The body carefully controls the amount of sugar present in the blood at all times. The entry of sugar into the blood is controlled by the Liver. After a person has consumed a sugar it travels through the gastrointestinal tract enters the portal vein and goes to the liver. Approximately two thirds of all the sugar you consume with each meal will be stored in the liver where it can be released into circulation when blood sugar levels have dropped often as a result of fasting or exercise.

The amount of sugar released into circulation by the Liver must be kept in balance with the mount of sugar being removed from the blood by the cells of the body. Once the body becomes saturated with it excess sugar will be converted to fatty acids and stored in fat cells.

The body is better able to control blood sugar levels when we consume complex carbohydrates as opposed to simple. A complex carbohydrate must be broken down before it is able to pass through the intestinal wall. The advantage of complex carbohydrates is the longer amount of time it takes to be broken down, digested and absorbed into the blood stream. This allows the body to better control the amount of sugar present in the blood.

Anyone that wants to attain optimal performance should not cut carbohydrates out of the diet. What should be controlled is the amount of added sugars in ones diet. Added sugars are not naturally present in the foods they are in which is why the are "added" and present us with several problems.

These problems are;

1. They are not naturally present in the foods they are put in.
2. They increase the caloric quantity of the foods they are put in without increasing nutritional value.
3. They are easily absorbed into the blood streem causing unwanted fluxations in blood sugar levels.
4. Once the body becomes saturated with sugar excess will be converted to fatty acids and stored.

The benefits of reducing added sugars are;

1. More stable source of energy.
2. Better metabolism and control of blood sugar.
3. Reduction in the amount of daily calories consumed
4. Increase in the quality of daily calories consumed.

Unfortunately current nutrition labels do not separately list the amount of added sugar. Instead only the total amount of sugar is listed. To know if added sugar is present you have to read the ingredients. You will need to look for things such as; brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, raw sugar, malt syrup, maltose, lactose, invert sugar, honey, glucose, molases and the list can go on.

The USDA Food Guide gives us the following guidelines for how much added sugar one can afford in the diet and still remain healthy. Based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet a person can consume 32 g of added sugars a day. This amount increases if one decreases the amount of fat in their diet. Based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet if a person is consuming 22% of their calories from fat then 72 g of added sugars are allowed.

A diet containing sugar from natural sources such as fruit or complex carbohydrates is ok a diet high in added sugars in not. Added sugar can be found abundantly especially in most processed foods. If your diet is high in these foods then its time to make some adjustments. Remember 32 grams a day is allowed without paying attention you can easily surpass this amount and most people do. Now that you have this knowledge UTILIZE IT and become mind full of how much added sugar you're eating on a day to day basis.