My Name is Anna and I WAS a SUGAR-HOLIC

I am not going to lie, I USED to love sugar.

I was never in love with sweets or the more obvious sugars but I could eat an entire big bag of chips in one sitting AND I loved French fries! Some may not realize these foods have the same effect on your blood sugar that other “sugary” sweets do.

My mother in law often said to me that she couldn’t figure out why her husband’s blood sugar was still high as he stopped putting sugar in his coffee. He was, however, still eating bread and potatoes and other starchy foods that were high on the glycemic index.

After the birth of my son in 2013, I truly felt awful. I lost a lot of weight (and loved that people complimented me on it) but I didn’t feel well. My hair was falling out in clumps, I had no muscle tone, I was tired and I was very cranky! (Ask my husband!). I thought that it must be how you feel after having a baby and I was destined for a life of misery. I went back to work at 7 months post partum as a Diabetes consultant and was speaking with a new Endocrinologist in town who had just moved here from the US. We got on the topic of fertility and how unwell I was feeling and suddenly in the middle of her office; she was doing an assessment on me.

I was shortly after diagnosed with Graves’ disease and went on to be cared for by this endocrinologist who I owe my life to! She helped me get my thyroid mostly under control so we could conceive a second child, however my body wasn’t really cooperating and we just couldn’t get a handle on stabilizing my Graves for a long period of time.

After the birth of my daughter I chose to have a total thyroidectomy.

I really had to weigh the options as being considered clinically Hypothyroid for the rest of my life scared the heck out of me, mostly because I read horror stories of weight gain and I had spent my whole life trying to lose. To add another huge roadblock to my struggle was depressing. On the other hand, I felt terrible and knew in my heart that it was the right thing to do. I would deal with the weight struggles afterwards.

In May 2016, I said farewell to my thyroid.

It didn’t take long to get my medication right and feel great but I see what people meant when they spoke of their weight struggles post thyroidectomy. I was working out 3 times a week for an hour doing an intense boot camp on top of regular walks and jogs with my family in between. I was watching what I ate 80% of the time and I gained 2lbs the first month, which in comparison to others in the same boat, was good. I couldn’t afford to gain even 2lbs though as I still had baby weight to lose of at least 40lbs. I spent countless hours online researching diets and supplements. What was I going to do to get this under control? I literally have tried it all!! What more could there be?!?!

Being enrolled in Holistic Nutrition helped me to understand more the effects of different foods on my body and how I felt and gave me the motivation to research more about sugar in particular.

I decided to cut out sugar for a couple of weeks to see how I would feel. Within only a few days, my joint pain and brain fog were eliminated and I had more energy. I had even lost a decent amount of weight and wasn’t feeling bloated! These were big milestones for me!

Other Health issues that you may experience with over-consumption of sugar include:

1. Insulin Resistance- this is becoming increasingly more common. Insulin allows glucose to enter your cells and tell the cells to burn glucose instead of fat. With too much sugar, insulin may stop working as it should and the cells become resistant to it. This puts a lot of pressure on your pancreas and hormone regulation system and may lead to Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
2. Potential liver damage- much the same as the effects of alcohol on the liver.
3. Weight gain, obesity, elevated cholesterol and blood pressure!!

Need I say more?

Sugar is the culprit for many health issues that people don’t realize at first…or ever. It is hidden in many food items as I have discovered in my research.

Here are just some of the more common sneaky names for sugar on food labels:

• Agave nectar
• Cane crystals
• Cane sugar
• Corn Sweetener
• Corn Syrup
• Crystalline fructose
• Dextrose
• Evaporated Cane juice
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrates
• Glucose
• High fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Invert Sugar
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Malt Syrup
• Molasses
• Raw Sugar
• Sucrose
• Syrup

Be aware of what you are ingesting. Keep a food diary and record how you feel after each meal and this will help you determine some hidden culprits of unfavorable health symptoms. It sure helped me!