There's nothing bad you can say about sugar that will make it less tasty. Candy, chocolate, cereal and other delicious foods that start with 'c' are full of sugar and happy childhood memories.
Like many things we enjoyed as children, poorly drawn cartoons, going headfirst down a large metal slide, the majority of John Hughes filmography, when you become an adult, you just have to admit that some things are a bad idea.
Don't go thinking sugar is inherently evil. After all, it was first grown during India's Gupta dynasty, so it can be all bad, right? Sugar gets a bad wrap because we eat way too much of it, and that's easy to do since it's added to almost everything we eat.
Look at the ingredients on any food item. (Remember yesterday's post about protein, where I advised you to check out the nutritional information on food packaging? It's amazing how much easier it is to eat healthy when you actually pay attention to what you're putting in your body.) Most people know that sugar is listed as sugar, fructose, and high fructose (corn) syrup. However, anything you see in the ingredient listing that ends in -ose, is a form of sugar.
So sugar's everywhere, what's the problem? Fruit has sugar in it, and experts say you should eat that, like, 5 times a day. Well, my ignorant, hypothetical friend (those pop in blogs a lot), here's where we get to the really good information. ALL sugar is changed by the body into glucose. The difference is in how quickly the body absorbs this glucose.
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate when it's in forms like table sugar, syrups, honey, alcohol, white flour, etc. The body converts it to glucose quickly and rapidly absorbs it. This quickly raises the body's blood sugar level, and in response, insulin is released to lower the level. This is why sugar is bad for diabetics, and it's over comsumption can lead to Type II diabetes. But wait, there's more bad stuff. Insulin converts calories to triglycerides, which is how the body stores fat. So it also causes weight gain, increased fat, and is linked to obesity.
Sugar contained in fruits, vegetables, grains in their natural forms, and others are complex carbohydrates. These foods all have fiber in them, which slows the absorption of glucose. This means less or no insulin is produced, so you don't gain as much fat. So even foods with added sugars that have a high fiber content are better for you than the sugar you get from things like soda.
So how much sugar should you eat? As little as possible is a good rule, but if you want specific numbers from some experts you've never heard of, here you go: Sugar added to foods, either by the people who made them or by you, should account for 10% or less of your energy intake for a healthy diet. Women trying to lose weight should consume about 1400 calories, and men should get around 1700. Sugar (and other carbs) have about 4 calories per gram. That means 35 grams of sugar or less for women trying to lose weight, and 42.5 for men. If I really wanted to ruin your day, I'd inform you that a Snickers bar alone has 30 grams of sugar.
Tomorrow, let's investigate sugar substitutes.
