Believe in yourself. Trust the process. Change forever.

Additional menu

Complete Fitness

Sioux Falls Training

Is this seemingly harmless substance slowly killing you?

Is this seemingly harmless substance slowly killing you?

Most everybody loves sugar.

And don’t the food and beverage companies know it.

But are you getting too much sugar in your diet…perhaps unknowingly?

If so, there’s not better time to make some adjustments than ASAP.

“What do the Atkins Diet and the Japanese diet have in common?”

That’s the question Robert H. Lustig MD, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology University of California, San Francisco, asks at the start of his talk “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” (available on YouTube.)

The answer, according to Dr. Lustig, is twofold; they both work and…
The Atkins Diet being all fat no carbohydrates and the Japanese diet being all carbohydrates no fat, both eliminate the sugar fructose from your diet.

Lustig goes so far as to label fructose a poison, saying it’s 1,000 times worse for us than fat. He then shows a chart that indicates Americans on average today are about 25 lbs. heavier than they were 25 years ago.
That’s something you’re probably not going to dispute if you’ve been to the local mall recently. People in general appear to be bulkier.

So what gives? Did people just start eating more?

On the surface it would appear that way. According to Lustig, over the last twenty years, studies have shown teenagers are eating 275 calories more per day; adult men 187 more calories per day; and adult females 335 calories more per day.

Over the same period, he says, starting in 1982 with a push from the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans have actually reduced their overall fat intake from 40% to 30%.

But still the incidents of the non-alcoholic liver disease and metabolic syndrome which increase your risk of cardiovascular disease (particularly heart disease and diabetes) keep rising.

Note: Metabolic syndrome is when you have three of the following five conditions: 1) abdominal obesity; 2) elevated blood pressure; 3) elevated fasting glucose; 4) high serum triglycerides; and 5) low high-density cholesterol levels.

So it doesn’t appear that it was the fat that was the problem.

So what else has changed?

SugarTo answer that question, I’d first like to talk about sugar. Sugar is made up of two molecules: glucose and fructose. When they reach your stomach, they separate. Glucose is good. It’s the “energy of life.” It circulates throughout the body and feeds your muscles and your brain.

Fructose, on the other hand, goes straight to your liver. When there’s too much of it going to your liver, your liver turns it into liver fat. And it’s liver fat that is the cause for disease such as cancer and heart disease.
There are two important things to take away from this: 1) Too much fructose in your diet is extremely harmful to your future well-being; and 2) About 50% of the sugar you consume is made up of fructose. It’s important to note that natural sugars are preferred over refined sugars because when you include fruit in your diet you also receive vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Fructose intake has dramatically risen over the last forty years or so.
Prior to World War II it’s estimated that Americans consumed between 16 and 24 grams of fructose per day. A 1977-78 USDA Nationwide Food consumption Survey found the number had risen to 37 grams per day.  In 1994, that number had skyrocketed to 54.7 grams per day according to the NHanes III study. Even more alarming was the intake by adolescents which is now 72.8 grams per day.

Again, keep in mind, the above numbers refer to fructose only. The numbers would be double that for sugar, totaling approximately 109 grams of sugar for adults and 155 grams for adolescents.

So what do these numbers mean to you?
I’ll answer that in the next issue of this newsletter, which we’ll also post here to our blog in about two weeks. I’ll not only address what they mean, but I’ll provide you with some actionable steps that could add years to your life.

As someone who is serious about looking after your health, why not take advantage of our free Fitness Consultation offer?


During this consult, you’ll receive detailed information on how to get fit and trim that’s tailored to YOUR body.

There’s no obligation and it’s totally and completely free. To sign up, click here.