5 Sneaky Ways Refined Sugar May Be Negatively Affecting Your Family and Home
Have you ever noticed how certain foods seem to affect not only your body, but your day, and even the atmosphere of your home? That’s because the foods that we feed our families can have a powerful impact on family life.
In today’s article, I’m sharing 5 sneaky ways refined sugar may be negatively affecting your family and home. You’ll learn what refined sugar is and how it can influence your emotions, routines, and overall wellness. You’ll walk away with simple ways to begin creating healthier habits for a more peaceful home.
Ready?
What is Refined Sugar, and is it Harmful to the Body?
Refined sugar, also known as table sugar, is a processed form of sugar. It’s usually white, crystallized, and easily soluble in liquid. You may recognize it as granulated sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or confectioners’ sugar. It’s usually found in processed foods that lack proper nutrition.
Refined sugar is created by extracting the juice of a sugar cane or sugar beet, then clarifying, evaporating, and crystallizing it. The molasses is removed, and then the sugar is filtered with carbon to remove impurities and make the sugar whiter. Refined, processed sugar no longer has its natural, God-given substances, like molasses.
Refined sugar can be very harmful to the body. It’s linked to extra belly fat, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues. It is a man-made substance that is often compared to drugs because it is addictive and releases dopamine in the body. Now that we’ve covered what refined sugar is and we’ve established that it can be very harmful to the human body, let's identify five ways that sugar may have a negative impact on your home.
1. Energy Crashes and Afternoon Fatigue
If you’ve ever eaten a meal and noticed your energy dwindle afterwards, it may be because of refined sugar. This is one way refined sugar may be negatively affecting your home and family. For many years, I’ve known this phenomenon to be called “the itis,” which is severe drowsiness that occurs after a heavy meal. I remember when I started to notice that every time I ate our family breakfast tradition of pancakes, syrup, eggs, and sausage, I had this overwhelming need to lie down and take a nap. It was almost uncontrollable. My energy crashed, and it left me with afternoon fatigue and an unbearable need to lie down every single week.
The blood sugar spike and crash that is caused by refined sugar can leave you with brain fog and a sluggish, mentally drained feeling. It also affects your attention and concentration. When sugar is consumed later in the day, it can even lead to poor sleep. Remember, these things could potentially affect only you, but your husband and even your children may also experience these symptoms. I encourage you to observe your family’s behaviors and feelings after consuming refined sugar. If you notice an inability to think clearly, fitful or interrupted sleep, or a lack of attention to the task at hand, it could be the result of sugar. In this case, I encourage you to take a break from sugar in your home and family’s diet, and make observations.
2. Blood Sugar Instability
The second way that sugar impacts the human body is by causing blood sugar instability. Sugar creates a spike in blood sugar, which signals your pancreas to release insulin. This lowers your blood sugar, but if it drops too low, it can result in a sugar crash with symptoms of anxiety, extreme fatigue, sugar cravings, or shakiness.
When the blood sugar is not stable, it can have an impact on your mood and emotions. Blood sugar fluctuation can lead to rapid changes in the energy supply to the brain. So if you find yourself frequently impatient with your children, could it be because of that cookie you treated yourself to? Or maybe it’s a variety of things you ate earlier, since sugar is everywhere, from breakfast sandwiches to Starbucks to salad dressings and more. All of this sugar throughout the day adds up and could potentially be the reason why you may feel irritated by your husband. Again, start making observations and pay attention to how you feel after you eat certain foods. You’ll be surprised by what you find when you remove them for a time.
High blood sugar can lead to fatigue, anxiety, poor concentration, and sadness. Low blood sugar, like in the case of a sugar crash, can lead to nervousness, irritability, anxiety, and anger. Stable blood sugar is necessary for emotional regulation. All of this information applies to your children as well, so observe their behavior after eating things with added sugar, too.
3. Behavior Concerns in Some Children
Speaking of children, the third sneaky way that refined sugar can negatively impact your family is by causing behavior concerns. Remember, diets high in sugar lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes, which temporarily impair focus and attention span. This is especially evident in a classroom setting.
I witnessed this often. Students started the day with sugary foods like orange juice, cereal in milk, and blueberry muffins. Oftentimes, their breakfast alone would take them over the daily recommended allowance of 25g (6 teaspoons) of sugar for children. Then, the children would have a hard time staying focused on the activity or lesson. They were not engaged in the learning. Some students would be tired, and others would be irritable.
Blood sugar instability can impact them, too, so we must be mindful of how much sugar they are ingesting on a daily basis. Especially since long-term sugar consumption contributes to obesity and tooth decay in children.
4. Increased Sickness and Inflammation
The fourth way refined sugar impacts the body is by weakening the immune system. Excessive sugar and high blood sugar temporarily suppress the immune system. It impairs the function of your white blood cells for hours. This minimizes your body’s ability to destroy harmful viruses and bacteria. If the body has a hard time fighting pathogens, then the person will be more susceptible to sickness, infection, and illness. If the white blood cell function is impaired, that can slow down the healing process, which means the illness would remain longer. If someone in your household is always sick, look at their diet.
Sugar also causes inflammation. Over time, this can become chronic low-grade inflammation that suppresses the body’s natural defense mechanism. Years ago, I used to eat refined sugar all the time. I loved dessert and felt like I needed something sweet to balance out the salty for every meal.
Over time, I began to notice my knees felt stiff and sore. It required a bit more effort to walk down stairs, get down on my knees, or get up smoothly from the floor. At first, I thought it was because I was getting older, because that’s what they tell us, right? But no, it’s diet. When I changed my diet and intentionally avoided refined sugar as much as possible, I noticed my knees feel great! But I’ve also had times when I thought, “Just one slice of birthday cake at this celebration will be fine,” and the next day, I noticed that same stiffness returned. If you can relate to this, consider the possibility of sugar contributing to this. Sugar isn’t the only thing, but it is very likely to be the culprit.
5. Increased Stress & Anxiety in Overwhelmed Moms
The fifth way that refined sugar may be negatively affecting your health and home is by contributing to stress and anxiety. I get it, when we feel overwhelmed, sugar is actually very enticing. Stressful situations can make you want to reach for some chocolate or treat yourself with something sweet. Am I the only one? The sugar triggers the release of dopamine, which makes us feel good. It’s like a reward, it’s motivating, and it makes us feel good.
But remember, those sugar spikes we talked about? After eating that chocolate, especially on an empty stomach or with no protein, fat, or fiber with it, sugar spikes are next in the process. One of the symptoms of high blood sugar is anxiety. So eating refined sugar can take a mama on a rollercoaster. She may start out feeling overwhelmed and eat the sugar and feel good. Once the spike happens, she may feel fatigued and unmotivated, and if that spike leads to a crash, she may feel anxious and stressed all over again.
This means that if you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, you want to use your diet to your advantage. To be high-functioning, productive wives, mothers, and keepers of our homes, we need to feel our best. It’s very hard to be productive and high-functioning when you feel sick, exhausted, stiff, anxious, etc. Ask me how I know. If you feel any of these things, this may be your nudge to take a good, hard look at what you’re eating. What could you change or remove? Baked pastries, sodas, juice, breakfast cereal, instant oatmeal? I challenge you to go a few days without those things and see how you feel. Learn your body because, whether you realize it or not, it’s trying to tell you something.
Wrapping Up: Sneaky Ways Refined Sugar Negatively Impacts Your Family
Hopefully, something stood out to you as we discussed the 5 sneaky ways refined sugar may be negatively affecting your family and home. Low energy and afternoon fatigue, blood sugar instability, behavioral concerns, illness and inflammation, and stress and anxiety could be connected to something as simple as what we put into our mouths. Refined sugar is sneaky in that way. It could be wreaking havoc in areas that we didn’t expect. None of this is medical advice, just a helpful tip from one mama to another.