What Is Worse – Sugar or Fat?
Which Is Worse For Your Health, Sugar or Fat?
To answer the question of what is worse – sugar or fat, we’ll have to get a bit more specific, first.
The title implies that sugar and fat are both bad. More concisely and accurately put, it would actually read, “What Is Worse – Sugar or Saturated Fat?”. And I am also talking about processed sugar, particularly.
So we’ll establish some key things before we answer this main question. And we will also address a few other questions pertaining to each of these substances, in regard to health and wellness, in general.
Healthy vs Bad Fats:
What Is the Difference Between Saturated and Unsaturated Fat?
Saturated fats do not have “double bonds” between the molecules of fatty acid chains. All saturated fats have single bonds in them. Most animal-based foods contain saturated fats. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and have a high melting point, whereas unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature.
Saturated fats are considered unhealthy, since they can supposedly increase the level of cholesterol in the blood and block arteries, potentially causing stroke and heart attacks.
Butyric acid, palmitic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid are some examples of saturated fatty acids.
Unsaturated fats have double bonds between the C atoms of the fatty acid chains, and remain liquid at room temperature. Plant foods and fish are rich in them. Unsaturated fats have a low melting point, compared to saturated fats. Unsaturated fats do not raise cholesterol levels in the blood, or cause health risks, but are considered beneficial for health.
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Both saturated and unsaturated fats contain fatty acids and glycerol, and provide us with energy (unsaturated less so). Unsaturated fats are found in vegetables (and vegetable oils), nuts, seeds and fish. Saturated fats are present in meat and dairy.
Saturated fats aren’t as bad as was once commonly believed.
Are Monounsaturated Fats Bad?
Monounsaturated fats are also not as bad as you have probably been led to believe. And both saturated fats and monounsaturated fats can be beneficial to health. It is trans fats that are the bad ones. Trans fats cause inflammation, which is the root of all kinds of evil, next to the love of money.
Heart disease and stroke, diabetes, cancer, dementia and other serious problems are prone to developing in people who consume a lot of trans fat.
Are There Good Types of Sugar?
In essence, good sugars are found in healthy foods, and bad sugars are found in garbage, processed foods.
Sugars that cause a rapid spike in blood glucose should be considered “bad” sugars. Glucose produced from sugars send energy through the bloodstream, but a rapid spike in glucose levels is dangerously unhealthy.
The “simple sugars” present in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and beans contain vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber and phytochemicals.
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The fiber in simple sugars slow down the absorption of the sugar, itself, regulating its impact on blood sugar levels. But sugars added to processed foods have had many of these good things, including the fiber, removed, allowing high levels of glucose to enter the bloodstream.
Good sugars are found naturally in fruits and vegetables, dairy and whole grains. Our bodies require 130 milligrams of carbohydrates (at least) to function properly. At least half of our diet should consist of these naturally-occurring sugars.
What Is the Normal Blood Sugar Level?
If you are wondering what is the healthy blood sugar range, keep in mind that a low blood sugar level is also bad.
But chronically high blood sugar can lead to diabetic problems like organ damage, permanent nerve damage, and even damage to eyesight, if not corrected.
A normal blood sugar range is between 70 and 140 mg/dL. Here is an article that goes into much more detail about blood sugar levels.
What Is Worse, Sugar or Artificial Sweeteners?
The most common substitutes for sugar are aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal, Sugar Twin), sucralose (Splenda), and saccharin (Sweet’N Low).
First of all, these products will not satisfy sugar cravings, but have been said to make them worse. And these sweeteners are addictive, actually.
Once again, if the FD@ is your gauge for what is safe or not, in this case you might actually want to just put your head under the wheel of their car. They audaciously claim that these artificial sweeteners are perfectly safe. They also shamelessly insist that certain known neurotoxins are harmless, and all but demand that small children consume them, daily. And if something is discovered that cures cancer which they cannot patent and control, they will outright lie about and outlaw it.
The chemicals listed above are toxic, plain and simple, and it is very easy to find evidence of this, if you want to know.
Optimal gut health is necessary to maintain a healthy immune system and for the metabolic functions of our body to work properly. These functions include the maintaining of normal blood pressure and blood glucose and cholesterol levels. There seems to be a common correlation between artificial sweeteners and chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, multiple sclerosis, autism, systemic lupus, osteoporosis, brain tumors and cancer.
These artificial sweeteners change the gut microbiome, subsequently causing glucose intolerance, or “impaired glucose tolerance”. Wikipedia defines this condition as, “a pre-diabetic state of hyperglycemia that is associated with insulin resistance and increased risk of cardiovascular pathology. IGT may precede type 2 diabetes mellitus by many years. IGT is also a risk factor for mortality.”
Stick to natural sugar, to put it bluntly. Artificial sweeteners and processed sugars are both going to ravage your health. It is not brain surgery: Engineered chemicals and modified substances don’t belong in our bodies. If they did, they would grow on trees and in soil.
Natural Supplements Help Lower Blood Sugar
Natural Herbs Lower Blood Sugar Levels
Certain natural herbs lower blood sugar levels, if cutting out processed sugar still doesn’t put you in a healthy blood sugar range. But if this is the case, you should find out exactly why this is the case.
Ten Signs and Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar
Here’s one for you. The list of health benefits is too big to list here, so be sure to read them on the site – you will love it.
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Turmeric and Ginger Health Benefits Are Huge
In a Nutshell (Mmmm. Nutshells…)
So, what is worse – sugar or fat? Not a simple thing, defining which is worse for your health, sugar or fat. But you can see that overall, sugar is much worse for you than fat.
We have gone over healthy vs bad fats, and what is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. The truth is that most fat is beneficial, while most sugar is harmful to our health. But we can see that there are good types of sugar, found in natural foods, and bad sugars found in processed foods. Imagine that, right?
We have explained what is the normal blood sugar level and mentioned some foods that lower blood sugar naturally. Also, we posed and answered the question, “What is worse, sugar or artificial sweeteners?” and the answer was, essentially, that they are both bad, but there are fortunately natural sugars in natural foods that we need.
We have also presented an amazing natural supplement to help lower blood sugar, but I hope that readers will first get their dietary affairs in order (if they haven’t), and take this product to supplement their diet, and not as a way to keep eating twinkies and french fries with gravy! I am laughing, but my mind has been known to slip into such foolish rationalizing, in the past. I’m only human. But I hear they are working on a product for that…
Happy health to you!
Craig
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Much appreciated, Terence.
I stay away from those products entirely, “sugar free”, or not. In fact, the “sugar free” scares me much more.
Hello, Anastazja. Thanks for your comment.
You have to watch–some brands of stevia are mixed with sugar alcohol, which can cause digestive problems.
Good call, Bojana. Thanks!
Wow! Very informative article about saturated and unsaturated fats. High levels of sugar are definitely eye-opening when it comes to being healthy and staying healthy. Sugar intake should be limited since there are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. I heard about major coke companies such as Pepsi and coca-cola have sugar-free pops but I find that hard to believe.
Great article man! 🙂
Good text for those who take care of their health on this topic. I think that our body needs fats and sugars, but not together, that is , we should never combine them together. For example a hamburger is bad for our health because it is a combination of fat and sugar as well as milk chocolate.
Your article really lays out the differences between two types of fat as well as the way we absorb sugars. We hear so much about this subject without really understanding the terms. Now that I have read your article I will have much more understanding of advertisements and labels on food. It has never made sense to me to substitute something natural like sugar, even processed, with some chemically derived. I was wonder your thoughts about Stevia. This is said to be a natural substitute for sugar with the difficulies. Thanks for this article.
Thanks, Shirley! And blessings to you, too.
It actually does seem that even the demonized cholesterol is important, to an extent.
I was going to add to the “root of all kinds of evil” statement, but I decided it was probably not appropriate… 🙂
Craig
Hi Craig, Great article on Fats and Sugars. For the most part, this coincides with what I have learned.
There are some lesser known sweeteners supposedly better to use, unless they prove to be part of the Aspartame package. I’d like to know more about that.
For example, Erythritol. What do you know about Stevia and Erythritol? There are some others I forget the name.
Regarding Fats, I liked your comment : “Trans fats cause inflammation, which is the root of all kinds of evil, next to the love of money. ”
It is important to note that we need some kinds of fat, which are protective, and aid in digesting/using fat-soluable nutrients such as A, E, D.
Your other article about cholesterol pointed out that we do need cholesterol. Whereas the common treatment for HBP destroys all cholesterol, we do need cholesterol, just the right kind. And too much of any nuytrient, of course, is harmful. Moderation in life is important to our health.
Thank you for creating such excellent discussions to inform us of important truth.
Blessings,
Shirley