The Beautiful Wife has a curious fascination with the NYPD TV series, “Blue Bloods,” starring Tom Selleck. The show features a five-generation Irish-American Brooklyn family, the Reagans. Her fascination is with a unique feature of the show—their Sunday dinner. At the end of each show, they gather at the family home for a potluck meal where they pray, discuss what’s gone down, and settle their differences. The show typically ends with a fade-away of the family blissfully basking in the bonds that bind.
The BW loves family dinners, and, like many other families, we regularly gather to eat together and talk. We’re three generations, and lately, we’ve been joined by Laura, an adopted family member. We all bring our best dishes, but Laura caught my attention by declining dessert. It turns out she doesn’t eat refined sugar. That got me thinking about my sugar intake.
The experts warn that we’re eating too much sugar. America’s sugar intake is linked to overweight, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and dementia—diseases we should avoid. For example, a 15-year-long study in the “Journal of the American Medical Association” found a 38 percent higher risk of heart disease for those who get 17 to 21 percent of calories from added sugar, compared to those getting just 8 percent. Another study in the same journal linked blood sugar levels even at non-diabetic levels with dementia, a disease increasingly referred to as “type 3 diabetes.”
To illustrate, if you consume 2500 calories daily, eight percent would be 200 calories, or 12.5 teaspoons of sugar. Sounds like plenty, but sugar is hidden in many drinks and processed foods (including ingredients ending in “-ose”). American men average about 24 teaspoons a day, three times the 8 percent group intake. (The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of nine teaspoons daily for men, about the amount in one 12-ounce soda drink. Based on their lower body weight, six teaspoons are recommended for women.)
Bottom line is, excess sugar intake is wrecking our health. To learn more, watch the online video by Dr. Robert Lustig titled “Sugar, the Bitter Truth.” Dr. Lustig, a UC San Francisco medical professor, is an endocrinologist specializing in child obesity.
The BW and I have worked to reduce sugar intake. We’re not perfect, but we have a few rules, like enjoying occasional candy when out but not stocking it in the home. We do stock lots of fruit and minimize the purchase of processed food products in favor of home cooking, which is more flavorful and needs little or no sweetening. We’re not anti-sugar.
Though sugar has no nutritional benefit, it can make healthy foods more palatable. Yams or baked squash with butter and brown sugar are tasty. The grandkids love my applesauce (Google “Skip’s Homemade Applesauce” recipe). And it’s nice to end dinner with a bit of dessert.
Back in the pioneer days, sweets were limited to natural sources like honey and maple syrup and raw forms of molasses. The industrialization of sugar made it easily available, and our intake soared about tenfold. For better health, eat (sweets) like the pioneers. There’s meaning in that.
Skip fell in love with Laguna on a ‘50s surfing trip. He’s a student of Laguna history and the author of “Loving Laguna: A Local’s Guide to Laguna Beach.” Email: [email protected]
References:
Link for study on sugar and heart disease
Link for study on sugar and dementia
