Sugar

Sugar

What Is Sugar?

Sugar is the generic name for soluble carbohydrates. (Please note: - All sugars are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates are sugars.)

Here are some sugars you may come across:

·         Glucose: occurs naturally in plants by photosynthesis. In our bodies glucose can be burned as energy or converted into glycogen. Our bodies can actually produce glucose when needed.

·         Fructose: is fruit sugar, occurring naturally. Fructose is also found in honey.

·         Sucrose: is a combination of the fructose and glucose molecule, and is known as “table sugar.”

·         Maltose: occurs when two glucose molecules combine. 

·         Lactose: is the sugar found in milk, and it’s composed of glucose and galactose.

We could go on and on…

Just about every food you eat will have some sugar in it. Most food even contains multiple forms of sugar.

 

Check out with banana as an example,

You can find different sugars in Banana (Dietary fiber 13%, Starch 26%, Maltose 0.5%, Sucrose 12%, Glucose 24.5%, Fructose 24%).

 

Most carbohydrates, like starch, are broken into simple sugars during digestion. Although some of them, like fiber, are not. 

 

Here we may be thinking, it looks like sugar is in everything, then why it’s bad for us?

 

Let’s check it out,

What Are the Sugar’s Impact on Fat Gain and Diabetes?

We’ll let science and studies guide us (as always), but we should introduce a caveat for the rest of this section: human beings are diverse and varied:

·         Some people do well on low-carb diets, while others on a low-fat protocol.

·         Some people thrive on a plant-based diet, while others need a little meat in their meal plan.

 

We probably who eat lots of sugary products are overweight.

The consumption of carbs or sugar are the main drivers of insulin release. One of the functions of insulin is to help us store fat.

So if we do the math here, eating carbs and sugars releases insulin, which then makes us fat. 

So now the next question is, are people eating too many calories in sugar form and becoming overweight? 

Or is their insulin response to sugar/carbs causing them to store extra calories and become overweight?

Answer is, only carb/sugar diet is not responsible.

The results? 

It doesn’t really matter whether subjects went low-carb or low-fat diet. Studies suggest that lower-fat diets seem to perform about the same as lower-carb diets with regards to weight management.^[5]

Weight management is really dependent on calories of any source. 

In other words: as long as you burn more calories than you consume, even if those calories come from sugar-filled processed food, you can lose weight.

But you can lose weight eating sugar, as long as you plan properly for how many calories you consume. 

It is recommended not to give up fresh fruit (just because of the sugar),

 

Other then fat gain, another main concern of eating sugars rests on blood sugar management. 

With type II diabetes, patients have a hard time regulating blood sugar with insulin. So the thought is to restrict sugar, the main driver of insulin.

 

It seem to be a link between the increased consumption of sugar and the risk of diabetes.

Even if you eat added sugar, you can minimize the risk by keeping your weight in control and getting some exercise. 

 

The Real Harm of Sugar (Empty Calories)

Here’s the big problem with sugar: 

No vitamins. No minerals. No antioxidants. 

Nothing. It just gives us calories. This is the real problem with sugar consumption!

The risk of diabetes (and even heart disease).

So, overall weight management comes down to managing calories consumed regularly.

And sugar has lots of calories (4 calories per gram of sugar).

 

Is the Sugar in Fruit Bad for You?

Fruit has the sugar (fructose) contained in its cell walls, so it’s literally covered in nutrients, even fruits are loaded with fiber and water, so it’s not strictly composed of fructose. 

Fitness stance on fruit: 

·         Fruit is healthy because it contains a lot of nutrients.

·         The fructose in fruit can provide you with a quick boost of energy.

·         Whole fruits contain lots of fiber, which is a good thing.

How about fruit juice?

Fruit juice isn’t much different than drinking soda; most of the fruits nutrients have been removed in the juicing process.

Thus, drinking a glass of fruit juice should only be done in moderat amount.

 

How Much Sugar Is Okay to Eat?

Sugar may not directly contribute to fat gain or other illnesses, but it’s still probably a good idea to manage your intake for all the reasons listed above.

By avoiding tons of sugar, you allow yourself to fill up on nutrient-dense foods that also happen to be low in calories. 

 

Again, we are all different, so our ability to handle and process sugar is varied. However, the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that sugar should only make up 10% of your daily calories.

That means if you follow a 2,000 calorie diet, 200 calories can come from sugar (or 50 grams).

 

If you find yourself feeling cravings for hyperpalatable foods, I want you to know you’re not alone. 

Here are some tips on how to manage “food cravings”: 

·         Don’t keep hyperpalatable foods in the house. 

·         PLAN for hyperpalatable food .

·         Create systems to lower the consumption of hyperpalatable food.

·         Consider removing these foods completely from your diet.

·         Consider buying low-calorie substitutions.

 

Sugar might not be the worst thing for you.

But how about “fake sugar” or artificial sweeteners?

·         Artificial sweeteners will not make you fat.

·         There isn’t much evidence in support of artificial sweeteners causing cravings for actual sugar.

 

Let’s recap this article for you and create a plan for where to go from here.

First up, that recap.

When it comes to sugar, we need to remember:

·         People are unique. What works well for you might not work for me.

·         Sugar is not the devil. There’s nothing specific to sugar molecules to make them dangerous.

·         Sugar is nutrient deficient. Table sugar will give you exactly & only calories.

·         Fruit and starchy vegetables can be healthy. The concern from sugar comes from “added sugar

·         The real danger of sugar can come when it’s engineered together with fat and salt. The term is “hyperpalatable food” and it’s specifically made to hijack your brain’s reward system. This can lead to food cravings.