A pinch of salt, pepper and sugar

‘If God hadn’t meant for us to eat sugar, he wouldn’t have invented dentists’- Ralph Nader, political activist, author, lecturer and attorney

Sugar has been adding a touch of sweetness into our daily lives long before it was discovered in many ways, most of us don’t even realize…

It’s a building block of carbohydrates and naturally found in many foods such as fruit, milk, vegetables, and grain, sugar has been demonized over many years, in many parts of the world. Sugar is demonized and with good reason (?), but are the sugars we find in unprocessed foods the same type of sugar and do they come with the same problems? Another kind of sugar is Added Sugars which can be found in flavoured yogurt, sweetened beverages, baked goods, cereals, and so much more…

Many foods which contain high amounts of Added Sugar. Added Sugar provides energy but is poor in other nutrients, so that will affect the balance of intake nutrients like mineral, vitamins and proteins- all of which we need to grow, live and enjoy life.

There are also natural foods such as fruit that are healthy unprocessed, and while still nutritious when processed as a juice, they are stripped of their fibre; concentrating their sugars. Too much concentrated or added sugar puts pressure on our bodies’ systems that we rely on to regulate our sugar levels. Stressing these systems repeatedly puts us at greater risk damaging these systems and potentially leading to type II diabetes.

The increase of Added Sugar may lead to several diseases especially:

1.    Obesity

2.    Cardiovascular disease

3.    Diabetes type 2

Many food organizations have issued strict guidelines for the sugar intake in diets.

But sugar can be used in many different (and tasty) ways in the food world:

1.    Add sweetness to foods i.e. tea, coffee, cereal.

2.    Preservation i.e. jams, candied peels.

3.    Colour i.e. beverages, marmalades, chocolate and coffees.

4.    Texture i.e. toffees and other candies.

5.    Fermentation such as baking and wine production.

So how do we respond to all the different ways sugars forms part of our daily lives? We can try to moderate our intake of added sugars by choosing more natural forms such as fruit and unsweetened yogurt and increase our daily physical activity which helps our body regulate sugar levels.

We can look at the habits we have around sugar, like snacks and sugary breakfast cereals or tea and coffee and try reduce and replace these with other healthier food we enjoy. We can still treat ourselves to the occasional chocolate or slice of cake.

To hear more about sugar and added sugar, listen to our podcast episode available on Spotify and Apple.

We will be sharing an episode and blog post on why sweeteners are not a good alternative to sugar in the coming months.

Until next time, your virtual dietitian

Shelldon Breda, registered dietitian, M.Sc.