Marketing Lies: There Is No Such Thing As “Healthy Sugar”

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Posted By skustes On April 23, 2009

One of my favorite whipping posts is back in the media. I came across this article in the NY Times a few weeks ago and thought it was interesting: Sugar Is Back on Food Labels, This Time as a Selling Point ^[1]. (You’ll need a login to access the article.)

Sugar, the nutritional pariah that dentists and dietitians have long reviled, is enjoying a second act, dressed up as a natural, healthful ingredient.

Am I the only one that’s disturbed by this? We’ve managed to demonize high-fructose corn syrup so much that sugar looks downright wholesome…but we know that high-fructose corn syrup is only marginally worse than sugar ^[2].

‘Sugar was the old devil, and high-fructose corn syrup is the new devil,’ said Marcia Mogelonsky, a senior analyst at Mintel International, a market-research company.

It reminds me of how the Center for Science in the Public Interest demonized healthy saturated fats. In response, manufacturers created trans fats, which we all know are far worse than saturated fat. Later, we realized how bad these man-made fats are. Oops…

Why Do We Believe It?

Simple; we want to believe it. We want to believe that we can “have our cake and eat it too”. That is, we want to think that we can get that sweet sensation without destroying our bodies. Unfortunately, it’s not true. Along with trans fats, sugar is the worst thing you can put in your body.

While honey and agave nectar may seem like better choices (and they are), the reality is that it’s all still sugar. Even these “natural” sweeteners ^[3] aren’t good for you in abundance.

We have a hard-wired drive for sweetness. Imagine you live in an environment where every calorie must first be found and then dug up or killed. Concentrated sources of sugar are a rarity, signified by that wonderful sweet taste. But these sources are rare, so when your tongue senses sugar, the brain urges you to eat more of this calorically-dense food. We are not so well-served by this trait in a world where sugar is cheap and abundant.

At least the cupcakes are warning you about their dark side. Photo credit: Rockamandy ^[4]

How Else Does Sugar Kill You?

For starters, it makes you age faster ^[5] and well, there’s nothing more obviously associated with death than aging.

“Thanks to this study, the link between the rise in age-related diseases and the over-consumption of sugar in today’s diet is clearer. Our research opens a door to new therapeutic strategies for fighting age-related diseases,” says Professor Rokeach.

Sugar is highly addictive ^[6], just in case you were unaware of that. Recall that sugar could be more addictive than cocaine ^[7].

Hungry rats that binge on sugar provoke a surge of dopamine in their brains. After a month, the structure of the brains of these rats adapts to increased dopamine levels, showing fewer of a certain type of dopamine receptor than they used to have and more opioid receptors. These dopamine and opioid systems are involved in motivation and reward, systems that control wanting and liking something. Similar changes also are seen in the brains of rats on cocaine and heroin.

Anyone that’s tried to kick the sugar habit knows that it is hard to do. The brain knows what it wants…it wants the rush from that hit of the white stuff. Rest assured that food manufacturers are doing everything they can to work this addictive ingredient into seemingly healthy foods:

From the tomato sauce on a Pizza Hut pie called ‘The Natural,’ to the just-released soda Pepsi Natural, some of the biggest players in the American food business have started, in the last few months, replacing high-fructose corn syrup with old-fashioned sugar.

ConAgra uses only sugar or honey in its new Healthy Choice All Natural frozen entrees. Kraft Foods recently removed the corn sweetener from its salad dressings, and is working on its Lunchables line of portable meals and snacks.

You Are Being Sold!

We need to realize that it’s all marketing! There’s nothing healthier about tomato sauce made with sugar versus tomato sauce made with high-fructose corn syrup, unless the overall amount of sugar decreases. But given that HFCS is actually sweeter than sugar, it’s more likely that foods replacing high-fructose corn syrup with sugar will have more to achieve the same taste. That means more sugar in your diet, more calories in your diet, more insulin in your bloodstream, and ultimately, more fat around your waist.

Just as they’ve done with butter, bacon, and eggs ^[8], marketers are constantly choosing one particular ingredient or substance to demonize. Then they present you with the perfect solution.

How Do We Get Through To People?

So we have an addictive substance that makes us age faster, that we clamor for more of, and that food manufacturers are more than happy to provide us. I’m not sure what it’s going to take to get people to take charge of their own health and dump these “healthy” processed foods from their diet.

We have a grassroots movement of sorts with all of us bloggers talking about health and fitness, but it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the millions in marketing dollars convincing us that we can eat sweets, just as long as there’s no high-fructose corn syrup. Or telling us that Trix are healthy because they’re made with whole grains and fortified with the missing vitamins.

Real Sugar Vs. Artificial Sweeteners: Which Is Better?

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Do you want to hear an amusing quote? This one comes via the coworker who was telling us how bad Plastic #7 is ^[1]. After he told me how bad my plastic mug full of green tea was (because of the plastic, not the green tea), I picked up his Cherry Coke bottle and replied, “Says the guy drinking 70g of sugar in that one bottle.” Here we go (might not be verbatim, but captures the essence):

Sugar is okay. It’s the artificial stuff that’s bad.

Yes, you read that right…”sugar is okay”. I politely informed him that there was nothing “okay” about sugar, which he argued adamantly against.* Luckily, he gave me an idea for another post…this one!

So which is worse: sweeteners or artificial sweeteners? And is either “okay”?

Taking Yet Another Look At Sugar

In months past, I’ve taken a look at the various sweeteners available and which is best ^[2]. I also considered the arguments for and against the notion that high-fructose corn syrup is worse than sugar ^[3]. Well now let’s look at sugar in comparison to artificial sweeteners. Note that these pros and cons are relative to artificial sweeteners.

Just for a definition, by sugar, I mean any type of caloric sweetener, such as cane sugar, evaporated cane juice, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, honey, etc.

Why Sugar Is Better
Over millions of years of evolution, one thing the human body has figured out is how to handle incoming nutrients. Through the actions of insulin, it either uses or stores incoming glucose for future use, either as muscle or liver glycogen or as fat. What I’m getting at is that the body knows what to do with the sugar you’re feeding it.

Of course, it can’t handle the high quantities of sugar that most people are shoveling in, but at least it has a mechanism for dealing with what is going in when handling sugar. It doesn’t matter if that incoming sugar is in the form of sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, or agave nectar…the body knows that it is sugar and breaks it down accordingly.

Why Sugar Is Worse
Sugar is an empty calorie. Sure, with foods like honey and molasses, you get a few vitamins, but calorie-for-calorie, sugar, in all of its forms, is just empty calories compared to meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and tubers. It has few, if any, vitamins and minerals. It actually robs the body of the nutrients required for the body to process it.

Sugar sends your blood sugar sky high where it does damage to your arteries (for which cholesterol gets the blame). Your insulin then shoots up, clearing out the sugar, sending you into a hypoglycemic funk, and ruining your insulin sensitivity.

Sugar is also exceedingly easy to overconsume. A single tablespoon of sugar is nearly 50 calories. That pan of brownies you’re staring down? There’s probably 20-30 tablespoons of sugar in there, so you can figure out how much is in that 3″ square that goes down so easily. My blood sugar is skyrocketing just thinking about it.

Artificial Sweeteners

As for artificial sweeteners, I’m referring to any of the man-made non-caloric sweeteners that are found in numerous products in the store: Splenda, aspartame, acesulfame K, saccharin, etc.

Why Fake Sugar Is Better
The main reason that people find artificial sweeteners to be a better choice is that they have no calories. The body is unable to process them and as such, cannot derive any nutritional value from them. Just switching from a five Coca-Cola per day habit to five Diet Cokes per day will save nearly 200g of sugar and 800 calories. That’s obviously an improvement if you’re trying to lose weight and requires no real change of your routine.

Why Fake Sugar Is Worse
Anyone that’s been around here for any length of time has figured out that I am a big fan of real, whole, unprocessed foods. And as bad as sugar is in terms of processing, artificial sweeteners are even worse. These sweeteners are made in a lab from who knows what chemicals. Further, we have no idea what these chemicals will do to the body with sustained long-term use.

I’m also not a fan of trying to fool the body. Just as with trying to outdo Mother Nature by creating “better” butter (i.e., margarine) and removing the “unhealthy” yolk from eggs, giving your body something that it can’t process just to keep from changing your habits is probably a recipe for failure.

Finally, I think normal use of artificial sweeteners is a false sense of security. There is scant evidence that these sugar substitutes actually help people lose weight. In fact, there is evidence that they may contribute to weight gain ^[4]. These substances still stimulate the sweet receptors of the tongue and may even cause an insulin response since the tongue is the first step in the digestive process.

And as a final kicker, Splenda may be bad for your intestinal flora ^[5]. As Mike pointed out in this article ^[6], your gut is the first line of defense in the immune system.

^[7]

So Which Is Best?

Well, that’s easy to answer…the best option is c) none of the above. Your best bet is always going to be to ditch the sweet stuff, whether real or artificial and stick to Real Food ^[8]. Turning the sweet tooth off is a good idea; fooling it with fake sugar is not a viable long-term solution. We are primed to gorge on sugar at every opportunity. And here’s why I think that is:

• Humans evolved in an environment with relatively little sugar.
• Because we evolved in environments with few sources of concentrated sweetness, we learned to consume as much as we could when we found it, such as with a honey beehive. The brain is designed to reward us heavily when we feed it sugar ^[9], reinforcing the desire to go back for more.
• Whether we eat caloric or non-caloric sweeteners, we are still activating the pleasure centers of the brain associated with sweet tastes.
• These pleasure centers signal that there are concentrated sources of calories nearby and drive further consumption.

So by activating sweet receptors and telling the brain “sugar is available,” even if it’s not, we increase our appetites. One study (and there are probably more of these) showed that artificial sweeteners disrupt the body’s built-in calorie measuring ability ^[10].

But let’s face reality…we all live in the same world, a world where there are family parties and work events and desserts are going to happen. If given a choice, what should you reach for? I’d go for the real stuff. With the caveat that sugar intake should be VERY minimal, I’d rather go ahead and give my body the substance that it can process rather than some unknown chemical.

Sure, I’m going to get hit with a tired, sluggish feeling thirty minutes later, but on rare occasions, I’m not doing any lasting damage. And on rare occasions, artificial sweeteners probably won’t do any long-term damage either. But I feel better with the sugar that has some basis in evolution.

Again, better is a relative term. It’s better to smoke one pack of cigarettes than to smoke two packs. Cocaine is probably less harmful than crack. That doesn’t make it healthy. It’s even better to do neither.

Dealing With Sugar Cravings

Once people commit to cleaning up their diet, sugar cravings are often the hardest part. It’s the biggest derailleur of dietary plans. We’ve all been there; completely stuffed until the dessert cart rolls by or someone drops off the Girl Scout Cookies in the breakroom. I dealt with it and know that it’s not easy. Here are some tips I’ve found that work:
- Eat plenty of fat, protein, and nutrient-dense foods on a regular basis - These will help shunt your appetite. When the cake comes out, grab some almonds.
- Eat some fruit - The sweetness will help curb your sweet cravings.
- Find a good dark chocolate (or smart indulgence of your choice) - It has just enough sweetness for me to be satisfying without being unhealthy.
- Go for a walk - Just getting away from the temptation is usually helpful.
- Plan a few indulgences - I’m not a big fan of “cheat” meals, but early on, it can help keep things on track to know that in just another day or two, you can dig into some ice cream or a few pieces of candy. But you don’t need to eat the entire pint of Haagen-Dazs to indulge yourself.
- And finally, if you just can’t resist, have one bite. It won’t kill you and as long as you can control yourself beyond that point, can be helpful. I actually knew a guy that would take a bite, chew, then spit it out and that was enough to manage his cravings when they hit. It worked for him. Your mileage may vary. I’m better off avoiding than trying to indulge “just a little”.

Sugar cravings take a long time to go away. Long after you’ve figured out what to eat for breakfast instead of a bagel and cereal… Long after you’ve ditched the Rice-A-Roni in favor of asparagus… The cravings will resurface, often without warning. It’ll probably take a good six months or more to fully tame your sweet tooth. Just keep fighting the urges and find ways to kill them off without gnoshing the entire bag of Oreos.