The REAL Enemy in Sugar

Did you know that there is as much sugar in a lemon as there is in an orange? There's as much sugar in a lime as there is in about half of a pineapple.

Now, I advocate and encourage using lime and lemon to flavor teas, seltzers and even water to keep a little variety in a low carb diet plan, but I would never EVER tell you to use pineapple juice.

Why not? This is pretty cool. I just discovered this recently.

Think about how you react to the taste of a lemon.

If you peeled a lemon like it was an orange, separated the sections and just ate a section of lemon, the reaction would be strong and it would be immediate.

And that reaction is NOT, "Wow! This tastes great!" You would need about a tablespoon of sugar to go with that lemon to make it tolerable.

And yet there's plenty of sugar in it.

Loads.

Enough to spike your blood sugar f you're diabetic.

Enough to sweeten about 4 ounces of Coke.

Pay attention to this because understanding this is key to maintaining a low carb diet.

But a lemon usually won't spike your blood sugar (should you be bold enough to eat one whole).

Why not? Sugar is sugar, right?

Well... yes and no.

Your body will always convert sugar into starch, but, depending on how you introduce it, the process is a little different.

If your palate detects something sweet, your body prepares to process the sugar.

Remember what I said about diet soda? This is why it's so important to stay away from that stuff.

However, if all it tastes is this unpleasant, sharp acidy flavor, it DELAYS the process and you will flush a HUGE percentage of that sugar before it has a chance to make it into your bloodstream.

Your body chemistry adjusts to either allow it to pass into the intestine and get absorbed into the bloodstream (sweet) or break it down in your stomach (acidy).

Perception is everything.

That's why you get hungry after a diet soda, but that's also why the sugar in a lemon is generally safe.

Now, add sugar and water to that lemon juice and now you're bombarding your body from two different angles.

Now, your body is going to recognize both the table sugar AND the natural sugar in the fruit.

Now you're screwed.

So what is the real enemy? It's not the sugar. It's the sweetness. Less sweet, less absorption.

All the more reason why you should just steer clear of it all together.

More tomorrow...

Want to get your mind off sugary snacks? Read something!