Is sugar really as bad as it is commonly believed?

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

On whether sugar really causes obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and whether there is a safe level of sugar for health.

What is sugar

Many people immediately think of the sweet white powder that we add to coffee when they say sugar. However, table sugar, or sucrose, is only one type of sugar used in food.

Sugars are low molecular weight carbohydrates, organic substances with a similar structure. There are many types of sugars: glucose, fructose, galactose and others. Various sugars are present in most foods, at least in small amounts.

Another name for low molecular weight sugars is carbohydrates. This group also includes:

• starch (an oligosaccharide found in potatoes, rice, and other foods);
• dietary fiber (in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits and berries);
• materials like chitin, which makes up the shell of crustaceans, or cellulose, which contains the bark of trees.

Ultimately, complex carbohydrates are broken down in the body into simple ones, and the only difference between them is the complexity and speed of absorption. For example, sucrose, a disaccharide composed of fructose and glucose, is digested faster than dietary fiber, a mixture of polysaccharides and lignin.

So if you eat a diet high in fiber, it takes longer to digest, your blood glucose levels rise slowly, and you feel full for a long time.

This is what distinguishes slow sugars, for example, buckwheat, from fast chocolate carbohydrates. In fact, they will be broken down into the same monosaccharides, but the low absorption rate (in addition to fiber and vitamins) makes buckwheat more useful.

Why we love sugar so much

The sugar molecules come in contact with receptors on the tongue, which tell the brain that you are eating something really tasty.

Sugar is perceived by our body as a good food because it is absorbed quickly and provides enough calories. In times of famine, this is crucial for survival, so a sweet taste is recognized by the body as something pleasant.

In addition, fruits naturally contain a lot of sugar, which are also full of vitamins, minerals and energy.

However, not all people are equally fond of sugar. Some people eat it in small doses - it is enough for them to eat one candy with tea to get fed up. Others will miss a whole box of sweet donuts.

Love for sweets depends on many factors:

• from age (children love sweets more and try to avoid bitter foods);
• from eating habits learned in childhood;
• from genetic characteristics.

Is sugar to blame for weight gain?

Sugar seems to be simple: the more sugar you eat, the more you get fat. In fact, everything is much more complicated. There are recent studies that show that sugar is not at all the root of all ills.

Study 1. The effect of carbohydrates, sugar and insulin on weight

In research. In 2015, Dr. Kevin Hall tried two diets, one low fat and one low carbohydrate, to find out which worked best.

During the study, 19 participants spent two weeks on each diet. The interval between diets was 2–4 weeks of regular meals.

The low-carb diet included 101 grams of protein (21%), 108 grams of fat (50%), and 140 grams of carbohydrates (29%). The low fat diet consisted of 105 grams of protein (21%), 17 grams of fat (8%), and 352 grams of carbohydrates (71%). The calorie count was the same in both diets.

As a result, people on a low-carb diet decreased insulin production by 22% during the day, they lost 1.81 kg of weight, of which 0.53 kg of fat. The participants on the low-fat diet did not change their insulin levels; they lost 36 kg (0.59 kg) fat.

Based on these results, scientists calculated how much fat people would lose on these diets in the long term. It turned out that after six months of adhering to such diets, their indicators will not differ.

In other words, it doesn't make much of a difference in the long run whether you eat a lot of carbs or a lot of fat if you fit your calorie intake.

Study 2. Sugar during diet

Another study, Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss. showed that, while observing the calorie norm, sugar consumption does not matter much. The study involved 44 women over 40 years.

For six weeks, all participants in the experiment followed a low-calorie diet: they consumed about 1,350 kcal per day, 11% of the total calories in the form of fat, 19% in the form of protein and 71% in the form of carbohydrates.

At the same time, half of the subjects consumed a large amount of sucrose (43% of the total amount of energy), and the other half - only 4%.

As a result, women in both groups experienced weight loss, decreased blood pressure, percentage of body fat and plasma fat. Small differences between groups were found only in cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels.

This study also proves that sugar does not affect weight gain or body fat when caloric intake is maintained.

There is another study., which proves that sucrose does not affect weight gain. In it, the two diets were identical in calorie intake and macronutrients, but in one sugar accounted for 25% of the total calories, and in the other - 10%. As a result, participants from both groups did not change their weight, glycemic profile, and vascular status.

Based on research data, a certain conclusion can be drawn.

Sugar does not contribute to fat storage unless you exceed your daily caloric intake and reduce the amount of protein you need.

However, sugar can still cause obesity, but not directly, but indirectly.

How Sugar Makes Us Fat

The negative effect of sugar on weight is due to the fact that sugary foods are very high in calories. By consuming more sugary foods, you run the risk of greatly exceeding your calorie intake, which leads to weight gain.

At the same time, as we said above, our body is very fond of sweet food and is able to consume it in large quantities. Such food is quickly and easily digested, stimulates the pleasure center in the brain and makes you consume it over and over again.

It is this aspect, and not sugar in itself, that makes sweets such a health hazard.

Does sugar increase your risk of type 2 diabetes?

With type 2 diabetes, the body develops insulin resistance and impaired glucose control. The hormone insulin can no longer do its job of transporting glucose into the cells of the body, so blood glucose levels rise.

This condition is also related to how much fat we accumulate in the liver or around other organs such as the heart or kidneys. And since excessive consumption of fast carbs increases the accumulation of body fat, sugar does increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

However, overall body fat and the amount of physical activity have the greatest influence on the onset of diabetes.

For example, a recent meta-analysis of Importance of weight management in type 2 diabetes: review with meta-analysis of clinical studies. showed that 60-90% of all diabetes of the second type is associated with excess weight, and not at all with the amount of sugar consumed. And the main goal of diabetes treatment is weight loss, not sugar.

This is due to the fact that body fat is not just energy reserves for the future, but biologically active tissue that produces hormones. If we have too much fat, it can disrupt metabolic balance, including how the body regulates blood sugar.

In most studies, scientists consider the main causes of diabetes:

• an increase in the percentage of body fat;
• lack of physical activity;
• genetic predisposition.

Controlling sugar intake is only a small part of preventing type 2 diabetes. Controlling the amount of body fat and physical activity are more important.

Does sugar affect the occurrence of cardiovascular disease?

As with type 2 diabetes, sugar indirectly increases the risk of heart disease. The high calorie content of sugar increases the possibility of gaining weight, and fat, as a biologically active tissue, increases the risk of heart disease.

In addition, as shown by the study cited above, a diet high in sucrose increases cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels, which also negatively affects the health of the blood vessels.

However, the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases is influenced by many different factors: the presence of bad habits, lifestyle, environment, stress level, physical activity, amount of sleep, consumption of vegetables and fruits.

The amount of sugar consumed certainly affects the health of the heart and blood vessels, but considering all the other factors listed above, this is just a small piece of the puzzle.

How much sugar can you eat without harm to health?

In the manual. on sugar consumption, the World Health Organization is calling for a reduction in refined sugar consumption by up to 10% of total calories. That is, if you consume 2,000 kcal per day, then 200 of them can be obtained from sugar. This is approximately 50 g or ten teaspoons.

However, the WHO notes that by reducing your sugar intake to 5% (25 g or five teaspoons) per day, you will reduce your risk of obesity and tooth decay.

It should be noted here that the numbers only refer to refined sugar, so you can eat sweet fruits without fear of breaking the prescription.

conclusions

It cannot be argued that sugar is a useful substance, since it is not. It is free of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, water and dietary fiber. If you eat a lot of sugar, you will not become stronger and healthier - there is no protein or unsaturated fatty acids in it.

But don't demonize him by dumping all your health problems on sugar.

Health, like disease, is built from many factors, and sugar alone cannot be the cause of obesity and the development of dangerous diseases.

Stick to your calorie intake, eat enough protein, fruits and vegetables - and a few tablespoons of sugar or a sweet donut will not harm your health and shape.