Sunday, 28 August 2016

The Sweetest Poison of All by Radhika Ramesh



The sweetest poison of all

1.   What is refined sugar
2.   Fat vs Sugar
3.   How refined sugar affects your organs
4.   Food that contains refined sugar
5.   Alternates to refined sugar




What is refined sugar?
You probably don't think about what’s in your ice cream cone when you are licking it, or what’s in your lollipop when you were sucking it. Well you're about to find out!
In 1975, a doctor named Dr. William coda Martin said that sugar is a poison. He said this because poison is any substance of blood to the body, ingested or developed within the body, which causes or may cause a disease. In this article, you will see that sugar is not something good for our lives of help.
Sugar is the generic name for the sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates many of which are used in food. It is composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources.

Refined sugar is mainly put in food to make it sweet,but that are different types of sugar in different foods:
1. Glucose is the first type of sugar. It is very common. Our body uses it for fuel and energy. It helps my brain and sales.
2. Lactose is the next sugar. Lactose is only  present in dairy products.
3. Fructose is also a type of sugar. Fructose is the sugar that makes food sweet. It is that in lots of food that we eat.
4.sucrose is the last type of sugar. It is the table sugar we put in tea and coffee. It contains 50% glucose and 50% fructose.




Fat vs Sugar
Fat and sugar are both very bad for us, but how do we know which one is worse?

On September 1955, American President Dwight Eisenhower had attack. That brought heart disease to the forefront of the American population. Nobody knew what caused the heart disease, but they were two strong theories. One American doctor named Ansel Keys thought fat caused the problem. John Yadken, the British doctor thought sugar was to be blamed. After a lot of debates and research, Dr. Ansel Keys' theory gained acceptance with the public. After that, people started reducing fat from their diets, and ate low-fat products like energy bars and smoothies which were high on sugar. People do not realize the ill effects of excessive sugar on the human body so people have bad health these days.




Weird things sugar does to your body

You may think that you're strong organs can handle anything, but when refined sugar comes along, it's going to be one mighty battle!

Fructose [table sugar] and high fructose corn syrup in added sugars makes your liver store fat more efficiently, and in weird places. Over time a diet high in fructose could lead to lumps of fat building up in your liver. This could lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is something rarely seen before 1980.

Sugar is also addictive. It triggers the release of chemicals that set off the brain's pleasure centres, which means the brain needs more sugar to feel good. Once you are addicted, chattering teeth, tremors, shakes and anxiety happen when the sugar level in your body drops.

Sometimes, sugar can also affect your looks. Sugar in your bloodstream attaches to protein to form a harmful new molecule called Glycatation end products, or GTE's. They attack nearby proteins, including collagen and elastin, the components that keep your skin firm and elastic.  The result of too much sugar would lead to wrinkles and sagging, droopy skin.




Food that contains a lot of refined sugar

We need sugar for energy, so we put it in food, but how do we know when it's too much?

There is quite a lot of sugar in some food be eat. This would show you some of them:-

Sweet like candy, cookies, donuts and cake a very high in sugar, especially the ones at birthday parties, so limit your consumption of them.

Beverages hide a lot of refined sugar in them. Fruit flavoured drinks like fruit cocktails and fruit punch have a huge amount of sugar and little to no real fruit.

Cereal which is sugary, mostly geared towards kids, have high amounts of sugar. But there are many healthy breakfast cereals that you can eat instead.

You may think that sugar is only present in sweet things, but that is not true. Processed food like ketchup, barbecue sauce and salad dressing happen to be very high in sugar. Pasta sauces, frozen meals, canned fruits and vegetables also contain added refined sugar.




Alternates to refined sugar

It might seem quite hopeless trying to reduce eating sugar, so let's make it easier and eat some tasty alternatives!

There are various things that can substitute refined sugar that might taste exactly the same. Most of these foods should be eaten in moderation though.

Xylotol comes from the bark of the silver birch tree. It contains 40% less calories than standard refined sugar.

Stevia is made from the leaves of the plants species Stevia Redbondiana, which is part of the sunflower family. It doesn't promote dental cavities or raised blood glucose levels. It has around 300 times the sweetness of sugar.

Agave syrup originates in southern Mexico. It tastes compatible to honey. It does not result in dangerous sugar rushes like refined sugar does.

Coconut palm sugar is made from sap, which is the sugary, circulating fluid of the coconut palm. It is full of minerals like iron, zinc, calcium and potassium.




Now that you're finished reading and understood about sugar, I hope you will live a diabetic free, healthy life.

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