Americans have a big sweet tooth. The average American consumes about 20 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At 16 calories a teaspoon, that adds up to a whopping 320 calories per day in sugar alone!

Sugar has no nutritional value and therefore is considered an empty calorie. Unfortunately, these empty calories taste wonderful and can be addictive.

Our bodies digest simple sugars and turn them into saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. If the body is unable to use all the fats, they are dumped throughout the body, producing unwanted results such as excess weight. Candy bars, cappuccino and sodas may give us an initial boost during an afternoon slump, but the effects wear off fast and often make us crave more sugar.

"Refined carbohydrates are used fairly quickly by the body, raising blood sugar," says Melanie R. Polk, registered dietitian and director of nutrition education at the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington D.C. "This causes an increase in insulin levels to get the energy into the cells. But too much insulin causes our blood sugar to fall fairly quickly, making us hungry again very soon."

Consuming refined sugar can make weight control difficult, because it often takes the place of more nutritious foods in our diet, like lean protein.

According to Dr. Harold Schulman, co-author of Tipping the Scales: Getting Answers on Weight Management (Xlibris 2002), when protein is eaten, glucagons, rather than insulin levels, rise. Basically, glucagons attack fat cells, says Dr. Schulman.

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