Does the body need sugar? This is a question that interests not only nutritionists, but also ordinary people. This substance is often called the culprit of many diseases. There are various types of sugar, starting with simple ones called monosaccharides, such as glucose, fructose and galactose. In addition, there are more complex forms, the so-called disaccharides, such as sucrose, maltose and lactose.
The main types of substances
Before moving on to the question of whether the body needs sugar, you should understand its composition and types. It is a carbohydrate that can be extracted in various ways.
Here are the basic definitions for naturally occurring sugar:
- Glucose. In vivo, it is found in plants and fruits, and is a by-product of photosynthesis. In the body, it can be burned as energy or converted to glycogen. It is worth noting that the human body can produce glucose when necessary.
- Fructose. It is a sugar found naturally in fruits and berries. It is also formed naturally in cane sugar and honey, and is incredibly sweet.
- Sucrose. Contained in cane stems, beet roots, it can be found in vivo with glucose in some fruits and other plants.
- Lactose. In fact, it is milk sugar. This is what is created as a result of the process taking place in our body. Children have the enzyme necessary to break down the molecule to lactose. It is used by cells. And some adults cannot break it down. These are people with diagnosed lactose intolerance.
So, in nature there are several key types of sugar. But where does this complex compound related to carbohydrates actually come from, the question is interesting. It is created as a result of processing one of two types of plants - sugar beets or cane. These plants are harvested, processed and refined in order to ultimately produce pure white refined sugar that you know and love (or dislike). This substance has absolutely no nutritional value. It is not always useful. This is the answer to the question whether the body needs sugar. In most cases, it only brings an excess of calories in food.
What happens when sweet
Analyzing the question of whether the body needs sugar, one should pay attention to the principle of its action. This will help to understand at what point such a substance begins to have a negative effect when consumed. Depending on your genetic predisposition, your body may be better suited for processing sugar as energy, or you will most likely store it as fat. This can be attributed to people with a faster metabolism compared to individuals with a slower metabolism.
The problem is that in our body there is much more space for storing fat and it is much less for burning sugar as energy. When your pancreas detects its intake, it secretes insulin to cope with all this excess substance.
This hormone helps regulate blood sugar. The more it is, the more insulin is secreted. This compound helps to store all incoming glucose in the liver and muscles as glycogen and in fat cells (acadipocytes) as triglycerides. In this case, the question is whether the human body needs sugar, the answer will be yes.
Often the body struggles to establish the right balance (people very quickly add too much sweet to the body). An excess of insulin is released, which, ultimately, leads to a decrease in blood sugar levels below normal. This pathology is called hypoglycemia, essentially sugar.
Unfortunately, the more often this process occurs (the more sugar you consume), the more acute its level in the blood becomes and the more insulin is required. This means that it is becoming easier to abandon the use of sweets as energy and move on to the additional accumulation of hormone and fat. When answering the question of whether the human body needs sugar, the answer here will be negative. But do not forget that in this particular case, a sharp decrease in it will also lead to negative consequences.
Weight gain
Does the human body need sugar and how much is it needed? This is a question that deserves attention when forming a diet. It is important to observe and correctly calculate the diet. In addition to being overweight, sugar intake has been linked to a range of actions, including increasing the likelihood of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, macular degeneration, kidney failure, chronic kidney disease, and high blood pressure. You may now think that lowering your sugar intake may help get rid of these problems. But in fact, this is not entirely true.
When answering the question of whether the human body needs sugar and how much sugar is needed, it is important to consider individual characteristics and general health.
This is a good start, but it is only half the battle. The body actually processes certain types of carbohydrates in a similar way, as in the processing of sugar itself. There is a whole field of scientific research on how the body processes certain foods.
You probably heard about the glycemic index and its lesser-known indicator - glycemic load. Let's consider in more detail.
The glycemic index is a calculation of how quickly a certain type of food raises blood sugar on a scale of 1 to 100. Harvard researchers found that things like white bread, french fries and other simple carbohydrates affect blood sugar almost same as glucose (index is 100).
As a rule, the more refined (processed) food is consumed, the greater the likelihood that it will quickly turn into sugar in the body.
Manufacturer tricks
Large companies want to add value to their products in order to gain popularity and increase sales. Here it is worth asking whether the body needs refined sugar added for taste? The answer will be obvious. Many manufacturers implement it. At the same time, he does not bear any benefit.
Sugar is bad, and there is nothing secret. In addition, this is not news for companies that produce food. For this reason, firms began to mask sugar in their products, so it is not so obvious how much you consume.
Here is a short list of ingredients that say a particular product contains sugar:
- Agave Nectar.
- Brown sugar.
- Reed crystals.
- Cane sugar.
- Corn sweetener.
- Corn syrup.
- Crystalline fructose.
- Dextrose.
- Steamed cane juice.
- Organic evaporated reed juice.
- Fructose.
- Concentrates of fruit juices.
- Glucose.
- High fructose corn syrup.
- Honey.
- Inverted sugar.
- Lactose.
- Maltose.
- Malt syrup.
- Molasses.
- Raw sugar.
- Sucrose.
- Syrup.
Why do manufacturers change the name of sugar? Because in accordance with the law, the most important ingredients of the product must be indicated first. By putting two or three different types of sugar in food (and calling them differently), they can distribute this substance into three components, supposedly underestimating the level and its content in the mass fraction of the product. But this is wrong in terms of health. Does the body need refined sugar? The answer is no. It only harms and contributes to an increase in body fat.
How about a fruit sweetener?
Sugar for the body exists in different forms. This was discussed at the beginning of the article. Whether they are all equally useful or harmful, and which one is best used in the diet, is a question that will be discussed later.
When you consume fruits, you not only get fructose (in its natural state), but also consume fiber and lots of vitamins and minerals. Yes, fruits can affect your blood sugar. But, as a rule, they cause a smaller surge in concentration compared to pure table sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Fiber is also an important part of a balanced diet, and fruits can contain large amounts of it.
If your main goal is weight loss and you need to maintain a low intake of carbohydrates, you will have to minimize the consumption of fruits and eat vegetables instead.
How about fruit juices?
Sugar for the body can be harmful when consumed in various drinks. There are also a number of important nuances.
So, it has been found that fruits can be beneficial in terms of blood sugar when used properly.
Unfortunately, fruit juices do not fit into this pattern. And that's why. When you consume fruit juices, such as orange, apple or cranberry, they contain very little fiber and nutrients that remain in the process of preparing the liquid itself. The benefits and harms of sugar for the human body as an addition to juice are obvious here - it’s just sweet water with natural flavors, and it does nothing but harm. Of course, if you drink juice daily in large quantities.
Here is a typical amount of sugar per 0.5 liter for four popular drinks:
- Orange juice - 21 g;
- Apple juice - 28 g;
- Cranberry juice - 37 g;
- Grape Juice - 38 g.
At the same time, a small can of cola contains 40 g of sugar.
Use of alternative substances
There are other solutions that allow you to consume sweets harmlessly. The effect of sugar on the body may not be so harmful, given its origin and consumption. The diet should be accurately calculated.
Thus, in connection with the emergence of new studies on the dangers of sugar, companies are trying to protect their image by offering “healthy” alternatives so that they can become the best counterparts in the fight for excessive levels of this substance in the blood.
There are several main sweetener substitutes:
- Whether honey is a better alternative than regular sugar is an interesting question. Its attractiveness is that it is not just fructose or glucose, but a mixture of all kinds of compounds, minerals and much more. A study comparing this substance with various types of compounds yielded good results: “In general, honey improved blood lipids, lowered inflammatory markers, and had minimal effect on blood glucose.” However, it led to a decrease in its surge in rats compared with other types of sugar.
- Agave nectar is the latest fake of the “healthy eating industry.” Unfortunately, despite the fact that it is made from cactus, this product is so processed and refined that it contains a large amount of fructose (90%) and 10% glucose. In addition, the process of creating this component is similar to the synthesis of corn syrup with a high content of sweet matter.
- Aspartame So, many people switched to diet cola because they heard that regular soda can be harmful. It is known that 90% of diet sodas contain aspartame, an alternative to sugar created in the laboratory. Some brands of juice also contain it. And this substance should also not be consumed. Material studies have been inconclusive and varying. Although some laboratory tests mention an increased association of aspartame with cancer, many scientists believe that additional tests are needed.
- Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that is not high in calories, as the body is struggling to break it down. It is about 600 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar) and, therefore, can be consumed in smaller quantities to obtain the same desired effect. Sucralose is available in foods such as protein powders.
- Stevia is a natural sweetener from the sunflower family. It is about 300 times sweeter than table sugar and is said to have less effect on blood glucose.
- Saccharin is another artificial sweetener created in the late 1890s that is much sweeter than table sugar and therefore consumed in smaller quantities. This was associated with an increased risk of developing cancer in laboratory rats, and saccharin was found to be dangerous in the United States, although this label was removed in 2000 due to the fact that the results could not be reproduced in humans.
If you like sugar, then consume it from fruits or natural sweeteners. In view of the foregoing, in order to minimize the effect on its level in the blood, minimize the consumption of the substance in all directions. The effect of sugar on the body will decrease, and it will be easier for you to get rid of excess body weight.
Is there any addiction to sweets?
Many are interested in the question of how sugar affects the human body. Some people say that there is a dependency, others associate it with habit and stress. Sweet foods can cause the same physiological dependence as many medicines.
In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in the native low sugar environment. Therefore, they are not adapted to high concentrations of such flavors. Supranormal stimulation of these receptors by glucose-rich diets, such as those currently widely available in modern society, will generate a signal of satisfaction in the brain with the likelihood of overriding the mechanism of self-control, thus leading to dependence.
In other words, people are not genetically designed to consume the amount of sugar that they currently eat. For this reason, the brain receives the substance and identifies it with a pleasant feeling, as a result of ignoring other signals that say that enough has already been eaten. What is sugar harmful to the body in this case? A person compensates for many of his problems by overeating sweets. The result is overweight and addiction.
Major misconceptions
The effect of sugar on the human body is not always so dangerous. It is important to observe the measure and not try to replace many natural products with canned or packaged ones. While everyone may agree that sugar is not a healthy food, there is a lot of misinformation about how sugary foods should be included in your diet. They say, for example, that some types of sugar are healthier than others. But does it really help you quickly lose weight, get rid of acne, prevent mood swings or other health problems?
It turns out that the answers may not be what you think. Next, we consider the main misconceptions and decisions that in the future will help to compile and select the diet you need.
Any sugar is bad
How sugar affects the body has been said above. But in reality, everything is not so bad, there are pros and cons. You've probably heard over and over about how everyone should eat less sugar. But experts argue that it is necessary to minimize the consumption of so-called added sugar. This is a special ingredient in foods that makes them taste sweet (like brown sugar in chocolate chip cookies or honey).
The added sugar is different from the usual sugar found in nature in some foods, such as fruits or milk. On the one hand, the natural composition is distinguished by a set of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that help to compensate for some negative aspects of the high level of sweetener content. For example, fruits have fiber, which causes the body to absorb sugar at a lower rate.
Do not worry about fruits or dairy products (for example, milk or unsweetened yogurt). Sources of added sugar are desserts, sugary drinks or canned goods. This is what you need to follow.
There is also the fact that foods with a natural sweetener tend to contain less sugar in general. For example, you get seven grams of a substance in a cup of fresh strawberries and eleven grams in a bag of strawberry-flavored fruit biscuits.
The overpriced benefits of minimally processed sweeteners
“Sugar is the main source of energy in the body” - a statement that can easily be challenged. But there is some truth in this statement. It is true that minimally processed sweeteners, such as honey or maple syrup, contain more nutrients than processed ones such as white sugar.But the amount of these nutrients is negligible, so they probably will not have a noticeable effect on your health. For the body, all sources of sugar are the same.
Moreover, these natural sweeteners do not receive any special treatment in your body. The digestive tract breaks down all sources of sugar into so-called monosaccharides.
Your body has no idea if the substance came from table sugar, honey or agave nectar. It just sees monosaccharide molecules. And all these substances deliver four calories per gram, so all of them equally affect your weight.
It is necessary to completely abandon sweeteners
The benefits of sugar for the body are still there. Although there is more harm, this substance also has positive qualities. You do not need to completely exclude added sugar from your life. Different health organizations have different recommendations regarding its amount, which you should be limited to per day.
Dietary guidelines often state that an adult who consumes 2000 calories per day should eat less than 12.5 teaspoons, or 50 grams of added sugar per day. This is about the same as in one liter of cola. But the cardiological association of doctors claims that women should have less than 6 teaspoons (25 grams), and men should have less than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) per day. After all, your body doesn't really need sugar. So the less, the better.
The presence of sweeteners in almost every product
The path of sugar in the body is complex and long. If it is not properly broken down due to excess portions, the resulting substances accelerate the accumulation of fats.
According to dietary guidelines, 75% of citizens consume more sugar than they should. Not sure if you are one of them? Try recording your meals in the food tracking app for a few days. This may give you an idea of how much sweet you actually eat.
If you overdo it, the reduction should not be painful. Instead of saying goodbye to your favorite sweets, try eating smaller portions. After all, half a cup of ice cream has half as much sugar as a whole.
Watch for packaged foods as well. Bread, flavored yogurt, cereal and even tomato sauce may contain more sugar than you might expect. Therefore, pay attention to the composition and look for options that will help you stay within your daily limit of sweets.
Strong health effects
The effect of sugar on the body can lead to serious consequences. But this is not as obvious as it seems at first glance. You may have heard that eating sugar can cause heart disease, Alzheimer's, or cancer. A study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which involved over 350,000 adults over a decade, found that extra sugar intake was not associated with an increased risk of death. So far, of course, people have not begun to overdo it.
Excessive calories in our diets, including those due to sweets, contribute to weight gain, which can lead to obesity and chronic diseases.
Addictive
Sugar in the human body leads to the production of a number of hormones responsible for pleasure. As a result, a habit appears rather than a full-fledged addiction. Comparing sugar with drugs is not entirely correct. Experts know that its use stimulates the processes in the brain that are associated with a sense of pleasure and reward. Crossing paths can cause effects similar to substance use, but this does not make them as addictive as drugs.
So why do some people get so excited when they eat sugary snacks and feel like they need to eat sugary foods regularly to avoid excitement or, for example, headaches? Eating sweets causes a sharp drop in blood sugar, which can help them feel better.
People may want sugar, but it is unlikely that a person will be addicted. Addiction is a serious disease associated with real changes in the brain that prevent people from stopping using these substances.
Substitutes are a good alternative
The question whether the body needs sugar in its pure form has a simple answer - no. It is not a direct need for the human body and its functioning.
Experts still do not fully understand how sweeteners affect the body. But more and more evidence suggests that they can have a negative effect on blood sugar, hamper appetite control, and even damage intestinal bacteria. And these things can put you at risk for obesity and related health problems.
The absence of sweeteners allows you to quickly lose weight.
Of course, limiting sugar intake can help you achieve your weight loss goals. But only if you also remember your total calorie intake and control the process.
In other words, a 600-calorie egg sandwich and a sausage sandwich for breakfast, instead of the usual 300-calorie cup of sweet cereal, will not return to your desired shape, even if the sandwich is much smaller than the bar.
Many doctors recommend choosing unsweetened versions of the foods that you usually consume, such as plain yogurt instead of flavored. And if you can't find a good substitute, just gradually reduce the amount of sugar you add to foods like oatmeal, coffee, or smoothies.
Output
Sugar is not a healthy food, but it is also not a poison, as it is sometimes called. You can eat everything, but in moderation. Having calculated the balance, you can safely indulge in pleasure and eat sweet cakes with coffee or lemonade, but in moderation.