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Even if you are not buying sugar in a store and you think that you are not in danger of overdosing on it, you are wrong. It is hidden in many products consumed daily in surprising amounts. And while sugar itself is not poison, it can be addictive, and excess sugar is deadly.
- Excess sugar in the diet leads not only to overweight and obesity, but also to serious chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer
- The NFZ statistics show that in Poland nearly 1,4 thousand deaths per year are due to the consequences of excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
- Sugar is hidden not only in white cubes and sweets, but also in fruit yoghurts, sauces, ketchups, mustards and carbonated drinks
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
A Pole consumes as much as 12 kg more processed sugar in food and beverages per year than 10 years ago – according to the report “Sugar, obesity – consequences” prepared by the analysts of the National Health Fund in 2019. As a result, three out of five adult Poles are overweight, and every fourth is obese. Meanwhile, overweight and obesity are the cause of many diseases, including fatal ones. The risk of developing, for example, type 2 diabetes is up to 40 times higher in obese people than in people with normal weight.
What was the fault of sugar?
In chemical terms, sugars are another name for carbohydrates. Therefore, they are included in not only sweet products, but also pasta and rice. They are essential for the nutrition of every cell in our body. Colloquially we call sugar sucrose obtained from sugar beets or sugar cane.
The main cause of problems with the amount of sugar we eat is that we find sugar in most highly processed foods that we eat too much. The excess sugar is waiting for us in carbonated drinks, sweets, ready-made, packaged dishes, sauces, etc. It is because of them that we deal with extra kilos. Meanwhile, overweight and obesity are becoming more common causes of death than smoking. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) emphasizes that obesity is not only a factor in developing cancer, but also worsens the prognosis of patients and increases mortality from this disease.
Obesity leads to the development of diabetes and atherosclerosis, joint and spine diseases, and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. It also causes sleep apnea. The authors of the “Sugar, obesity – consequences” report estimate that nearly 1400 deaths a year in Poland result from the excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
According to experts, excessive sugar consumption, obesity and the related health consequences may mean for the average Pole an average reduction in life of 15 years.
People who consume a sugar-sweetened drink once or twice a day have 26 percent. a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who consume less of this type of drink. Sugar is also the cause of tooth decay. The bacteria responsible for its formation love sweets and reproduce perfectly after them.
Why Do We Abuse Sugar?
The average Pole in 2018 consumed over 50 kg of sugar, although its sales in Polish stores decreased. How did we do it? We eat sugar not only when we sweeten coffee or tea. We eat it in sweets, fruit yoghurts, sauces, ketchups, mustards and carbonated drinks.
We often feel that drinking a refreshing drink provides much less sugar than a fat donut. The caloric content tables, however, show that a 100-gram traditional donut has 23 g of sugar, and for comparison, a 330 ml can of the popular carbonated drink is 36 g, and a 250 ml can of energy drink – 27 g. This quenching of thirst is the easiest way to obesity. A half-liter bottle of sweet carbonated drink has about 200 kcal. This is roughly the same as a small serving of pasta with tomato sauce. However, no one gives up dinner for a drink, which means that it provides as many calories as if you had eaten two dinners.
The most dangerous are beverages sweetened with glucose-fructose syrup. Ordinary sugar is processed in every cell in our body, fructose only in the liver cells, which poses a risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. The overuse of fruit juices also leads to an overdose of sugar. Pineapple and banana juice have more calories than some sweetened carbonated drinks. They are healthier, of course, but you shouldn’t overdo it.
You can replace sugar in your diet with healthier substitutes that you can buy on Medonet Market, for example:
- White mulberry,
- erythritol,
- xylitol / Danisco xylitol,
- agave sugar,
- stevia in crystals,
- maltitolem,
- unrefined golden beet sugar,
- brown sugar with cane molasses,
- bio coconut sugar.
Also try cane sugar with rose petals, which is great for desserts, pastries and everyday use, and is much healthier than regular white sugar.
What does sugar contribute to diabetes?
Prof. Krzysztof Strojek, a national consultant in the field of diabetes, emphasizes that obesity affects the development of type 2 diabetes. Insulin produced by the pancreas is responsible for the conversion of glucose consumed with food into energy needed for the work of every cell of the body, and thus for maintaining its proper concentration in blood.
Figuratively speaking, insulin is the key to opening the cell’s door to glucose. As a result of obesity, the cell walls stretch and the insulin key no longer fits into this bracket. As a result, the level of unused glucose in the blood rises. Alarmed by this, the pancreas produces more and more insulin, which causes it to overload and strain. Eventually, the pancreas stops working as it should. This means that glucose cannot enter the cells. Its long-term high level devastates primarily blood vessels – explains Prof. Outfit.
The destructive activity of diabetes
– Diabetes is not a problem of increased blood glucose levels, but its consequences leading to a heart attack, stroke, disability due to limb amputation, loss of vision, the need for dialysis and damage to the nervous system – warns prof. Outfit.
He adds that it is a very insidious disease because it destroys the body without showing any symptoms for a long time. The life of diabetic patients who have already developed cardiovascular complications is reduced by 12 years. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has warned that the number of diabetics worldwide has nearly tripled in the past 20 years as a result of the escalating obesity epidemic. Diabetes has been hailed by the United Nations as an epidemic of the 3st century. Currently, about XNUMX million people suffer from it in Poland, and the number is still growing. In addition, there can be many more diabetics because many people are unaware that they have a disease.
The material was created in cooperation with the National Health Fund
The editorial board recommends:
- The first warning signs of diabetes. They are very inconspicuous
- Six myths about diabetes
- The epidemic of the XNUMXst century. One million Poles do not know that they are sick
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