Fear Mongering vs reality… 😱
It’s January so there are lots of fitness and ‘wellness’ experts on social media shaming people with misinformation about many things. Once such claim I’ve seen this week surrounds sugar. You may hear claims that sugar is ‘toxic’ – it isn’t and I want everyone to remember that.
These sorts of claims usually have a basis in some sort of science but it’s be simplified and twisted out of context into a headline grabber. There is a huge difference between the fear-mongering claim that “sugar is toxic” and the nuanced reality that anything we need in a balanced diet for optimal health (which does include sugar) can be potentially harmful in excess. The reality is that the human bloodstream contains sugar (glucose) at all times, and the moment it doesn’t – we die. However that sort of information doesn’t get people clicking their links, buying their diets/products etc and isn’t as sexy as ‘sugar is toxic’. This sort of simple clickbait pseudoscience creates fear and us humans aren’t great at overriding fear with logic. Plus, pseudoscience is a lot sexier than legitimate science because it provides simple, definitive claims about what can impact our health. The reality, which is far more complicated, and contains plenty of nuance and context, has less of a wow factor because it includes important details about dosage and the fact that health is impacted by many factors.
So no, sugar isn’t toxic, we need it. It can be harmful in excessive quantities but so can anything (even water) – it’s the dose that makes the poison. So, when you come across social media influencers/ fitness professionals, people selling diets/diet products etc making sweeping statements, take a pause and remember that it’s a whole lot more complex than “SUGAR IS TOXIC!” and then scroll on by and don’t give them your pennies or time.
🤗
Xx
Every Step Fitness 