By: Wren Fair

Sugar appears to have become our new dietary villain. In the past few decades, the focus on lowering fat intake as a way to lose weight and promote health has largely backfired.  The fat content in many processed foods was simply replaced with sugar, which made them even more detrimental to our health. Watch this video for more information on how too much added sugar in your diet can be harmful:

While being mindful of added sugar is certainly a great way to improve your health, be wary of focusing on any one ingredient as “bad” or something that should be totally avoided. Demonizing all fat and attempting to eliminate it from our diets only exacerbated the obesity epidemic and caused an increase in sugar consumption. As unbelievable as it may seem, trans fats like those found in margarine were viewed as a “low fat” and therefore healthier option because they were made from vegetable oils. Many years and thousands of negative health outcomes later, it is now common knowledge that trans fats are some of the worst fats in terms of health and have been directly linked to heart disease.

Just like there are some healthy forms of fat, like the fat found in nuts, seeds, and fish, sugars are found naturally in plant foods and can be a part of a healthy diet. Fruits and vegetables both contain sugar, but the difference is they also contain fiber which is digested with the sugar and helps lower the food’s overall glycemic load.

The best bet for any person looking to improve their diet is to avoid processed foods when possible and opt for a home cooked meal which features fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.