The Sweet Truth

You can have your cake -- and cookies and ice cream -- and eat it too. Here's what you need to know to make sugar a healthy part of your life

By Sally Kuzemchak

Issue date: Fall 1999

For more Sports Illustrated Women, check out our May/June issue, on newsstands now. To subscribe to SI Women click here or call 800-950-5150.

Got a sweet tooth? Fear not. Svend Lindbaek

In a perfect world, mothers wouldn't let children leave the house in the morning without finishing their ice cream. After a lousy practice, your coach would pull you aside and say, "Your foul shot's off. Are you sure you're getting enough Krispy Kremes?" And there would be an RDA for chocolate.

But we don't live in a perfect world, and sugary treats are not nutritional powerhouses. Americans love their sweets and consume way too many of them, which is why sugar gets such a bad rap. In moderation, sugar can fit into every diet, say sports nutritionists, and athletes particularly can indulge in their favorite sweet every day without feeling guilty about it.

5 Sugar Myths: Busted 1. Sugar makes you fat. There's no correlation between being obese and consuming large amounts of sugar, reports the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Obesity is more directly tied to fat consumed. Yes, eating too many calories from sugar will cause weight gain, but so will eating too many calories from broccoli. 2. Sugar is addictive. A raging sweet tooth is usually just a sign that you're not eating enough in general, says nutritionist Nancy Clark. A study in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes showed that when people are impulsive, such as when they have a craving, they're more likely to make unhealthy food choices. A satisfying breakfast and lunch plus an afternoon snack of yogurt or a granola bar will probably help curb your cravings. 3. Sugar causes dramatic highs and lows. For most people, sugar's effects on blood glucose (or blood sugar) aren't noticeable. Also, if you're severely restricting your caloric intake (and you're not, right?), you may be more sensitive to sugar, says Clark. 4. Artificial sweeteners help you lose weight. Studies have yet to show a link between artificial sweeteners (such as aspartame) and long-term weight loss, says the ADA. In fact, the incidence of obesity has actually increased as the consumption of these sweeteners has risen. Diet soda is no substitute for more-healthful choices, such as milk or juice. 5. "Natural" sugars are better for you than white sugar. Besides molasses, which does contain some iron and calcium, sugar stand-ins such as honey and maple syrup are not superior to the white stuff. The substitutes differ in appearance and how they're processed, but nutritionally they're the same as sugar.

Simply put, sugar is a source of fuel, like any carbohydrate. If you're fit, your body uses this fuel quickly and efficiently by turning it into instant energy or storing it in muscles, as glycogen, for later use. "When you're training, you use up a lot of glycogen, so you need to eat plenty of carbs to replenish it," says dietician Josephine Connolly, a certified exercise specialist and clinical assistant professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Ideally, you should get the bulk of your carbs in the form of complex, high-fiber foods such as cereal, whole-grain bread and whole-wheat pasta (all of which are chock-full of vitamins and minerals). But the occasional dose of simple, high-sugar carbs can be a plus -- occasional being the key word.

"During exercise, sugar is the most readily available carb for your body," explains Nancy Clark, author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook (Human Kinetics, 1997). Prolonged, intense exercise demands on-the-run refueling. Whether you break for a sports drink or a handful of jellybeans, it's all the same to your body -- a shot of sugar will give your energy stores a much-needed lift and also delay fatigue. Two caveats: An hour before a workout have a more substantial carb snack (such as a banana or bagel), and during exercise avoid eating sweets with fat (such as doughnuts or ice cream) because fat slows the absorption of sugar.

Again, the idea is moderation. Too many sugary carbs and you're probably not getting enough protein (needed to build muscle) or fat (necessary for maintaining the health of cells and for producing chemical-regulating hormones). Lots of sweets also mean extra calories, which can translate to weight gain, warns Connolly.

To keep your intake in check, limit sweets to 10% of your total calories: Most athletes need between 2,000 and 2,400 calories a day, so that's about 220 calories of sweets. What does 220 calories' worth of sugar look like? A Hershey's bar, four and a half Chips Ahoy cookies, eight pieces of licorice or one can of soda.

Most important, say experts, athletes who eat healthy foods shouldn't deprive themselves of the treats they love. As Clark says, "If you're exercising a lot, you deserve a reward." Why not make it a sweet reward.

Issue date: Fall 1999

For more Sports Illustrated Women, check out our May/June issue, on newsstands now. To subscribe to SI Women click here or call 800-950-5150.

 
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