We love it and just can't resist it: sugar. Whether it's a cinnamon roll, ice cream or donut - the sweet temptation lurks around every corner and often hides in drinks, sauces or snacks. No wonder we eat way too much sugar, according to the Nutrition Society.
And let's be honest: it's just damn hard to resist the white crystals. But it's possible! In this article you will find out why we should reduce our sugar consumption and how this can work deliciously and without sacrifice.
What is sugar actually?
Sugar is a generic term for the carbohydrate class of saccharides – molecular chains made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms. A distinction is made between monosaccharides (simple sugars) such as glucose or fructose, disaccharides (double sugars) such as lactose and polysaccharides (multiple sugars) such as starch.
Sugar is naturally found in the form of single, double or multiple sugar in many foods such as honey, flour, milk or honey, but also in fruits and vegetables.
Sugar is usually made from vegetable raw materials such as sugar cane, sugar beets or corn. The food industry often uses this refined sugar to sweeten baked goods, drinks, sauces and other products.
Sugar can have many different faces and can be found in a wide variety of products. Nowadays, when people talk about “sugar,” they usually mean refined, white table sugar.
That's why sugar is demonized.
Okay, so sugar is a carbohydrate and tastes seductively sweet. So what?
Well, that wouldn't be so bad if sugar didn't contain so many calories - there are a whopping 405 kilocalories in 100 grams of sugar. The problem: When making household sugar, the vitamins, minerals and fiber contained in the raw materials are destroyed. This means that white household sugar unfortunately provides nothing other than calories and a blood sugar rollercoaster .
Consuming too much sugar can lead to health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease or metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Sugary foods and drinks also convert certain bacteria on our teeth into acid, which can then attack tooth enamel and cause tooth decay. Sugar molecules also promote the growth of intestinal bacteria, which can cause inflammation in the intestines. The intestinal flora is also negatively affected by high sugar consumption, as a high sugar level in the intestine reduces the production of intestinal cells that are necessary for maintaining a healthy intestinal flora are important, is inhibited.
Sugar addiction: What is really going on?
Do you know the feeling that you can't get enough of sweet treats and are literally addicted to them? You are not alone in this. Because refined sugar can actually be addictive and act like a drug.
The reason for this is that our body releases dopamine when we eat sugar. This neurotransmitter has a positive effect on our mood and triggers a feeling of reward. The result: We are motivated to repeat this behavior in order to be rewarded again - in this case, to eat more sugar. This can make it difficult to regulate sugar consumption.
Is sugar just sugar?
Sugar comes in a wide variety of shapes, colors and variants. Here are some types of sugar found in foods:
- Table sugar: The most commonly used sugar. It is made from sugar cane or sugar beets and contains almost no nutrients other than carbohydrates and calories.
- Brown sugar: Is also made from sugar beets and sugar cane. In contrast to white sugar, it contains more molasses and therefore has a slightly caramel taste - but similar to white sugar in terms of nutrients.
- Icing sugar: Icing sugar is finely ground white sugar and is used in baking and to refine desserts.
- Whole cane sugar: The name sounds tempting and somewhat “healthy”, but whole cane sugar is also made from the juice of sugar cane. In contrast to table sugar, however, it is an unrefined type of sugar, but whole cane sugar only contains small amounts of minerals and vitamins and therefore does not offer any significant advantages over refined sugar.
- Fructose: Fruit sugar or fructose occurs naturally in fruits and some vegetables.
- Milk sugar: Milk sugar or lactose provides the sweet taste in cow's milk.
- Coconut blossom sugar: The natural alternative to table sugar is obtained from the nectar of coconut blossoms and contains slightly more nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc, and also scores with a lower glycemic index.
Recommendations: This is how much sugar you should have per day
Let's be clear: Too much sugar is bad for your health and should therefore be avoided. But how much is too much?
According to the German Nutrition Society as well as the German Obesity Society and the German Diabetes Society, the maximum sugar intake for an adult is 50 grams per day - maximum.
The World Health Organization even goes one step further: Its recommendation is to consume a maximum of 10 percent of your daily calories in the form of sugar, and preferably just five percent. In grams, this requirement corresponds to a maximum of 25 grams per day.
Reality Check: This is how much sugar we really eat
And how much sugar do we eat now? Reaching the maximum amount of sugar per day is much easier than you think. A teaspoon of sugar in coffee contains around 5 grams, a bread with nut nougat spread has 11 grams of sugar and a glass of orange juice has a whopping 25 grams of sugar. As you can see: we often blow up our sugar account with breakfast.
Not to mention the hidden sugars that are literally waiting to be eaten throughout the day: ketchup, for example, contains 22 grams of sugar, a fruit yogurt from the supermarket (100 grams) has 5 grams and even a frozen pizza has 5 grams sugar on.
So it's pretty easy to exceed the daily sugar recommendations. That's why the motto is: reduce sugar.
Tips for reducing sugar consumption
The best way we can reduce our sugar consumption is to avoid obvious sugar in spreads, drinks and the like. It's often enough to take a look at the product's list of ingredients to realize that it's a sugar bomb.
The first rule is: eat as naturally as possible. The more unprocessed the ingredients, the more likely they are not sugar bombs.
Where possible, sweeten with natural alternatives such as fruit puree, date syrup or rice syrup to reduce the consumption of white sugar. But: Even with natural sweeteners and sugar alternatives, it shouldn't be too much of a good thing: Naturally sweet foods such as dates or fruit juices also contain a lot of sugar.
Try replacing high sugar products with alternatives:
Instead...
Fruit juice: Use spritzers with a mixing ratio of 1:4 (juice:water)
Nut-nougat cream : Use nut butter , which is rich in fiber and naturally sweetened
Breakfast cereals: Vary your breakfast and sometimes rely on porridge or yoghurt. When choosing your cereal, make sure it contains less than 8g of sugar per serving and make sure the first ingredient on the ingredient list is not sugar.
Cow's milk: Try almond drink! Cow's milk contains almost 50 grams of sugar per liter - almond milk (unsweetened), however, contains zero grams.
Cookies and cakes from the bakery: Make your own sweet treats and snacks - then you have full control over how much sugar ends up on your plate. Try this protein chocolate hazelnut dough - it's free of refined sugar and is guaranteed to kill any sweet cravings.
Caution with light products
Light products are often advertised as a healthier alternative, but in many cases they are not as healthy as they seem:
- They are often more processed and contain additives such as emulsifiers and thickeners to improve taste and texture.
- They often contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose or saccharin. Although these are calorie-free, studies have shown that they are associated with health risks such as metabolic disorders, weight gain, diabetes and cognitive disorders. They also only make consumers believe that they are eating something sweet - and therefore only increase their sweet cravings.
- They contain more sugar or more fat than the comparison products. The calculation is very simple: If fat is removed from a product, carbohydrates must be added so that the taste and consistency are retained. So if a light product contains less sugar, you can be sure that it contains more fat - and vice versa.
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