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Can you imagine your life without it? There are few among us who are indifferent to the sweet taste of this … by common belief, “harmful” product. Why are we so attached to it?
We reward ourselves with sweets, whether we’re fighting stress, trying to cheer ourselves up, lift our spirits, or celebrate an event. Whether in the form of sweet crystals or in intricate desserts, sugar literally delights our senses.
However, a strong reputation as a “bad product” inevitably weighs down with weight anxiety and guilt. Where did he get this almost demonic, seductive and destructive character? To understand why people are addicted to sugar, we had to turn to other, lesser-known facts about the effects of sugar on the brain and immunity, its relationship with stress, mood swings, and lifestyle.
What’s this
Sugars are a class of crystalline substances, simple carbohydrates, these include sucrose, lactose, glucose. They are found in large quantities in sugar cane, sugar beets, fruits, honey, maple syrup. Sugars are also present in some cereals, but in much smaller quantities.
“Sugary foods are excellent sources of energy,” explains Gerard Apfeldorfer, a psychotherapist who specializes in eating disorders. “It is the favorite fuel of the cells of our body.”1. There are many types of sugars, consisting of molecules of more or less large size.
The so-called simple carbohydrates do not require long digestion, but are transported directly into the blood. As a result, blood sugar levels rise sharply. Scientifically speaking, sugary foods, and of course food sugar itself, are high glycemic foods.
The glycemic index measures how quickly the body processes a particular food for energy. Foods with a low glycemic index (complex carbohydrates) – whole grains, starchy vegetables and fruits – take longer to digest, which ensures that sugar is gradually absorbed into the blood. That is, simply put, the body receives the energy it needs slowly and gradually.
History of sugar
Sugar cane is native to the islands of New Guinea. Gradually, it began to be cultivated in Asia, India and Polynesia – sweet crystals were obtained by evaporating cane juice. Sugar became known to Europeans only in the Middle Ages: the Crusaders brought a “new spice” from the East. Then sugar was available only to the elite and remained a real luxury for several more centuries. To produce “white gold”, as sugar was called by the British colonists, millions of slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas in the early XNUMXth century. The income from sugar cane plantations could be compared to today’s oil income. By the middle of the XNUMXth century, the situation had changed: sugar began to be extracted not only from cane, but also from sugar beet, which grows in a temperate climate. This significantly reduced the cost of sugar. At the end of the XNUMXth century, this product became available to all segments of society.
Clean energy
The most common accusation against sugar is that it contains nothing but pure calories: no vitamins, no trace elements, no ballast substances. Sugar gives us “fast” energy and its sweet taste.
It entered the history of mankind relatively recently, several centuries ago, with the spread of sugar cane culture, after which it turned from a delicacy into a product of daily consumption. It is with such a high consumption of sugar that scientists associate modern metabolic diseases – obesity and acquired diabetes.
The brain and immunity
“Sugar suppresses the immune system,” says nutritionist Nancy Appleton, “and causes most food allergies, which in turn lead to chronic disease.”
She has no doubt that by eliminating sugar from our diet, we could prevent migraines, osteoporosis, cataracts, depression and some serious diseases associated with DNA damage in 90% of cases.
Scientists at Loma Linda University (USA) discovered that the abuse of sugar affects the work of phagocytes – blood cells that protect the body from pathogens. It turned out that after the consumption of sugar, the number of phagocytes is significantly reduced, in addition, the higher the blood sugar level, the less active phagocytes become.
To some extent, sugar affects the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Some scientists even refer to it as type XNUMX diabetes. Biologists from the University of Alabama (USA) tested the effect of sugar on the learning ability of rats2. Two groups of animals were fed the same food, but one was also given sweetened water. Animals of this group began to show increased nervousness, their ability to learn sharply decreased, and the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease appeared.
Sweeten stress?
In difficult moments, experiencing stress or depression, we often experience a desire for sweets – consciously or not, we are trying to “sweeten” our lives. In fact, the habit of “seizing trouble” not only does not help relieve stress, but exacerbates the situation.
“Increased blood sugar levels are the body’s natural response to stress,” explains Valery Sergeev, Ph.D. – This is a kind of signal for the mobilization of forces. With a sedentary lifestyle and a high consumption of sugar, its level in our blood is constantly elevated. Our body seems to be under constant stress.” Thus a vicious circle is formed.
In addition, we can say that sugar is addictive, and the rejection of it is often associated with discomfort: it causes nervousness, irritability, sometimes sweating or headache.
Sweet habits
“By the nature of the impact on the body, sugar can be compared to a drug,” says nutritionist Alexei Kovalkov. “It gives us a sharp burst of energy followed by a sharp drop until we take our next dose.”
The effect of sugar on the brain is akin to an opiate, says narcologist Yakov Marshak: “Sweets cause a feeling of sweet bliss, happiness for a short time, after which there is a sharp decline in mood that lasts several hours. In our clinic, in order to cure a person of drug addiction, we need to rid him of mood swings. We have to exclude sugar from the diet and develop a new habit: to get from food not a feeling of sweet bliss, but a surge of energy.
Not sugar?
Nutritionists consider ten teaspoons of sugar a day to be perfectly acceptable. But this also includes the so-called hidden sugar – the one that we eat with cookies, chocolate, desserts, as well as the one found in a wide variety of products – from convenience foods to ketchup.
Hidden sugar in our diet, according to Nancy Appleton, can be 50 or even 80 teaspoons a day – after all, only a standard bottle of cola contains up to 16 spoons. In addition to artificial sweeteners, whose health benefits are questionable, there are natural sweeteners: stevia, agave juice, natural honey.
Stevia is 300 times sweeter than sugar, but does not alter blood glucose levels. The same with agave juice – however, Dr. Appleton believes that frequent use of agave overloads the liver. And honey is often the cause of some cases of allergies…and nutritional discussions at the same time.
“This is a unique product that is given to us by nature itself,” says Valery Sergeev. – Yes, it is a simple carbohydrate that goes directly into the bloodstream and raises sugar levels. But it is incredibly rich in all sorts of trace elements and vitamins that are really good for health.”
The sweetness of freedom
All these facts are convincing enough to say: “Yes, it would be nice to eat less sugar.” Does this mean that our life will become unsweetened? No, rather, it will be about returning her true sweetness, freeing her from habit, attachment, dependence. Gradually change your relationship with sweets. To discover a lost (or missing) taste in communication with friends or family, in work or hobbies, in reading a book or in the activity of one’s own body. To find again the key to the pleasure of other, most diverse taste sensations. Start living as if sugar were a delicacy again.
Carbohydrates for health
The war on sweets is pointless, insists Dr. Gerard Apfeldorfer. To stay in good health, it pays to keep the glycemic index of our meals generally low.
- Low glycemic foods: lentils, white beans, milk, yogurt, apples, pears, cherries, grapes, grapefruits.
- Foods with an average glycemic index – if consumed separately: regular sugar, oatmeal, potatoes, bananas, rice, green peas, pasta, oranges.
- Foods with a high glycemic index – if consumed alone: carrots, honey, breakfast cereals, bread, dry bread.
We lower the overall glycemic index of the menu:
- reducing the time of thermal processing of products;
- preferring cooked whole foods to chopped ones;
- consuming fiber or fat along with carbohydrates;
- avoiding the separate use of “fast” sugars. Example: bread and potatoes – but only as part of a full meal. Or: a piece of bread for an afternoon snack – but with a piece of cheese; candy – but as a dessert, not a separate “dish”.
1 G. Apfeldorfer “Losing weight is in the head”. Odile Jacob, 2007.
2 Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2007, vol. 282.