Nothing Sweet about Sugar

Its that time of the day again, had my thinking cap on for a bit, contemplating what I should be writing about and here I am all set to write about what I think is one of the most important aspects of a proper diet. 

Everyone is addicted to Sugar in some form or the other, and me in every form possible, there have been days when just plain sugar would be my snack. Obsessed is an understatement. To stop eating sweets, to me, was almost like saying "Dear Sugar, Since my life is taking a serious path I feel your company is just gonna slow things down for me, so it is high time we break up for good. It was great fun while it lasted, No Hard Feelings, please" ;)

But once I started my diet regime, I learnt and soon realized that Sugar can be very tricky. Sugary stuff (sweets, chocolates or any of that) do not really fill us up because they are empty calories (just a lot of calories with no nutrients). They leave us craving for more. So we end up eating more along with the regular food that we might eat over the day. Result, Excess calories, the saturated fats and all that not so good stuff just keep adding up and all we are left with is a bunch of fat molecules in the system.

I am gonna take a little detour right now. When I was having a chat about this topic, this lovely person insisted I write about triglycerides.  We spoke for a while and I got the relevance.

Hence the little detour... 

what are Triglycerides, what is its connection here ???

Triglycerides are also a type of fat similar to Cholesterol. Triglycerides like Cholesterol do not get dissolved in blood and get transported inside the body through the proteins we consume. "Soooo !!! fine, fine I am getting to what matters to us", in simple lay man terms all unused calories turn into Triglycerides. If we eat more than we burn we are just increasing the Triglyceride level in the body. 

What is the problem then, what if my Triglyceride level goes up why should I care, triglycerides are fat molecules that are not easy to burn and reduce. They need to be at a certain level and that's it anything more is just harmful and hard to reduce. More importantly, Triglycerides are part of the reason for high blood pressure and heart diseases.

So what are the things increase the Triglyceride level in the body

Excessive fats in the diet.

Eating sugary stuff, those low calorie sweeteners,  diet drinks can increase the triglyceride levels. I have read that even fruits, if had after a big meal, can increase the level of triglycerides in the system. 

Solution - Just a simple NO to sweets and when you eat more food make sure your workouts are more intense. Always have fruits at least an hour after your meal if not before. 

Drink a lot of water and sleep well. Lack of sleep the previous night supposedly increases your craving for sweets. 

Monitor what you eat, On the stuff you buy, read the nutrition facts for sugar levels and also check the ingredient list for sucrose, glucose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, molasses etc and try to avoid foods that have them. 

I tried, but unfortunately there is no sweet way of saying that there is a "Nothing Sweet about Sugar".