‘Tis the Season for Too Much Sugar

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/m-and-m-on-clear-cut-glass-bowl-33239/

With the recent celebration of Halloween, the excess sugar consumption season is now upon us!

Granted, the season actually started a month or so ago when the stores started putting out the bags of Halloween candy for those who wanted to stock up early. Certainly, nobody ate any of those bags of candy well before the trick or treaters showed up and had to buy additional bags as All Hallow’s Eve grew nigh!

And just as certainly, nobody “liberated” their favorite treats from their children’s trick or treat haul.

Certainly none of us, anyway, because we’re all super health conscious and stuff - and would never steal from our own children (unless it was something really good)!

But Halloween candy hitting the store shelves does mark a period of a drastic uptick in many American’s sugar intake. The Halloween candy gets the sugar addiction going. After Halloween, there’s of course the leftover candy you didn’t give out, plus, if you have trick or treaters in your household, their collected treats usually hold out for at least a day or two.

We might have a chance to break the newly-formed sugar addiction if not for the stores’ clearance sales of the economy size bags of candy they put out to last you until…

Thanksgiving!

Now you’ve got pies and other baked goods to carry you into the Christmas cookie season.

Of course, the obvious consequence of all the extra sugar is weight gain, but I’ve long suspected that the cold and flu season is not a seasonal phenomenon just because of weather-based stress to our bodies and reduced Vitamin D levels (due to reduced exposure of our skin to the sun in the winter months).

Among other negative effects, high sugar consumption has been found to weaken the immune system and make you more susceptible to infections.

Oh, and the infamous holiday stress? While forced, prolonged exposure to certain family members can definitely be stressful, high sugar intake causes adrenaline (epinephrine) to spike, making you hyper-reactive to stress. High sugar consumption can lead to increased anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue as well.

So, what to do?

Well, obviously, it’s best to try to reign in the sugar consumption.

If you still have Halloween candy around, my suggestion is to get rid of it – and not by scarfing it all down in one sitting! If you can’t bear to dispose of it all, maybe pick out your one or two favorites and dump the rest. Your kids might protest, but they’ll be better off for it, and they won’t be driving you nuts with their sugar highs and lows for however long the stash holds out.

If you don’t want to offend your family pie maker by refusing dessert at Thanksgiving, think portion control and forgo the a la mode (whipped cream is relatively low in sugar, but ice cream is not!).

Likewise with cookies, if you want to spare your favorite baker’s feelings, accept their treats and eat them sparingly – maybe one or two a day rather than half a dozen with each meal and for in-between meal snacks.

Perhaps you can also reduce your “normal” sugar intake to offset some of the seasonal excesses you might indulge in. For example, you could cut down on the amount of sugar you put in your coffee or tea or maybe switch at least partially from drinking sodas to water.

In addition to moderating your intake of sugar, it often helps to eat good quality protein and healthy fats to help satiate you so that you have “less room” for the sweets. Meats, fish, eggs, and nuts are good options.

Exercise of any kind helps dull many of the negative impacts of too much sugar, so, while always a good idea, it’s especially important to try to get some physical activity at least every other day throughout sugar season.

Finally, take a moment to think about what you’re about to eat before you eat it. Weigh the pleasure of the sweetness against the pain of the weight gain, fatigue, suppressed immune function, etc.. If you can’t “just say no,” perhaps you can at least take control of the amount.

Happy sugar season, everyone!

Until next time…

George F. Best, D.C.