", a documentary showing the correlation between health issues and increased sugar intake. It made us both stop and talk about what we eat and what's in processed foods. They also referenced the WHO paper, and the pressure from big food companies to remove the recommendations on lower sugar intake.

My mom taught me to cut the sugar in cookie recipes....I've done it for 30+ yrs...depending on cookie recipe I cut 1/4-1/2 of it.

@Kathy - Thanks so much for sharing your success!! Way to go!

I have just been put on medication for my high sugar and triglycerides.. So I have been watching and if all goes wel land I change my eating habits the doctor said I can come off the meds. Thank you for posting interesting and healthy articles.

When my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes I was determined to get it under control and followed a dieitician's recommendations to the letter. At first, everything went very well but I was stymied when his blood sugar levels started to climb again. Then I remembered that he knew the location of every Dairy Queen within a 500 mile radius, and his passion for their delectable Peanut Buster Parfaits. I finally confronted him with the possibility that he was addicted to them and, like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar he confessed that he'd been backsliding! He realized that he had done a dumb thing and swore he'd behave. It wasn't long before his blood sugar was back in a normal range. As an added incentive he began seeing a slimmed down version of himself in the mirror! His energy level increased and even his attitude became more positive!! I would advise any wife faced with the same situation to not shrug it off as hopeless!

Become an Olympic class nagger if you have to to make your husband face up to his options! The rewards are infinitely better than any gold medal...including improving your OWN

good health by sharing your husband's new lifestyle. I did!!

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