Introduction
Sugars are one of the most widely known sweet foodstuffs, basically extracted from sugarcane and beet roots. They are one of the major sources of food energy and chemically regarded as carbohydrates. People all around the world eat sugar incorporating it in different foodstuffs so as to make sweet and tasty bite.
Originally, people used to chew sugarcane to extract its sweetness. About two thousand years ago, for the first time in history, lndians discovered the process to crystallize sugar from the concentrated juice of sugarcane. The improvements in the refining of the crystal granules were followed then after. The development of beet sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Sugars commonly found in food are either simple sugars such as glucose and fructose (found in fruits) or mixed sugars such as sucrose (table sugar = glucose + fructose) and lactose (milk sugar = glucose + galactose).
In general, the term "sugar" represents Sucrose or table sugar. The rate of consumption of sugar is increasing globally every year. Between 2000/2001 and 2013/2014 global sugar consumption grew from about 130 to 178 million tonnes, and is expected to increase further every year.
Its Health Impacts
“Credit Suisse’ s Research institute in September 2013” reported the deadly impact of sugar on the overall health of Americans. According to them approximately “30 - 40 %”( about one trillion dollar per year) of healthcare expenditures in the USA were due to the excess consumption of sugar. This data alone is sufficient to get an idea about the deadly impact of sugar in our health.
Dr. Robert Lustig, in 2009 and many other researchers time and again have investigated the strong connection between sugar consumption and the epidemic of degenerative diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis and heart disease.
Research also has shown sugar as one of the single most deadly aging eatables known. According to L. Melton, due to the high blood sugar levels over a long period of time diabetics age prematurely and suffer a very high incidence of nerve artery and kidney damage.
It is also extremely detrimental for our bone health. Sugar depletes key nutrients, " specifically calcium, magnesium, and copper from our teeth and bones. Sugar is acidic and that is why, it robs these minerals from our bones and excretes it through our urine. A study published in “The Clinical Blochemist Reviews” reports that sugars such as mannitol and glucose cause a marked increase in magnesium excretion. This supports that sugar destroys magnesium of our body's as well. Intake of too much sugar over long periods of time can affect the natural balance of hormones responsible for the critical functions in the body. Intake of sugar increases glucose level in the bloodstream, which leads the pancreas to release insulin. Higher levels of insulin, in turn, make the body to store more food calories as fat. Fat cells that accumulate around our midsection upset our body's normal chemical balance leading non communicable diseases of modern society such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
Insulin also affects our natural appetite suppressant hormone called leptin, which tells our brains whether we are full or not and can stop eating. Imbalanced insulin levels, along with high consumption of certain sugars, such as fructose, has been linked to a condition called leptin resistance, in which the brain cannot get the message to stop eating, thus promoting weight gain and obesity. Scientists have also shown that sugar stimulates brains as in the people addicted to drugs such as cocaine and alcohol. These stimulations are linked to a heightened craving for more sugar and contributing to further weight gain.
There are a large number of scientific evidences that fructose is toxic to the liver like an alcohol. All added sugars in different foodstuffs contain a maximum amount of fructose. High fructose corn syrup for example contains more than 50% fructose while table sugar contains 50% fructose. Fructose, unlike any other sugar is processed in the liver. Small amounts of fructose are not a problem for our liver. For e.g., while eating an apple or an orange, its sweetness comes with a lot of chewing and also the fiber present in it slows down its digestion process. However, intake of high doses of fructose throughout the day (as with the case of soft drinks or sweets) without fiber makes our bodies difficult to handle it and becomes a serious health hazard.
When the liver has to tackle more fructose than its need for energy. excess of fructose is broken down and transformed into a type of fat known as triglycerides. Some of it is exported into the bloodstream and selectively deposited around our midsection and internal organs. People who eat or drink too much fructose thus can have apple shaped belly known as ”sugar belly."
Liver diseases over a long period of time were regarded as life-threatening disease only for alcoholics. But in the recent past years there has been established a relationship between the fructose consumption and liver disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are two such conditions related to excessive consumption of fructose.
Several studies have repeatedly confirmed that sugar is one of the single important dietary causes responsible for dental caries. Both the frequency and amount of sugars consumed are responsible to speed up dental caries. Another study published in the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” based on the study of 70,000 women found that diets higher in added sugar and refined grains, like white bread, were associated with a higher risk for depression a few years later.
A study published in the journal “Mayo Clinic Proceedings” in 2015 has concluded that a calorie from sugar is much more dangerous to the body than a calorie from other natural foodstuffs containing carbohydrates like starch.
Guidelines on Sugar
The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has accused the sugary drinks as one of the main contributors for child obesity around the world, especially in developing countries. In this context, WHO revised sugar intake guidelines-2002 in late 2014 recommending the reduction of sugar by half to prevent different health problems. in March 2015 WHO issued a guideline-3 on sugar regarding the health implication of excess sugar consumption. It defines more than 10% of total calories per day as too much sugar for both children and adults.
For an average daily diet containing 2,000 calories, 10% of total calories is equivalent to about 50 grams of sugar or around 12.5 teaspoons. Accordingly, WHO suggests keeping the intake of sugar less than 12 teaspoons a day which is possible if we could refrain from consuming most of the packet and processed foods. For further health benefits, the guideline suggests keeping sugar consumption to below 5% of total calories per day, the equivalent of about 25 grams of sugar or around 6 teaspoons.
Conclusion
The consumption of excess sugar is rampant in the modern society of today. The excessive use of sugar has provided us with alarming health risks like obesity, heart diseases and diabetes. For healthy individuals it is unwise to imagine restriction of sugar in their diets, but it is high time to reduce its rampant and increasing use.
The truth Is that sugar should not be regarded as the inevitable food of our daily life. We should refrain from the sugary products as far as it is possible and focus on nutritious foods. Vegetables, milk, legumes, whole grain and other nutritious diets provide everything we need for optimal health, and also help to suppress the addiction for sweets.
The best choice for good health is to reduce the use of sugar and pick up healthy alternatives to ensure a healthy and happy life.
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