Sugar- benifits and side effects.

Sugar 

Beware of the sweet person because sweet has no nutrients
-Anne Tyler

Sugar- Maroon 5

No not this one!

Yes it's true, I mean not that person but the fact that sugar has no nutrition in it.
We see a hype over sugar how it is bad for us and how we should avoid intake of it. But the thing is what does sugar wants to say about it. Let's have a word with sugar as we have made it a culprit for beings dangerous for human health

 

Hi, I am sugar! 

Actually, I am not you see me as I am, I am soluble carbohydrate- Haha I fooled you all this time.
For generations, you were blaming fats to be your health rival but you did not knew until the late 90's that carbohydrate was the things which can cause you to gain weight or have blood sugar and many health dis'eases'
Fats are like a bomb that comes into your body like a bomb which by a healthy lifestyle it will explode and you will not gain weight or be obese. But on the other hand, carbs are like a mountain which you have to destroy with a chisel and hammer. Hmmm, now you know how things should be.

What sugar really is?

Sugar is sweet short-chained soluble carbs. Composed of carbon-hydrogen- oxygen
Anything which is ending with "ose" is sugar also 'syrup' is a sugar solution.
Brown sugar, caramel, jaggery are popular products of sugar to name a few.

Etymology

It's interesting to know the fact that the word "sugar" is originally derived from Sanskrit which is ' sarkara '. Then from Persia it was ' shakra ' which is also said in Hindi, in the 12th century in french it was said ' sucre ' and that's the name in English - sugar. 

Types of sugar -

The main types can be classified by sucrose, fructose, maltose, glucose, and lactose. Honey and fruits have natural sugar which can be called simple sugar.
Sucrose is a type that we get from processing sugarcane or sugar beet (mostly found in western nations). Mainly we consume this sucrose on a daily basis which goes into our system through drinks, brown sugar, packed sugar, prepared food, cookies, cakes, etc. The sucrose as particular has some problem with human health as it is consumed.
Glucose when we consume gets into our body and is metabolized throughout the body, whereas Fructose (which is the breakdown of sucrose) gets metabolized in our liver which is then converted into fat (if consumed in excess). That's why fatty liver is a big problem in the west.
A case study says normal consumption of sugar is 30% in the united states which is all coming from - sucrose which causes obesity and gum problems on a larger scale. Another reason that it is hugely consumed is it's appetizing.

Production

The highest cultivation of cane sugar is in Brazil of over 29.5 million tonne production till 17 Feb 2020. The second highest producer of cane sugar is India which had 26 million tonnes of production in 2019-2020, and India will be the highest producer of the world with 30 million tonnes production of cane sugar by 2021.
In 2018 Global production of sugarcane was 1.91 billion tonnes and will be about 3 billion by 2022.
Fact: about 2500 ltr water is needed for every 1kg of sugar produced. 

Pure white and deadly

Pure white and deadly was a book written by john Yudkin a British nutritionist about the adverse health effects of sugar like obesity and heart health in 1972. In this, he argued that increased sugar consumption provokes metabolic disturbance results. Till then all the nutritionists believed that reason for heart health and obesity was fats and not sugar.
Mostly in the 19th-century sugar came into the picture on a large scale due to agricultural development. As a result consumption of sugar sky rocked to about 50 times in the past 50 years with home cafes and factories. But the things are that, are human beings ready for this drastic change?
John Yudkin carried out experiments on sugar in two ways
1: Epidemiologic 2: Experimental
For Epidemiological maturity-onset diabetes i.e type 2 diabetes has started to accumulate from 1958, due to sucrose which later contributes to CHD.
For experimental which was carried in animals showed that a sugar-rich diet leads to biochemical changes associated with CHD also increase in blood triglycerides and accumulation of sugar in the liver which later converts into fats.

Shocking sugar consumption!!

We consume through sucrose, fructose, lactose, fruit sugar juice, bread, fruit, kitchen sugar, veg, potatoes, etc.
1 cup of milk contains 10 gram of lactose(a type of sugar)
1 bread slice contains 2-3 gram of sugar
12-ounce of soda contains 8 teaspoons (32grams) of added sugar in it.
Added sugar consumption we daily take is
Soft drinks: 25% , fruit drink: 11% , sports and energy drink: 3% , coffee/tea: 7% , snacks and sweets: 31% (which is the highest).

On average, an adult in the united states consumes 22 tablespoons of sugar per day! Kids on other hand consume 34 teaspoons per day. That is the reason why 40% of kids are overweight in America.

Did you know - sugar is 8 times addictive as cocaine*
The more sugar you eat the more you crave. 

How much sugar is good?

As much our body needs a normal person should take 5% of there daily calorie intake from sugar.
That's means if you consume 2000cal in a day then you should only take 100cal of your intake as sugar.
In grams - you should consume only 25 grams of sugar a day.
This is for normal women consumption, for men it would be 5 gram more i.e 30 gram.
Now for those who are in sports or are doing work out then, they can stretch some extend and go till 35 grams of sugar a day. 

For people having health problems like diabetes and cholesterol, they should only consume 15gram of sugar daily.
Its the daily consumption of sugar from all sources not just packed sugar. That means you have to see every bite you eat and analyze how much sugar are you taking daily. Now that's the job.

How to cut down sugar?

Now, this is a very complex task to do, you could start with taking simple carbs which can break easily like bread, pasta which could convert into glucose and enter your blood.
Generally, your body spends more time digesting an apple because of the fiber content, so the natural sugar absorbs more slowly. On the other hand, the added sugar in soda arrives all at once in your system like a sugar bomb. All that extra sugar gets converted to calories much more quickly. Not so good for your system!

Sugar-free??

Sugar-Free

One serving* contains less than 0.5 grams of sugars, both natural and added. (Also: free of sugar, sugarless, no sugar, zero sugar, or trivial source of sugar.)

Reduced Sugar

Has at least 25% lesser sugars than the regular version of the product. (Also: less sugar, low in sugar or lower sugar.)

No Added Sugar

No sugar or ingredient containing sugar was added during processing or packaging. (Also: without added sugar or no sugar added.)

Is there a Healthier sugar alternative?

The answer to this question is yes but also that it should be taken in moderation because anything in excess is not good.

Apart from sugar, we can have Jaggery a healthy alternative which is derived from cane sugar itself but is not dangerous, in India jaggery is being used for many centuries. In fact, whenever anyone comes home in Indian typical village, he is first greeted with a piece of jaggery and some water so as to give some amount of glucose content, as the guest might be exposed to sunlight on a hot summer day.
Also, jaggery will help us with digestion problems as it keeps our gut health in good condition.
Tip: after having a meal take some piece of jaggery it will help for digestion.

Another alternative is Rock Sugar.

It is basically an unrefined product of sugar it has many health benefits like

1. It benefits in losing weight -
Take 1 teaspoon of सौ़फ (anise)  power with 1 teaspoon of rock sugar mix it and take it. You will see effects in a few days,  you can also try coriander powder for good results.
2. It is good for digestion
3. Helps in anemia and improve blood circulation
4. Good for instant energy.
5. Helps in diarrhea
  Take 10gram of Rock sugar with 10gram of coriander powder mix it with 100ml of water  and have this daily it can help you better than any pill

How to make healthier choices?

When you see a sugar content claim on a product, use the information on the Nutrition Facts label and ingredients list to make sure it’s a healthier choice. Know the American Heart Association’s recommended daily limit for added sugars. And follow these general tips:
Build an overall healthy eating pattern, including plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Eat mostly nutrient-dense foods, which tend to be lower in added sugars.
Choose products with less added sugars.
One of the best ways to reduce sugars in your diet is to limit sugary drinks, including soda, sweet tea, coffee drinks, sports and energy drinks, and sweet fruit juices like apple and grape. Make water your default choice.

How to make smart choices?

As per American heart association recommended daily limits for added sugar :

• Women's/kids

6 teaspoons
25grams
100 calories 

• Men

9 teaspoon
36 grams
150 calories 

So this is daily recommended limits to consume added sugar which we consume every day.
So where to look it for and how to cut down our intake up to daily limits -
We can divide it into 6 categories
Sugary drinks- flavored milk, sports and energy drinks, soda and soft drinks, coffee/tea, juice, and fruit drinks.
Sweetened and breakfast- breakfast energy bar, muesli, hot and cold cereals, yogurt, smoothies.
Syrups and sweets- syrup honey and molasses, jelly, jams, and spreads and candy.

Frozen treats- ice cream and gelatos, frozen yogurts, frozen desserts.

Sweets baked goods- sweet rolls and bread cakes, cookies and pies, donuts and pastries, snack food, and desserts.
Simple tips to avoid these-
Always check nutritional labels and ingredients
Limit sugary drinks and foods.
Replace candy and desserts with naturally sweet fruits.
Make items at home with less added sugar.

Checking labels

Food manufacturers are required to list the amount of added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label by mid-2021 or earlier depending on the size of the company.  A recent analysis found that this labeling could potentially prevent nearly 1 million cases of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes over the next two decades.  Listing the total amount of added sugars means that consumers will no longer have to search through the many different aliases for added sugars to try and determine how much added sugar food or drink contains.

Important points for High blood sugar and Diabetes-

We all know that excess consumption of sugar may cause obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, tooth decay, hyperglycemia, and many more complex type of health problems which is a very big problem throughout the world.
Blood sugar level for a fasted stomach should be below 100 and after a meal, it should be between 120- 130 but not exceed 140.
It is a fact that the more sugar you eat the more you crave for it.
If anyone reading this is having the above problem or one of their family members has it, they can reboot their health by following these simple steps.
1. Don't drink calories eat them
2. add proteins to your diets as much as possible.
3. Eat non-starchy veg/ carbs
4. Do not take much stress it can affect your cortisol levels which causes much insulin resistance.
5. Take sleep for at least 8 hours.
6. Daily 20 minutes of sun exposure is a must with little exercises.

**Note - all advice is for information purposes only, consult your doctors for serious ailments. 

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