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Health & Fitness

A Harry Potter Lesson in Sugar Transfiguration

Do you ever wonder exactly what happens to the sugar you eat? Take a lesson from Harry Potter and stay away from the dark arts...

I’m an old school Harry Potter fan.

I read the first three books to my kids, but then stopped when my children were old enough to read them on their own. So I only followed the story to about book four.

The first Harry Potter movie is my favorite. The wonder and awe of wizardry is still new. Harry, Ron and Hermione stare in complete amazement when each professor demonstrates their particular specialty. The art of transfiguration is by far the coolest. When Professor McGonagall changes from a cat into her stately teaching presence on the first day of school at Hogwarts, I was hooked. Wouldn’t it be fun to change objects on a whim? But magically turning something from one thing to another doesn’t just happen every day…or does it?

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The sugar you eat has a transfiguration habit. And it can be a scary event. Sugar is broken down into simple sugar called glucose. This glucose circulates in the blood steam, supplying cells with fuel. If the cells don’t need any more fuel (maybe you’ve just been sitting in your cubical not burning through much cellular energy) the extra glucose magically changes into glycogen. This substance is then stored in your muscles and liver. BUT this is not the scariest transformation of sugar. The creepy music needs to cue in about right here in our sugar story….

If your body is already storing enough glycogen (think of a suitcase that will NOT hold one more pair of shoes!) then the frightening magic begins.  The extra glycogen is transfigured into…FAT. 

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The scene in your body turns very dark with this transformation. Once this fat is stored, it is hard to get rid of. No magic spell, pill or fad diet removes it easily. Your body burns glucose and glycogen before it burns away this fat. Once the fat from excess sugar is stored, getting rid of it is tough work. No magic spells to make it disappear. 

When you’re reaching for the sugary treat that you think will magically perk you up or make your afternoon better, picture that sugar transfiguring into FAT. That feels like a bit of the dark arts to me!

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