Sugar: Watch out! It’s Behind You!

Today, I watched a news story on a man named Damon Gameau who went on a high-sugar diet for 60 days. To be exact, he consumed 40 teaspoons of sugar per day. He turned his journey into a documentary called That Sugar Film.

I bet you can guess how things went for him.

Within 12 days… he was 5 pounds heavier.

Within 18 days… he developed fatty liver disease. We wrote about this before. It’s not good.

Here’s the catch to Gameau’s experiment:

He didn’t literally eat spoonfuls of sugar.

So how did he pack in an extra 40 teaspoons per day?

He must have had something like soda… or candy… or perhaps a heaping bowl of delicious ice cream, right?

No, no, and (unfortunately for him)… no.

Instead, he helped himself to “hidden sugar” in foods most people would consider healthy. For instance, his go-to meals included breakfast bars… low-fat yogurt… and apple juice.

Gameau goes on to say some of the sneakiest sources of sugar are condiments.

In a general sense, he’s correct. Pick up ANY kind of sauce or flavoring in the supermarket and you’re lucky if the first or second ingredient is anything other than high fructose corn syrup. For our purposes, we might as well consider high fructose corn syrup to be sugar, even though the FDA rejected the Corn Refiners Association trying to change its name to “corn sugar.” (You know your product’s awful when your propaganda tries to link it to sugar, rather than distance itself.)

Sometimes, for fun (I have some pretty odd definitions for fun), I’ll go through every condiment I can grab in the aisle… and completely fail to find one lacking in corn syrup.

It’s gotten so bad, even finding actual sucrose (real sugar!) can be a challenge. Last Thanksgiving, while shopping for dessert, I thought to myself, “If I’m going to enjoy an ice cream sundae, at least I want the real deal” and searched for some chocolate syrup made from sucrose and not HFCS.

Guess what?

There wasn’t any. I had to settle for some hot fudge. Which was awful, because the stuff (apparently) has to be heated and mixed first. Otherwise you get hard bits of sugar and some weird gelatinous filler dumped into your bowl.

So disappointing…

Anyway, I’m now realizing if I wanted genuine sugar so much, I could have just piled my cart full of foods the government considers healthy. Good thing to keep in mind for this year.

So what happened to Mr. Gameau?

After just 60 days, he was on the verge of being Type 2 diabetic, showed signs of heart disease risk, and had gained 18 pounds. He even collected 4 inches of visceral fat around his organs.

“Well, hold up,” some skeptics might say. “Of course eating more sugar led to all this! After all, more sugar means more calories!”

Nope. All the while, he ate the same amount of calories.

“Well, then it must have been lack of exercise!”

Wrong again. He didn’t change his exercise schedule.

When interviewed, Gameau said the point of his film wasn’t to demonize sugar.

Why not? You’d be better off drinking an equivalent amount of hard liquor.

Watch out for this stuff. It’s lurking everywhere. Check your labels. And just in case you don’t feel like memorizing the different names for sugar that manufacturers use to sneak the stuff into their products, we’re working hard on a shopping guide. Armed with it, you’ll have X-ray vision for all food labels.

Regards,

Nate Rifkin
Underground Health Researcher

Nate Rifkin

Written By Nate Rifkin

Nate Rifkin is an obsessed health and mind-power researcher and author. To hear more from Nate, sign up to receive Living Well Daily for free, here.

View More Free Articles

Are You "Addicted" to Soda? (It's NOT Your Fault)

Ever have a friend who claims they’re “addicted” to their favorite soft drink? Or maybe you feel like you can’t get enough of your preferred soda? Big Beverage spends billions annually developing crave-worthy products. They convince us to gulp down those liquid sugar bombs, insisting they’re perfectly safe “in moderation.” Now, you and I both...

Read This

"Doomed to Diabetes?" Not with THIS $3 Supplement Solution

You’ve probably heard the warning from your doctor: “Once insulin resistance sets in, there’s no turning back.” They make it sound like catching a whiff of a donut dooms you to Diabetes Town—with no exits. But what if I told you this oft-repeated “fact” is about as reliable as diet advice from the vice president...

Read This

Hidden Hormone Drop Puts Your Heart at Risk

Ladies, if you’re currently going through menopause—or have already gone through “the change”—there’s a good chance your heart health is at risk. See, as estrogen levels decline, your cardiovascular protection decreases. This leaves you more vulnerable to heart disease. But nature offers a surprising ally in this battle—and, oddly enough, you’ll find it in the...

Read This

America’s Next Prescription Epidemic?

It started with a prescription to help you stay focused… But now, for millions of Americans, that little orange pill bottle could be a gateway to something much darker. According to a brand-new national study, one in four adults prescribed stimulants for ADHD is misusing them—and nearly one in 10 has developed a full-blown use...

Read This

Is Your Diet ACTUALLY Healthy? Here’s How to Tell

I’ve probably uttered the phrase “healthy diet” when talking to patients, family, and friends more times than I’ve had cups of coffee—and that’s saying something! But I’ll admit it’s not always entirely clear what a healthy diet looks like. What does healthy eating really mean? Let’s take a look… Good news—healthy eating doesn’t mean you...

Read This

7 Natural Ways to Tackle Pain Without Pills

On Tuesday, we explored a promising new frontier in pain relief: terpenes, natural compounds found in cannabis (and other plants) that may ease pain without the risks of opioids. That research is still developing. But what if you’re looking for help right now? Good news: You don’t have to wait for a pharmaceutical breakthrough to...

Read This

Mailbag: Pinched to Pain Free with Natural Sciatica Solutions

“I have been suffering from sciatic pain in my hip and groin. I try to do exercises to stretch it. But ever since I slipped on the ice and fell on my left hip it seems to be getting worse. Is there any help for this?” -Painfully Pinched Dear Pinched, I understand how frustrating sciatic...

Read This

New Cannabis Discovery Could Ease Pain—Without the High

A few years ago, everywhere you turned, someone was talking about CBD. The cannabis extract had exploded in popularity for everything from anxiety to inflammation to joint pain. And while the CBD conversation continues, another cannabis compound is quietly making headlines. One that could—believe it or not—provide relief from all kinds of pain. Without the...

Read This

"Sinful Trio" SLASHES Metabolic Syndrome Risk

Are you tired of hearing your doctor’s endless “don’t eat this, don’t drink that” lectures? Well, this Easter Sunday, I’ve got news that might just have you hopping happily to your pantry. Turns out, some of life’s tastiest pleasures could help protect you from one of today’s most common health threats—metabolic syndrome. Let’s dig into...

Read This

Microplastics’ Hidden Link to Chronic Disease EXPOSED

By now, you’ve heard about microplastics. These tiny fragments of plastic have invaded virtually every corner of our planet. We’re just beginning to understand the scope of the threat, but we know microplastics pose a serious risk to our health. If you’re like many folks, you’ve shrugged off those dangers, thinking there’s nothing you can...

Read This