Beaufort Health And Fitness And Its Bittersweet Enemy

Today’s society is plagued with many a problem. No, not the same woes of olden times like building shelter each night or hunting for your own food. Rather, our afflictions come mainly in the form of health and fitness-related crises. The funny thing is even though we’ve made huge strides in medicine and mankind has come up with some pretty nifty inventions, we still haven’t been able to overcome one of our greatest foes.

This beguiling adversary has been linked to so many Beaufort health and fitness defects and yet, we still crave it and some of us can’t live without it. It’s to the point where it has become an epidemic! I’ve contested with numerous clients about this poison and even though I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall sometimes – seeing the blank stares as I try to explain why this drug is derailing their Beaufort health and fitness goals – it’s good to know that others have gotten the point. This enticing enemy is added sugars.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the average American consumes nearly 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day, which amounts to over 350 calories. The AHA daily guidelines are as follows:

• Women 6 tsp (approx. 25 grams and 100 calories) of added sugar or less
• Men about 9 tsp (approx. 37.5 grams and 150 calories) or less

This means we’re taking in 2.0-3.5x the suggested amount!

When we say “added sugar” what do we mean? Added sugars are sugars that are not naturally formed in foods. These sugars include corn sugar, high fructose corn syrup, cane sugar and other refined sugars, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, honey, molasses etc. Naturally occurring sugars can be found in fruit, some vegetables and dairy products.

Sugar is directly and indirectly related to heart disease as well as other high risk diseases such as obesity, type II diabetes and even high systolic blood pressure. Alongside these issues, sugar can cause a multitude of other problems that not only affect our EarthFIT clients’ training performance, but the everyday functioning of all our lives. I’ve outlined some problems that high sugar intake can cause below:

• Kidney damage
• Cancers – breast, prostate, ovaries, intestines, rectum
• Diminished immune system making you prone to sickness and infection
• Augments osteoporosis and arthritis
• Risks of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and other ulcers are increased
• The dreaded sugar crash that reduces productivity
• Contributes to painful migraines
• Wrecks your Beaufort health and fitness plan by promoting overeating
• For our clients, remember that it also interferes with protein absorption a very important component to achieving your Beaufort health and fitness goals