You’ve made the promise time and time again to cut back on your sugar intake, to swear off soft drinks and save that slice of cake for your cheat day. Sugar has always been the bad guy for anyone attempting a dietary change, but why? Surely our bodies could benefit from a little sugar, right? Moreover, where else can sugar be found aside from sweets and confectionary?
Sugar is a carbohydrate and carbs, despite their bad rep, play a role in a healthy, balanced diet. However, not all sugars are the same. Common sugars are sucrose, fructose and lactose, containing only one or two sugar molecules. Starch and fibre are complex carbohydrates, made up of hundreds of sugar molecules. Sugars and simple starches are easily digested by the body, but sugars that cause a rapid spike in blood sugar levels and are often considered “bad sugars.”
During digestion, these sugars and simple starches are processed into glucose, which is your body’s primary source of energy. Most dietitians recommend at least 130 grams of daily carbohydrates, along with 38 grams of fibre for men and 25 grams of fibre for women.
Simple sugars can be naturally found in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains. These can pack a range of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and fibre. Fibre is vital since it slows down and moderates the absorption and impact of sugar. Meanwhile, all the beneficial vitamins and sugars in added sugars will typically have been refined away. Again, balance is key. If added sugars can’t be avoided, counter it with fibre and other nutrients.
Aside from weight gain, bad sugars also increase the development of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Bad sugars are essentially empty calories. In a 355 ml can of generic soft drink, there are about 33 grams or 8 teaspoons of sugar, which is 128 calories. Counting calories aside, when sugar enters your bloodstream, your pancreas releases insulin, which enables sugar to move into cells and be stored as fat. Extra sugar also causes an increase in triglycerides, which contributes to cardiovascular disease.
It’s important to keep an eye out for seemingly healthy foods and drinks with added sugars. In many ways, fruit juices, for example, aren’t any healthier than soft drinks. In fact, they can be worse. The sugar in fruit juice is fructose which can stress the liver as well as possibly cause greater weight gain than glucose. Also, added sugar winds up in a lot of unexpected places, like soup and pizza.
So, what are some acceptable and natural sources of sugar? You can indulge in fruits like apples, avocado, bananas, dates, grapes, grapefruit, lemons, limes, oranges, and pears. Vegetables are great such as artichokes, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, brussel sprouts, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, kale, mushrooms, onions, and spinach. Don’t be fearful of starches like beans, whole grain bread, oatmeal, peas, quinoa, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash, and turnips. For snack time, reach for rice cakes, plain yogurt or nuts.
