Having conducted a recent quiz on sugar, this is the perfect opportunity to discuss sugar & how it impacts our health.
Sugar can be good for us or really bad if consumed in excess. I am going to discuss in detail types of sugar we should be consuming & those which should be excluded from our diet.
Food addiction is defined as pleasure eating behaviour involving consumption of enjoyable foods- foods high in salt, fat & sugar in quantities beyond meeting their daily energy requirements. For most corporate folks, consuming enjoyable foods is their dopamine. Food addiction shares some commonalities with pathological eating disorders such as binge eating. For sugar to be considered addictive, it will induce withdrawal symptoms. For humans to feel sugar induced withdrawal, a specific quantity of sugar must be consumed over regular time periods leading to neurochemical changes in the brain. Although it is difficult to prove that sugar is addictive, it is known that sugar is harmful & therefore we should watch out our sugar consumption. It takes a little bit more self control to curb our sugar cravings. The most important reason why our cravings for sugar increases/we have sweet-tooth is that eating pleasurable foods gives a particular message to our brain & this coupled with quick digestion of sugar induces craving more of such food items.
How can you evaluate if your pallet is inclined towards sugary foods or you are taking your sugar intake to harmful levels? Listening to your body is very important since it tells us when we had enough of sugar. Just because you are not feeling ill does not mean you are not causing damage to your body. Let us dig more into which types & how much sugar we should be consuming.
We all know sugar is an important aspect of our diet since it gives you required energy to keep moving, however excess consumption can be detrimental to our health.
Dietary guidelines recommend total calories from sugar should not exceed 10% total calorie intake on a typical day. Of 2000 kcal/ day, this translates into 50 grams of added sugar daily. An average American consumes 22 teaspoon (92 gram) sugar per day against recommended 25 grams. In the U.K, the sugar calories works out to be 14.7% of the total daily calorie consumption.
The daily recommendation for sugar according to American Heart Association varies by Gender:
- Women: A maximum of 6 teaspoons/100 kcal/ 25 gram of added sugar daily
- Men: A maximum of 9 teaspoons/ 150 kcal/38 grams of added sugar daily
High sugar foods contain > 22.5 grams of sugar per 100 gram & low sugar foods contain <5 grams of sugar per 100 grams. A high sugar drink contains > 11.25 grams of sugar per 100 gram & low sugar drink contains < 2.5 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
High consumption of added sugar can create pressure on your pancreas to increase insulin production to transport that excess sugar from bloodstream to different tissues in the body. Over a period of time if consumed sugar in excess regularly, your body becomes resistant to producing insulin & as a result your blood sugar level goes up. This increases the risk of diabetes & makes you overweight. This in turn increases triglyceride level & increases risk of inflammation & hypertension. Added sugar aids a lot in daily calorie intake, thereby leaving very less room for nutrient dense food such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy food & lean protein.
Let us discuss now different types of sugar:
- Fructose: Found in fruits & honey
- Galactose: Found in dairy & milk products
- Glucose: Found in vegetables, fruits & honey
- Lactose: Found in milk
- Maltose: Found in Barley
- Sucrose: Made up of glucose & fructose & found in plants
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