Guilty After Eating Foods High in Sugar?

Written By: Maria Espejo-Serrano; SLU Dietetic Intern

 Guilty After Eating Foods High in Sugar?

We’ve all accidentally had more sugary sweets than we’ve intended to eat or had an extra serving of ice cream or cake slice. Whatever it may be, you may have been accompanied by feeling energetic to tired, nauseous, a headache or just an icky (guilty) feeling. It is important to remember eating sugar should not make you feel guilty–it is not a moral failure. If you deprive or restrict sugar it can usually result in cravings or guilt. If you mark a food as “off limits” it can cause your brain to want it even more. According to WebMD, eating sugar gives your brain a big surge of the feel-good chemical called dopamine. This goes without saying having too much sugar can lead to a sugar high surge that eventually leads to a sugar crush. What happens is once your blood sugar surges to respond to the influx of sugar and your metabolism burns through it, your system crashes and you end up feeling groggy and slow. Overly highs and lows after eating sugar can be a sign of sugar sensitivity (mention this to your doctor if it occurs often). 

How can you overcome these feelings?

Katie Hake, a Registered Dietitian and Fitness Professional, states “By opening your mind to realize you have permission to eat whatever you’d want will ultimately lift the burden of guilt from you.” It is important to listen and feel what your body needs–practice mindful eating. This means have your donut, have your extra serving of cake or ice cream, but make sure you savor it or if your body feels full, stop eating and save it for later. Keep in mind your body needs adequate amounts of sugar. For example, without sugar, you wouldn’t have adequate energy for the cells in your body to use. Make sure you note the difference between sugar found naturally in a food product and added sugars. For example, an apple naturally contains about 18 g of sugar, but a caramel apple contains about 28 g of sugar (depending on the type of caramel and how much is put on the apple). Added sugars contain no nutritional value. The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugar of no more than 100 calories per day. This is about 6 teaspoons for women and no more than 9 teaspoons for men. 

References

Added sugars. www.heart.org. (2022, July 22). Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars

Hake, K. (2021, May 14). Guilt after eating sweets? read this. Katie Hake Health & Fitness, LLC. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://www.katiehake.com/blog/sugar%20guilt#:~:text=By%20opening%20your%20mind%20to,Have%20compassion.

Holesh, J. E., Aslam, S., & Martin, A. (2022, July 25). Physiology, carbohydrates - statpearls - NCBI bookshelf. NIH: National Library of Medicine. Retrieved January 7, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459280/

      Sproutedroutes. (2021, February 9). Ate too much sugar? here's what RDS say to do next.     

            mindbodygreen. Retrieved       January 7, 2023, from