Why reduce the amount of sugar in the diet? Explains the experts
Can life be sweet without taking in extra sugar? Patients
also ask pharmacists every day about the harmful effects of sugar on health.
What is sugar?
Various sugars are naturally found in foods, such as fruit
and berry sugar (glucose, fructose), lactose or milk sugar. The labeling of
foodstuffs under the heading "carbohydrates including sugars" usually
indicates the total amount of sugars, both naturally occurring in the food and
added sugars. However, if sugar is mentioned first in the labeling of a food in
the "ingredients" section, or if several sugars are mentioned, such
as brown sugar, cane sugar, glucose-fructose syrup, glucose syrup, fructose,
such a product shall be considered as a product. with high sugar content.
Should and how much sugar to consume?
In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a
statement on the role of sugar in promoting overweight and obesity. The WHO
recommends that adults and children reduce the amount of sugar added to food
and drink on a daily basis, including honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice
concentrates. Sugar should consume no more than 10% of the total daily energy
intake, while it is recommended to reduce the amount of sugar in the diet to 5%
of the total daily energy intake to promote health.
The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of six
teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day for women and nine teaspoons (36
grams) for men. Most Americans consume much more added sugar, that is, 22
teaspoons a day (88 grams). This amount is easy to absorb, because only one can
of sweetened drink contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. Almost everyone knows that
sweets and lemonades contain a lot of sugar. In other products, too, it is not
particularly hidden, all you have to do is read the nutrition section of the
product label. Some good breads can prove to be an overweight contributor, as
100 grams of bread can contain eight grams of sugar. Sugar can be added as a
flavor enhancer, such as liver sausage, and 100 grams of pickles contains about
five grams of sugar, in the end the salty bun is actually sweet. Who would have
thought that a 400 gram heavy pizza contains as much as 14 grams of sugar, not
counting carbohydrates like starch! Salami pizza contains about 900 calories
and together with the sweetened drink it can be considered an attack on health
and body weight.
Is sugar a threat to human health?
The answer is simple: "No, Exceed of any thing is always dangerous.!"
Cardiovascular diseases. A 15-year study looked at the
effects of added sugar on heart disease. Respondents (regardless of age,
gender, level of physical activity, and body mass index) who ingested 25% or
more of their daily calories are twice as likely to die of heart disease as
those who added less than 10% to their diet. sugar - according to a study
published by Harvard Medical University. High daily sugar intake changes the
lipid profile - the so-called "bad" (LDL) cholesterol levels
increase, which contributes to the development of atherosclerosis.
Type 2 diabetes. Especially sweet drinks are associated with
an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In Latvia, every tenth adult
could have type 2 diabetes, but only a third of people who actually have
diabetes have been diagnosed with it. In the past, type 2 diabetes was called
senior diabetes, but now it unfortunately also affects children and adults.
Hypertension or high blood pressure. Salt is usually blamed
for increasing the risk of high blood pressure. A study published by the
American Society of Nephrology in Science Daily found that 4,528 adults who had
never had high blood pressure consumed 74 grams of sugar each day (with the
remark that such a small amount of sugar could be contained in, for example, a
small piece of cake). ), there was an increase in blood pressure of 28%, 36%
and 87%, respectively, at 135/85, 140/90 and 160/100 mmHg (assuming a normal
blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg).
Gout. It is already known that "painful arthritis"
or gout can be obtained, for example, by eating too much red meat, but the same
applies to fructose, which increases the level of uric acid in the blood during
the metabolic process. Elevated uric acid levels can also cause kidney damage
and the formation of uric acid kidney stones.
Liver disease. Too much glucose has a negative effect on
insulin and contributes to diabetes, but too much fructose can damage the
liver. The natural fructose in the fruit should not be worried. Fruits contain
not only vitamins, but also fiber. It is important! Therefore, you should not
"drink fruit", because squeezed fruit juices do not contain fiber. In
turn, the juice, as already mentioned, contains a lot of sugar.
More problems for the liver occur if fructose is ingested,
which is added as a sweetener to drinks, chocolate bars, breakfast cereals,
also honey 50% and agave syrup contains 88% fructose. If such products are
ingested very often and in large quantities, the liver becomes obese and is at
risk of developing fatty liver disease or hepatic hepatosis. If unhealthy
eating habits are reviewed and corrected in a timely manner, then it is a
reversible condition.
Dental health. Dental health is significantly affected not
only by oral hygiene, but also by eating habits. Tooth decay is mainly caused
by sugar-containing products - chocolate, sweet drinks, dried fruits. Bacteria
in the mouth consume the sugars in food and produce acid, which is one of the
causes of tooth decay. When snacking on something sweet, if you do not have a
toothbrush with toothpaste on hand, it is advisable to at least rinse your
mouth with clean water or drink a glass of milk, which will slightly neutralize
the acidic environment in the mouth.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Sugar is
thought to worsen or cause ADHD. However, the theory that ADHD contributes to
excessive sugar consumption is rejected in several important studies. Some
studies suggest that there is almost no doubt that hereditary factors play a
major role.
Premature aging. Telomeres, or sets of DNA, are located at
the ends of chromosomes and become shorter over the years, but their length
will be significantly shortened for sweet drinkers. People with long telomeres
age more slowly, according to a study published in the American Journal of
Public Health. It has been found that people who drink 350 milliliters of
sweetened drinks a day have shorter telomeres, which affects the aging of
cellular tissue by four years.
Sweet Substitute Suite
The pharmacist describes in more detail the various
sweeteners used to replace sugar. Several sugar replacement products are also
available in pharmacies.
Sodium saccharin - one of the first synthetic sweeteners in
the world. Despite its name, it is in no way related to sugar, is a synthetic
derivative of coal tar. People are not able to metabolize it, hence, it is
sweet but does not contain calories. Reports of carcinogenic effects in studies
in mice have been of great concern. Unlike humans, mice are able to metabolize
their compound. The results of the studies have not been epidemiologically
translated into humans either. Sodium saccharin has been used safely in food
sweetening since 1884.
Aspartame, acesulfame-K are amino acid derivatives with a
very sweet taste. They are estimated to be on average 200 times sweeter than
sugar. Although man is able to metabolize these substances, the amount required
is so small that they are considered calorie-free. It should be noted that
these sweeteners contain phenylalanine and may be dangerous for patients with
congenital genetic diseases phenylketonuria (inability to metabolize
phenylalanine). Excluding this small group of patients (an average of one in
12,000 people), these are harmless sweeteners.
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