Written By Finnegan Pierson / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

To be truly healthy and fit, you need to have a firm grasp of nutrition and how different elements in food affect your body and metabolism.

Sugar

Most healthy people know they should try and eliminate sugar from their diets. In order to do that, you will need to become a detective who is able to recognize sugar in all of its forms. Table sugar is pure sucrose. But what is sucrose exactly?

Sucrose is common sugar that can be found in packets at the coffee shop or in bags in the baking aisle. It is made up of two other simple sugars: fructose and glucose. Fructose can also be found naturally in fruit. Glucose is what people mean when they talk about diabetes and measure how much glucose is in the bloodstream.

The reason people who are trying to become fit and healthy shouldn't eat sugar is that the glucose found in sugar is what your body uses to feed the cells in your body and keep you awake and alive. So that's good, isn't it? Actually, it isn't good if you're trying to lose weight. Once your body has used all the glucose it needs for the day, it will store it as fat.

Carbohydrates

Pure sugar is not the only thing to avoid. Sugar is hidden in lots of food items by giving it a different name. To be exact, there are 56 different names for sugar. Learn to recognize them so you can avoid them. Some foods without added sugar, or with very little, turn into glucose when they are digested.

Simple carbohydrates like white bread are easily converted to glucose. However, even complex carbohydrates like those found in whole grains, peas and beans will eventually become sucrose. The only advantage to complex carbohydrates is that they burn slower so the sucrose enters the bloodstream in smaller amounts over time.

Fat

Since excess glucose is stored as fat, you should obviously avoid sugar and carbs when trying to lose weight. This is why diets that simply restrict calories often don't work very well. 

To really get your body to use its fat stores, you need to be very strict about eliminating sucrose in all its forms from your diet. After a day or two of burning what's left in your bloodstream, your body will have no choice but to use another source of energy and will turn to fat burning.

You should keep eating at regular intervals: every two hours is ideal. The reason for this is that if your body is not getting any food input, it will actually slow down metabolism until more food comes along. In this mode, fat burning will either slow down or stop completely.

Protein

Protein is an ideal choice during weight loss. Protein is a very satisfying food and will help a dieter stay full longer. It has been called the most important nutrient for weight loss by medical experts. It can speed up metabolism and give a better shape to your body.

Protein, along with a little healthy fat for your liver and green leafy vegetables will keep you healthy while you lose weight and get into better shape. Just be careful you don't overdo it on protein, though, since it can also be stored as fat.

Muscle Building

Now that you know how to eat healthily and lose weight, it's time to incorporate exercise, but not just any exercise. Concentrate on activities that build muscle like weight training. Although muscle does weigh a bit more than fat, it does many things for you while fat does nothing.

Building more muscle will give you a better shape and more endurance. Muscle tissue also burns more calories so the weight loss process can continue.

Conclusion

Being educated about what to put in your body is extremely important. Study nutrition as if your life depends on it since it does.

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Written By:

Finnegan Pierson loves business and has a passion for Health and technology. Even more interesting is the combination of the two. As a freelance writer, Finn hopes to influence others so they can have positive life experiences.

Reviewed By:

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash